Of All The Crazy Ideas

What were they thinking?

Global contest seeks a "just, peaceful" Jerusalem

...a global competition to redesign Jerusalem in a way that fosters peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will take entries from across the globe for a "Just Jerusalem" contest starting on March 31, hoping its winning entries can help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and spur regional peace...The ideas should "reconcile long-standing and seemingly intractable conflicts", among other criteria, MIT said.

Winners of four categories on the rebuilding of Jerusalem -- from updating its physical buildings and other infrastructure to overhauling its economy, civil infrastructure and "symbolic infrastructure" -- and a fifth "floating" category will receive a fellowship at MIT worth $50,000 each.

...Diane Davis, co-director of the project and associate dean of MIT's School of Architecture and Planning..."The goal of the Just Jerusalem competition is to generate new approaches to and potential solutions for the many complex, seemingly intractable problems that the residents of Jerusalem face on a daily basis," MIT said.

The nine-member jury includes a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem and a Palestinian scholar. The contest is open to anyone and the deadline for submissions is December 31. A winner will be announced in March next year.

Those who register for the contest can access "massive amounts of data and maps" compiled by "Jerusalem 2050", a project of MIT's Center for International Studies and its Urban Studies department, Davis said.

Winners would spend their time at MIT working together on how their combined ideas could be implemented.

G-d forbid they spend time in Jerusalem experiencing thye results of their planning and suggestions.