The city is divided into 17 residential neighborhoods and four mixed-use quarters, which combine residential and commercial areas. In the north of the city, there are 4 industrial zones: "Kiryat Halutzim" for light industry, "Kiryat Eitanim" which houses heavy industry, the Northern Industrial Zone, and the Port of Ashdodhinterland. The separation of land uses is based on the regional wind patterns, in order to prevent air pollution in residential areas. Transportation in the city is based on "traffic arteries" – wide and long roads that stretch along boulevards dividing the residential neighborhoods, designed to enable rapid movement of motor vehicles, alongside bike paths and sidewalks for pedestrians.
Ashdod was founded in 1956 as a local council through a public-private partnership between the Government of Israel and "Ashdod Company", which was entrusted with its planning and construction, and was declared a city in 1968. The master plan devised by the company, designed by architects Yitzhak Perlstein and Arie Dudai, was approved in 1959. Based on this plan, the city is divided in a grid pattern into quarters. This plan was preceded by another plan to establish a satellite garden city based on an English model, which was also entrusted to Perlstein in the early 1950s, but was shelved. Ashdod was intended to address national needs, in the form of a port, power station and heavy industry, and as a population dispersal factor attracting workforce from within the Gush Dan area.[1]
For decades, Ashdod was built primarily according to the 1959 master plan, but in the second and third decades of the 21st century, with the approach to exhausting the land reserves of the original master plan, significant changes occurred in the city's planning. In 2015, the Municipality of Ashdod began formulating a new master plan for the city, known as Ashdod 2035, designed to exhaust the city's area and develop it "inward". In 2017, a roof agreement[a] was declared between the municipality and the government for increasing the housing supply in the city, including planning new neighborhoods throughout the city not based on quarters, urban renewal in the old quarters, and the possibility of establishing an additional railway station in the north of the city, in addition to the existing railway station, Ashdod–Ad Halom.
Following Ashdod's selection in the government's "Model City for Sustainable Transportation" project to promote principles of urbanism and sustainable transportation in 2012, the "Reway" (or "Green Wave") project was implemented between 2017 and 2022, which established the Ashdod Metro Busbus rapid transit system, renovated streets, and created bicycle paths and public transportation terminals. In the 2020s, final approval was given for Rova Yod Dalet (Quarter 14) in the District Planning and Building Committee, and the establishment of two mixed-use quarters began: Lachish Park Quarter in the northwest and Kiryat Peres in the southeast of the city.
Ashdod is located in the southern coastal plain (or "Philistine coastal plain"), an area situated south of the Gush Dan cities and extending to the Gaza Strip. In this region and in the Shephelah, the five Philistine cities were found, one of which is Ashdod, identified with Tel Ashdod located southeast of the city (the other four Philistine cities are Ashkelon, Gath, Gaza, and Ekron).[2] The area is mostly flat, with an elevation of 70-80 meters above sea level.[2] Ashdod was planned and built on the "sand belt" area, with Palmachim Beach to its north, Nitzanim Sands to its south, the agricultural areas of Gan Yavne and Beit Ezra[2] to its east, and the Ashdod coastal strip to its west. The built-up areas are spread mainly over the sand belt and do not encroach on the agricultural areas in the east.[2]
The city is located 25 km from Ashkelon, 40 km from Tel Aviv, 75 km from capital Jerusalem, and 80 km from Beersheba.
The wind regime in the city is influenced by temperature differences between land and sea – the sea warms and cools slowly, while the land does so rapidly.[2] Therefore, during the day a sea breeze blows, and in the evening and at night a land breeze blows.[2] Regarding wind directions, according to Rohama Mamman, there are four considered constant: from morning until noon the wind moves from southwest to northeast, in the afternoon from northwest to southeast, in the evening a northern wind, and from night until morning it is southeasterly.[2]
The heavy industry zone in the city was established in its north, taking into account the wind regime, with the aim of preventing the movement of air pollution from the factories toward residential areas.
