'This Crisis Will Reshape the Way We Understand City Living'

Tel Aviv Foundation’s CEO says city leaders need to listen and be patient to learn from the current crisis. Also, large events, festivals, tourists, and crowds won’t be back for some time, but that could be a good thing

2 minute read

April 23, 2020, 11:00 AM PDT

By PabloValerio @pabl0valerio


Tel Aviv Foundation

Dr. Hila Oren, CEO of the Tel Aviv Foundation. | Cities of the Future

The Tel Aviv Foundation, a non-profit organization under the umbrella of Tel Aviv’s municipality, is promoting Tel Aviv technology and forming partnerships with other cities around the world.

As a popular destination for international tourism, Tel Aviv, as many other Mediterranean cities, is facing a significant challenge to its economy.

Nowadays, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation has put all its efforts into helping the city, the mayor, and the community to minimize the effects of the current crisis.

Samples from an interview with Dr. Hila Oren, CEO of the Tel Aviv Foundation, follow. More is available at the source article.

  • "We need not have meetings, we can have a short 30 minute meeting on zoom. We don’t need two hours meetings around a table. We need not go so much out of our houses and build more roads. Look, the roads are clean now. Not everything is good, but some of it has improved."
  • "If we go back to 100% the way we were before, then we miss the whole lesson that we need to learn from this. The COVID-19 came to us to give us a lesson. And we have to listen to it. And I’m saying that now, being quiet, we can listen."
  • "I’m not so sure if next year we will build as many schools, or as many kindergartens, or as many community centers as we built before, maybe we will understand better, and we can use them in a multifunctional system. And, things that are much more needed are open public spaces. I think those will be in demand and we must have more."

Wednesday, April 22, 2020 in Cities of the Future

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