Ras Khamis is a neighborhood in
East Jerusalem. In 2007, construction of the
Israeli West Bank Barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian ...
cut off Ras Khamis from the rest of East Jerusalem, with the barrier completed in 2010.
Presently, access to the rest of the city is via a single
checkpoint.
Subsequently, in 2012, municipal services such as
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, utilities, police and fire services, and garbage were discontinued in Ras Khamis and other neighborhoods that were separated by the barrier from the rest of the city.
However, as the land was still claimed by Israel, the
Palestinian Authority did not provide government services either.
Due to the housing shortage in the region, many high rise apartment buildings have been constructed in Ras Khamis, which as of 2014 is estimated to have a population of 20,000.
The buildings are not approved by city planning and many have been threatened with demolition.
See also
*
East Jerusalem
*
Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City was an ungoverned and densely populated ''de jure'' Imperial Chinese enclave within the boundaries of Kowloon City, British Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the walled city became an enclave after the New ...
, a similar neighborhood in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
that existed from 1947 to 1992.
References
Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem
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