With the establishment of the Planning Department in 1949, following the establishment of the State of Israel, the need arose to establish a second deep-water port in the country, due to the great distance between the Port of Haifa and the Gush Dan area and the south of the state.[3] The planners of Tel Aviv Municipality claimed a "natural right" to such a port in Tel Aviv, and justified this from several aspects: the large concentration of population and industry, and the fact that the city was a center for citrus exports.[3]
Architect Heinz Rau [Wikidata], who served in a central position in the Planning Department, opposed this idea. The policy he outlined sought to disperse the population in cities across Israel, particularly in Gush Dan, and therefore began examining the feasibility of establishing a deep-water port, alongside a city, in another area.[3]
The establishment of the future port in the coastal strip of Ashkelon was rejected due to its proximity to the Gaza Strip, for security considerations. Therefore, the strip that remained for location was the one between Tel Aviv and Ashkelon. From Rau's examination it emerged that both the wind regime and the geological and hydrographic data in the strip were similar, and no place was found in it that could be seen as a natural harbor (such as Haifa).[3] Initially, Rau chose the mouth of the Rubin River into the Mediterranean Sea, about 20 km south of Tel Aviv, but this location was abandoned in favor of the mouth of the Lachish River, near the location of the port of ancient Philistine Ashdod, today at the Mi-Ami Beach. At that time (still in 1949), the coast was desolate and disconnected from transportation. The large sandy land reserves contributed to tipping the scales in favor of choosing the mouth of the Lachish River.[3]
Rau's location was not initially accepted unanimously in the Planning Department. Rau convinced Arieh Sharon and Tzion Hashimshoni who headed the department.[3]Suqrir[b] (the Arabic name of the river, which served the planners for the future port and city in the initial stages) became an essential part of the Planning Department's objectives at that time, but the idea met with reservations for several reasons:[3]
Exaggeration in the ability to implement the plan, as the area was completely virgin
Competition with Ashkelon
Suqrir did not integrate into the "regional tender system"
Suqrir and the Inter-ministerial Committee, 1950–1953
The Planning Department began planning in 1950 a city called "Suqrir" in the format of a garden city in the English model. Suqrir was planned to accommodate approximately 50,000 residents on an area of 17,000 dunams. After the Suqrir plan, whose planning continued until 1952, was finally accepted by the Planning Department, the disputes continued among the state authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces viewed the plan favorably – distancing the port from the population concentration, which could serve as a military target in an air strike. In 1950, the Ministry of Transport established an inter-ministerial committee whose purpose was to decide on the optimal location for a deep-water port. It operated for about a year and conducted surveys regarding the composition of exports and imports, the destination and origin of cargo (regarding the activity of existing ports), transportation matters, and an assessment of the area south of the port (where the city would later be established).
The committee included representatives from the Planning Department, the Israel Defense Forces, the, Public Works Department, Tel Aviv Municipality and its Chamber of Commerce, and from government ministries – Industry, Agriculture, and Transport.
The Planning Department and the Israel Defense Forces supported the location in Suqrir, while Tel Aviv Municipality and its Chamber of Commerce, along with some government ministries, supported the location in Tel Aviv. The Public Works Department and the Minister of Transport proposed a compromise – establishing the port at the mouth of the Rubin River, and it was accepted at the end of 1951.
Despite the compromise that was accepted, the Planning Department continued to plan Suqrir, and conducted through the Research Department an examination that proved the economic feasibility of establishing the port, as opposed to the possibility of maintaining a single deep-water port in Haifa.
In addition to the PWD–Ministry of Transport compromise in 1951, additional factors pushed the plan for establishing the port in Ashdod down the national priority order.[3]
In 1952, Solomon Trone, a JewishRussian-American engineer and manager at General Motors, who had contributed significantly to the electrification of the Soviet Union and was involved in economic planning for developing countries, arrived at the invitation of the Israeli government. Along with other assignments, he was tasked with examining the feasibility of establishing the port. He ruled that Israel's meager resources at that time did not justify the investment for the short term (5-10 years, the payment period from West Germany), and that despite the losses involved to the economy in terms of transport times – a port in Haifa alone was sufficient for the state's needs at that time. Additionally, that same year there was a decline in the trend of immigration to Israel. This, together with Tron's opinion, caused a loss of interest on the part of government ministries, including Transport and Labor.
In early 1953, changes occurred in the Planning Department; its scope and authorities were reduced and its center was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, under the new Minister of the Interior, Israel Rokach (formerly mayor of Tel Aviv). Moreover, key figures in the department, who had supported the idea even before the establishment of the inter-ministerial committee and had taken part in it – architects Arieh Sharon, Tzion Hashimshoni, and Heinz Rau – resigned.
In late 1953, the Israel Electric Corporation needed to establish a new power station to meet the growing demand for electricity and to supply electricity to southern Israel. This need was known to the Planning Department, and the early plans for "Sukrir" and its industrial zones took this into account.[3]
According to urban planner and architect Eliezer Brutzkus [Wikidata][3], who was appointed that year to be responsible for national planning in the Planning Department, the need to establish the power station forced a renewed examination of the fundamentals of the idea of establishing the port city. Although he did not initially support the idea at the beginning of its path, after delving into it he saw that establishing the port city integrated with other objectives in national planning, and gave priority to the choice of Ashdod.[3]
The considerations that Brutzkus enumerated were:[3]
Limiting the growth capacity of the Tel Aviv area, and developing the southern region, which was then undeveloped
Economic feasibility – according to the port's cargo forecast, the Negev quarries would have a similar share in exports to that of the Tel Aviv area
Establishing a city in Ashdod's sand belt would not result in the loss of agricultural land, unlike further expansion of Gush Dan
The port would benefit from a large land reserve. Setting the location in already crowded Tel Aviv would require the establishment of appropriate transportation arteries and would involve many difficulties and financial expenses for land expropriations and reconstruction
Originally, the Israel Electric Corporation intended to establish the power station south of the Bat Yam, then a local council. In a meeting held at the end of November 1953 at Tel Aviv's Reading Power Station, representatives of the Planning Department and the Director General of the Ministry of Development adhered to the location in Ashdod. The Israel Electric Corporation accepted the government's position.[3]
Less than a year after the decision to establish the power station in Ashdod was accepted, work began on its construction, paving an access road to it and a residential neighborhood for the station's permanent employees (later the Israel Electric Corporation Workers' Housing in Quarter 1[c])[3]. The "Ashdod" power station was inaugurated on 3 June1958[7], with the activation of unit No. 1 in station A.[d][8][9]
Levi Eshkol andDavid Ben-Gurion – Eshkol signed the agreement to establish the city with Ashdod Company as Finance Minister in Ben-Gurion's government. With Eshkol's death as acting Prime Minister, it was decided to name the city's power station after him in May1969. For his role in establishing the city, he was declared an honorary citizen by the city.
In late 1954, the trend of immigration to Israel resumed, and the Ministry of Housing requested to examine the establishment of a city around the Israel Electric Corporation neighborhood. At the jubilee celebrations of the city of Netanya that year, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion conveyed through Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, a letter to Oved Ben-Ami, in which he requested: "Do for the south as you did for the north", referring to the establishment of the city. Following this call, Ben-Ami recounted: "I took the jeep and drove along the coast until I reached the Ashdod sands. The day was beautiful, the sun was shining and the sand glittered. I climbedYona Hill [he] and said to myself: if the Israeli government establishes a port here, I will establish the city".
When Ben-Gurion came to Finance Minister Levi Eshkol with the proposal, Eshkol claimed that he did not have the necessary funding to establish the port, but "if Ben-Ami succeeds in raising 30 million dollars, the plan could be implemented". Therefore, it was decided to establish the city of Ashdod in a public–private partnership between the Israeli government and American Jewish initiative.
In 1956, the Ministry of Transport returned to examine the feasibility of establishing a deep-water port in the south, and appointed another committee for this purpose. Unlike the inter-ministerial committee of 1950–1951, the Ashdod solution was accepted almost unanimously. In 1957, the Ministry accepted the decision to establish the port in Ashdod.[3]
On 1 May1956, Finance Minister Eshkol gave approval for the plan to establish the city of Ashdod, and on May 15, an agreement was signed between the State of Israel and the Ashdod Company's Oved Ben-Ami and Philip Klutznick, which granted them a concession on an area of 40,000 dunams. The scope of the agreement aroused criticism and controversy in the city and government institutions, and attempts were made to cancel and reduce it. Finally, the scope of the concession was indeed reduced to 24,000 dunams.
That same year, the establishment of the city began – on 25 November1956, the first residents arrived at the Ashdod-Yam ma'abara (immigrant and refugee absorption camps) – 22 families of immigrants from Morocco, who lived in the transit camp. In early 1957, groups of immigrants from Egypt and Romania joined them. The new settlement, then called Ashdod-Yam (Hebrew: אשדוד-ים, lit. 'Ashdod Sea', as in the ancient port city), numbered 370 residents.
The Ashdod-Yam ma'abara, which consisted mainly of temporary buildings (tin shacks) was dismantled in 1959–1960, when it numbered about 600 families and approximately 3,000 residents. Then began the transition from the transit camp to long train car-like asbestos buildings, which were erected by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and were called "Californias" (Hebrew: קליפורניות, romanized: Californiot).[10]
In the first 3 years of Ashdod-Yam, it was not governed by a local council but by a government-establishment team. In July1959, Dov Gur [he] was appointed as head of the council on behalf of an appointed[e] committee.
With the establishment of the city, the paving of two important streets in the city was completed in November 1958, in the presence of city leaders: Rogosin Street [he] in the heart of Quarter 1, named after textile industrialist Israel Rogosin who at that time inaugurated the first factory in the city and also contributed to the establishment of educational institutions in the city, and B'nai Brith Boulevard [he], which connected it to the national road network. Until the inauguration of the boulevard, the town's residents were in danger of transportation disconnection from the city when rain floods struck it. As part of establishing the boulevard, a bridge was built over the Lachish River using the prestressed concrete method, the first of its kind in the young country.
Originally, Ashdod was included in the Central District, but in October1957 the concession area of the Ashdod Company was transferred to the Southern District.
The results of the "birth" of Ashdod are additional proof that even in the realm of "development strategy," the new reality is not created "on its own" from spontaneous action by "technicians." There is always a need for conceptual initiative and calculated decision-making that sees what is to come at the right moment. Such "fateful" decisions are what determine the shape of the country's settlement map.
The master plan designed by architects Yitzhak Perlstein and Arie Dudai on behalf of the "Ashdod Company" was officially approved on 6May1960. In accordance with it, the construction of Ashdod continued. By 1966, 7 quarters out of Ashdod's quarters (1 through 3) had completed or were in the midst of general urban development, and two of them were fully populated – Quarter 1, the first to be built when it was founded in 1956, was completed during the 1970s. The construction of Quarter 2 also began in the city's early years, parallel to Quarter 1. The plan was implemented so that the city's construction was carried out from north to south – from the outskirts of the industrial areas and port southward.
On 30July1961, the cornerstone was laid for the establishment of the Port of Ashdod. It was inaugurated in November1963[10], and was first operated 2 years later, in November 1965. On 1 February1968, Ashdod received city status, at the end of Avner Garin [he]'s term, who became Ashdod's first mayor.
With the granting of the concession to the Ashdod Company for establishing the city, areas were allocated from the Hevel Yavne Regional Council to the company, but they were not included in the first stage of the city's territory. Thus, it turned out that the company's concession area, approximately 42,000 dunams, was larger than the city's actual jurisdiction area, approximately 32,000 dunams. Later, in 1968, the municipal area of the city of Ashdod was expanded and 6,000 dunams were transferred to it from the council's territory.
Inauguration of B'nai B'rith Boulevard and Rogosin Street, November 1958 – from the Carmel Newsreels.
Kindergarten courtyard in the Electric Company neighborhood, Quarter 1, 1964 – the city's first neighborhood.
Cornerstone laying ceremony for the Port of Ashdod, August 1961.
IDF servicewomen examining rocks at the Lachish River mouth, the location finally determined for the Port of Ashdod, according to Heinz Rau's initiative, 1970.
The contract signed between the State of Israel and Oved Ben-Ami and Philip Klutznick, May 15, 1956
In 1957, "Ashdod Company" – which was entrusted with establishing and developing the city over an area of 40,000 dunams – handed over the city's urban planning scheme of Ashdod to architects Arie Dudai and Yitzhak Perlstein who were involved in its first sketches (the early Sukrir garden city plan) back in 1950–1952. The plan included 16 residential quarters with areas between 0.5 to 1.2 dunams and square shapes, where each includes about 3,000–6,000 housing units for 12,000–21,500 people.
Work on the plan, which was given the name "D/313", was completed in 1959, and it was officially approved on May 6, 1960. Since then, the construction of Ashdod city has been realized almost precisely according to it and on the scale it determined. Despite attempts to update it over the years, the master plan has not been officially changed and therefore it and its principles are in statutory force and binding in planning and construction processes in Ashdod. The "Ashdod 2035" plan seeks to cancel the 1959 plan and instruct new principles.
The main basic principles that Perlstein and Dudai outlined in their 1959 plan are low-rise construction with low density, allowing sea views, housing diverse populations ethnically, socio-economically and in religious outlook, aimed at preventing polarization, and preventing environmental pollution, zoning (separation of uses), division into residential quarters with fast transportation outside them on arterial roads. Additionally, the city was intended to meet the needs of the entire state, by serving as home to Ashdod port and heavy industrial plants, and to help disperse the country's population.[1]
Oved Ben-Ami with Yitzhak Perlstein – planning the city's houses, 1958
Ashdod was divided in the plan in a checkerboard pattern into 16 quarters, alongside a mixed-use city center and a quarter for special services. Unlike other cities in Israel, Ashdod's quarters are not internally divided into neighborhoods. Between each quarter wide boulevards separate them, intersecting at right angles and forming a grid network of checkerboard pattern. Ashdod's quarters were planned as independent economic and social units, all characterized by commercial centers and secondary municipal services at the quarter level, where residential density is high and activity is inward-facing.[2] Quarter services include schools, synagogues, kindergartens, clinics, youth clubs and public spaces.[2] The idea for division into quarters came from the satellite city concept and the suburbs of the United States – a quiet city with arterial streets with fast traffic, where the quarter constitutes a social unit, and "strips of green" in its paths. According to Benjamin Frankel, one of Ashdod port's planners, the commercial centers were foreign to the population that comprised the city in its early years – immigrants from Morocco and Romania, and they preferred linear streets, like Rogosin[f] and Haim-Moshe Shapira[g], over the centers and ring roads – while the street attracted more stimuli and "unknown" people. He argues that despite the planners' intention for the quarter layout, which included parks and daily services, "They are running with the carts into the bus smoke".
Zoning or "separation of uses" is the allocation of land in a local authority according to uses (for example – residential, commercial, industrial or office), where there is a single use or different restrictions for specific land. Zoning is considered a fundamental planning principle of Ashdod. The city defines industrial zones in the north of the city (Kiryat Halutzim for light industry, Kiryat Eitanim for heavy industry and Kiryat Oganim, which is the northernmost), port and adjacent industrial area ("port hinterland"), commercial area at the city-port seam, and an area designated for mixed land uses (Kiryat Peres, or by its original name "the special quarter") where the city's railway station is located.
The idea of complete separation between industry and residential areas appears already in the city's first master plan from 1959, and the background for locating industry north of residential areas stems from the wind regime blowing from south to north – when the goal is preventing pollution movement toward residents. Similarly, Ashdod port's location was determined near Lachish River due to wind patterns and sand migration, and there is no direct contact between it and the city itself.
As a city divided in a checkerboard pattern, boulevards separate its quarters, which are actually arterial "roads" wide. The arterial roads are accompanied by a secondary transportation system that integrates between quarters and connects them. In the quarters themselves there are ring roads from which extend roads without exit to streets designated for residential use.
Every Thursday I would go to Perlstein's office, and we would sit over the plan, every detail. And I made sure it would be implemented on the ground. And it wasn't easy. For example, to separate industry from residential areas. They told me are you normal, a person will walk on foot to the industrial zone to fix a primus stove, because then there wasn't transportation like today. And I said yes. Because we saw the future.
The plan faced criticism upon its publication from various sources, whose main arguments were that despite the city being carefully planned, the plan was followed rigidly, adhering to the final and perfect state of the city, and not with the dynamism appropriate for natural growth of a city. According to planner Benjamin Frankel although in its original version (Sukrir) it was planned as a garden citysatellite in an English model connected by rail to a nearby metropolis, the 1959 plan was supposed to establish Ashdod as an independent city, whose residents would not need to reach Tel Aviv–Yafo for commerce, entertainment or higher education.[2] Frankel adds that building the city based on tiled quarters, parallel streets, flat topography are sources of boredom, and that the large distances in the city create loneliness. He also notes the city's lack of contact with the port and sea, and the flattening of the landscape and hills due to detailed planning. Ecologically, according to Frankel, despite placing industrial zones in the north due to wind patterns, air pollution was not completely prevented; because during part of the year the wind direction at night is opposite, from north to south, so waves of smoke, dust and gases from polluting industries are carried. He also lists the sewage discharged into Lachish River from factories and municipal sewage pumping stations located near it, which caused "irreversible damage" to the fauna and flora in the environment.
According to research by urban sociologist Meirav Aharon Gutman, "Ashdod Company", as a private company planning a city – "broke" the monopoly on employment held by the local authority. The company employed many of the city's residents, thereby accumulating power that exceeded that of the authority. Additionally, from conversations with residents, Ashdod's having an orderly plan implemented by a private company was a decisive factor in their immigration to it, because they were convinced that the city had a bright future. According to the same research, in quarters A and B a phenomenon of changing land uses was observed, with development of unplanned peddling commerce – which she attributes to the economic situation of immigrants to the city and their consumption habits.
The agreement between Israel's government and the Ashdod Company, which imposed on it the establishment and planning of the city, drew criticism from the press, Knesset members, government officials and residents. The main claims were that Ashdod is a "private city", and that no thorough economic examination was conducted before its signing and that "Ashdod Company" did not invest in the city the capital it committed to.
Ashdod's early days
General view, 1958 – Ashdod
"California" housing projects against Givat Yona background, 1962
General view, 1963
Ashdod Port under construction, 1963
Eli Cohen Square – the commercial center of Quarter 2, 1964
Shopping at the commercial center of Quarter 1, 1964
Kindergarten yard in the Israel Electric Company workers' housing – the first permanent neighborhood, 1964
1964
Shvei Zion Street, 1969 – "HaMashbir LeTzarkhan" and Canada House Absorption Center
Setting the precast beams in the construction of B'nai B'rith Boulevard bridge, crossing over Lachish River, executed by the Public Works Department The road, functioning to this day as a transportation artery, connected the developing city to the national road network.
Until the 1980s, only the northern quarters of the city had been developed. The postponement of the construction of the city center contributed to the intensification and strengthening of the existing quarters; for example, the commercial center of Quarter 1, designed by Zvi Meltzer and Dov and Ram Karmi and located near the port, naturally functioned as the main business center until the establishment of the Kirya (Hebrew: הקריה, romanized: HaKirya, lit. 'complex, city, town') quarter. Had the center been established at its originally planned time, together with the rest of the city, it would have been situated on the southern periphery of Ashdod and not at the heart of its population.
The city center and principal business district – Quarter HaKirya, also referred to as theCity (Hebrew: הסיטי, romanized: HaCity) – was preceded by a large-scale plan, first outlined in the 1959 master plan. In January 1965, when Ashdod's population numbered approximately 25,000 residents, a public competition was announced for the design of the city center. The competition was organized by the Ashdod Company, the Government of Israel, and the Association of Engineers and Architects in Israel, coordinated with the International Union of Architects. First prize, in the amount of 40,000 Israeli lira, was awarded to French architects Jean Ginsberg [fr; he], Pierre Vago, and Martin van Trek. Their design was based on the principles of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne VIII congress, convened in Hoddesdon, England, which dealt with the planning of urban centers in postwar Europe. According to Emil Israel, the plan was never realized, as it failed to take into consideration the intermediate development stages of the city and did not correspond to its actual pace of growth.
In February 1989, the Municipality, in association with the Ashdod Development Company [he], announced a new competition for contractors to construct the Kirya on a 28,000 square meter plot owned by the municipality. The project specifications delineated approximately 32,000 square meters of usable floor space: about 16,000 square meters for offices, 12,000 for residences, and 4,000 for commerce, representing an overall investment of nearly 25 million U.S. dollars. The district's master plan was prepared by Adam Mazor [he] and Eli First [he] in 1990, and construction commenced toward the end of that decade. This process concluded the prolonged situation in which Ashdod lacked a consolidated urban center – unlike other planned cities in Israel, which were constructed with their central core in tandem with initial development.
Prior to the construction of the Kirya, administrative and transportation hubs shifted southward in accordance with the city's expansion. The delay in establishing the city center produced various distortions in urban planning: the commercial centers of Quarters 1, 2, 3, and 6 expanded beyond their intended framework, while municipal services became dispersed across a number of neighborhood centers.[2] In 1969, the Ashdod Company stated that the failure to develop the urban center has caused the neighborhood centers of Quarters 1–2 to lose their significance as modest residential centers and instead to serve as the city center in practice, noting further that the dispersion of public institutions among separate quarters and the excessive development of those quarters gradually undermined the viability of the proposed central district.
The extensive spatial expansion alongside the establishment and consolidation of the City Quarter diminished Rogosin's status as the central hub. With the decline of the street, a chapter in the city’s life came to a close, and a new chapter began.
The Kirya Quarter is divided into four sections: the residential Kirya ("the City"), the Cultural Kirya, and the Main Business District (abbreviated in Hebrew as the CBD Kirya, or Ma'ar), which is itself divided into northern and southern areas. The quarter is bisected by two of Ashdod's principal traffic arteries – Herzl Boulevard and Menachem Begin Boulevard – and is bordered by Bnei Brith Boulevard to the east, Jerusalem Boulevard to the north, Oved Ben Ami Boulevard to the south, and Moshe Dayan Boulevard to the west. The streets within the Kirya are named after concepts drawn from Israeli culture and Zionism, whereas in the CBD area they are named after Israeli singers.
This is the most densely populated section of the Kirya, with 22,000 residents as of 2021. At its center lies Ilan Ramon Square, located along Menachem Begin Boulevard, which also features a commercial street. The City Quarter is home to key public institutions, including the central bus station, various government offices, the municipal sports arena ("Toto HaKirya"), and the municipal youth center "Kivunim".
Located in the western part of the Kirya Quarter, the CBD is divided into two non-contiguous sections, separated by the Cultural Kirya. The northern section primarily accommodates commercial and office complexes, including "Merkaz HaKirya" and "Unitrade", alongside high-rise towers that also incorporate residential functions, such as the "K Towers" and "Damari Tower". While the northern CBD was developed alongside the rest of the Kirya during the 2000s, development of the southern section was delayed, beginning only in 2013. In late 2024, its urban plan – designed by architect Walter Schenkman – was officially approved.
Serving as the focal point of Ashdod's cultural life, the Cultural Kirya houses many of the city's public institutions. These include Ashdod City Hall, the Yad Labanim House (which hosts the Ashdod City Archive), the municipal cultural hall "Mishkan for the Performing Arts" (designed by architect Haim Dotan), the Pedagogical Center (Pisga), and the Monart Arts Center (designed by architects Giora Gemerman and Moshe Lupinfeld), accommodating the Ashdod Museum of Art and municipal conservatory Akadma. The area is also flanked by several major commercial centers, including the "Simol" mall, the central bus station, and "Gan HaIr".
In 2018, the Municipality decided to name the Cultural Kirya after Zvi Zilker, the city's former municipal engineer and its longest-serving mayor, who was considered closely tied to the city's development into a major industrial center. A new municipal library is also planned for construction in this section in the future.
The historic master plan prepared by Perlstein and Dudai underwent several renewal attempts over the years in order to adapt the planning framework to changing realities. In the late 1980s, the Ashdod Municipality initiated a revision of the original master plan, titled "D/2000". This revision was never discussed by the District Planning and Building Committee, nor was it deposited or approved, and thus it holds no statutory validity. Despite its unofficial and non-binding status, the plan has in practice been used by the municipality.
Following the immigration wave from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, a further revision of the D/2000 plan was undertaken in 1996, which, similarly, was never granted formal approval. This revision was prepared with the guidance of a steering committee that included representatives from the National Planning Administration, the Ministries of Housing and Construction and Transportation, the Israel Land Authority, as well as the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Ashdod–Yavne Regional Environmental Union. Within the framework of the revision, construction plans for the southern neighborhoods were either canceled or reduced in scope in order to preserve the Great Dune, while a designated "development zone" was defined in the area between Lachish Stream and Highway 4.
The steering committee recommended – with the support of the municipality but against the opposition of the Ministry of the Interior and the Society for the Protection of Nature – that the revised plan should not be granted statutory validity, but rather serve as a guiding framework and as a basis for the preparation of detailed plans. In a 2006 deliberation on the matter, the National Planning Administration ruled that the revised plan remained in effect and would continue to guide local planning in the city. The municipality's use of a master plan without statutory validity was examined by State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg in 2000, and revisited in a follow-up inspection conducted by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss in 2011.
Ashdod's coastline extends for 11 kilometers along the Mediterranean Sea, with 6 of these kilometers located within the city limits – from the Eshkol Power Station to Beersheba Beach in District Tet-Vav. The coastal strip is a central feature of Ashdod's culture and tourism, reflecting its identity as both a coastal and a port city. The city's beaches host a wide range of activities including physical fitness, water sports, dining, and commerce, and are integral to the urban experience.
The port, which predates the city's beach development and serves as a symbol of Ashdod as a port city, is visually represented in the city's emblem: the original 1962 version featured an anchor and a biblical ship in blue, replaced in 2016 by sails, after Israel Hadany's Sails monument and an Ashdodi urban landmark – all nautical elements. The beach area is also home to an open-air municipal market, operating since October 1974 in the Lido Beach parking lot.
The public participation event Facing the Sea included a presentation of the strategic plan for Ashdod's coastal space and marina, held at the local Yad Labanim center on 26 January 2015. During the event, visualizations of the public space designated for development at Ashdod Marina were presented, envisioning it as either a park or an urban square.
Traditionally, the city has maintained a low-rise, low-density construction policy along the coast, ensuring sea views in accordance with the 1959 master plan's core principles.
Lachish Ashdod Park: Established in the 1990s along the southern bank of the restored Lachish Stream and opened in 1996.
Promenade Street and Martin Buber Street: A strip of restaurants and bars built in the 2000s in Quartrer 1, adjacent to the Mei-Ami and Lido beaches, accompanied by high-rise hotels.
Moshe Dayan Boulevard Promenade: A paved walkway with paths for pedestrians and cyclists, fitness equipment, and concrete pergolas and benches. It cost 30 million NIS and was inaugurated in February 2012. The boulevard winds inward at the marina area, forming most of the coastal promenade.
Ashdod-Yam Park: The largest urban park in the city, adjacent to Moshe Dayan Boulevard and overlooking Kshatot Beach. At its center is an artificial lake.
Ashdod Marina Lake Park: Urban square with an artificial lake and commercial center overlooking the sea. As of January 2025, it has not yet opened but will continue the beach promenade, which currently breaks between Lido and HaKshatot beaches. The park's planning involved public participation.
The Matzedit was originally used as part of a signaling system to Ramla, warning of incoming Byzantine enemy ships. Today, it stands in a traffic circle in Quarter 15, Ashdod, surrounded by a residential neighborhood.The Metzadit Signal Tower: Originally part of a signaling system to Ramla against Byzantine naval threats, now preserved in a traffic circle in Quarter 15.
In 2011, work began to make the ruins of ancient Ashdod-Yam, including the Ashdod-Yam Fortress, accessible – a project completed in 2020. Renovation work involved reinforcing support walls, removing and sifting sand, pouring floors, and constructing accessible paths for visitors including those with disabilities. A "floating" deck was built atop the fortress, providing views of the site and coastline. The preservation's nature and planning by Ashdod Municipality and the Israel Antiquities Authority faced criticism from environmental groups. Close to the fortress stands the ancient "Matzedit" signal tower, now preserved in a residential square in District Tet-Vav.
South of Ashdod-Yam Park, the "Ashdod-Yam Fortress Ecological Park" was established in 2020, designed by landscape architect Liav Shalem. The park covers 300 dunams with unpaved walking trails marked by wooden posts, stretching from the fortress beach to the southernmost beach, Beersheba.
Environmental organization "Green Course" and local party "Ashdodim"[h] protest against construction at HaPrakhim Beach, Moshe Dayan Boulevard, August 2014
Construction along Ashdod's coastline, especially the building of hotels, has been a controversial topic in the city's culture, and has sparked protests, legal disputes, and administrative conflicts in various planning committees.
From the city's early years – during the 1965 architectural competition for the city center – "Ashdod Company" required the preservation of a 50-meter-wide coastal buffer reserved exclusively for bathing, prohibiting any structures within it, and specifying that any exception must not interrupt the continuity of the beach.
At HaPrakhim Beach, a country club built in the 1990s was demolished in 2009. On its ruins, construction began on the "San Trope" hotel in 2013, based on a 1990 plan that predated the Coastal Environment Protection Law [he], which now limits construction in the "coastal domain". Public protest halted construction, apparently due to the developer's financial struggles, and the abandoned hotel remains a "white elephant" by the sea.
Since the 1980s, there has been ongoing controversy over hotel construction at two plots on Lido Beach ("100" and "17A"), between 35 and 60 meters from the shoreline at high tide. Construction began in 2022 without regulatory approval, and despite the regional appeals committee's rejection, the municipality ultimately stopped construction, but the site was not cleared. The developer disputes the interpretation of the Coastal Environment Protection Law, arguing that because the plots were purchased before the law's enactment, they are not subject to its restrictions. As of December 2024, the plan had been approved for deposit by Ashdod's local building committee and the subcommittee for appeals of the regional planning committee, but had not been accepted by the coastal environment protection committee.
In 2015, the Ashdod Municipality began formulating a new master plan for the city, named Ashdod 2035 aimed at meeting the city's needs by the year 2035. The plan, prepared by "Milul–Koren Architecture and Urban Design", was approved by the Ashdod City Council in May 2019 and submitted in 2021 for discussion by the District Planning and Building Committee. The population growth target of the plan is 350,000 residents, with a capacity for 420,000.
As the city approached full utilization of the land reserves of the original master plan, designed by Perlstein and Dudai, it was decided to create a new plan. Its goal is to develop new paths for growth, based on urban renewal within the existing fabric, utilization of approved development zones, opening new land reserves, and expanding public spaces and infrastructure. The plan marks a shift from the traditional "simple" planning approach (large land parcels designed and developed through centralized initiatives) to a more decentralized approach, encouraging initiatives on a variety of scales – private, public, and mixed. The planners stress the advantages of this model in coordinating residential and employment development with transportation systems, infrastructure, municipal services, and public space.
In August 2017, a housing agreement was signed between the Ashdod Municipality, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Construction and Housing. Its main components include the construction of about 45,000 housing units in the city – 30,000 of which under the "Buyer's Price" program – alongside public and educational institutions, a sports complex, and state-funded investment in urban renewal for the city's older districts.
As part of the agreement, a new neighborhood not included in the city's original plan was approved: the Lachish Park District, located east of Ashdod Port and adjacent to Lachish Park. This district will be a mixed-use neighborhood, including the city's future sports complex. Following legal battles over the land, construction began in 2023. In total, 12 new neighborhoods are planned under the agreement, including the Lachish Park District, neighborhoods in Quarters A, B, Vav, 13, 14, 15, 16, the City Center (known as "the City" and the South CBD), and the southern entrance area.
The only quarter missing from Ashdod's original city quarter division is Quarter 14. Since its territory overlaps the "Great Dune" – one of the last remaining sand dune nature reserves in Israel – its development was uncertain. However, in 2022, after gaining broad political support in the City Council as early as 2016, the plan for Quarter 14 was approved by the District Planning and Building Committee.
Urban renewal is a general term for intervention in urban areas intended to promote growth and development. Urban renewal seeks to revitalize both old and new urban fabric, and has been carried out intensively since the second decade of the 21st century in Ashdod's older quarters, chiefly through projects such as TAMA 38 (National Outline Plan 38) and "clear and build" (Hebrew: פינוי-בינוי, romanized: Pinui-Binui, lit. 'evacuation-reconstruction') initiatives.
Ashdod's urban renewal is guided by dedicated zoning master plans, organized by individual quarters under a citywide framework. The municipal-government housing agreement also provides for targeted governmental investment in the renewal of older districts. "Clear and build" projects began in 2018, primarily in quarters built before the 1990s (Quarters 1–8) according to official municipal policy set in 2019. The first such project was on Dekel Street (Quarter 1), demolishing 1960s residential blocks to build new high-rise towers. While most renewal projects focus on residential areas, commercial centers have also been affected – such as "Lev Ashdod Mall" in Quarter 5, demolished in 2023 (originally designed by architect Yaakov Rechter), and parts of the southern commercial center in Quarter 1, originally planned by architects Dov and Ram Karmi and Zvi Meltzer.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) on Herzl Boulevard is an additional focus of the renewal, utilizing upgraded bus rapid transit lanes installed in the center of the boulevard as part of the 2019 Reway reform, serving the Ashdod Metro Bus system.
TAMA 38 project on Max Nordau Street, Quarter 1, 2024
Demolition of Lev Ashdod Mall in Quarter 5, 2024. The mall was designed by architect Yaakov Rechter and the site is slated for a mixed-use complex designed by Kika Braz.
Construction of skyscrapers (Yahad Towers) at the intersection of Herzl Boulevard and Haim-Moshe Shapira, Quarter Dalet, 2024
Dekel Towers in Quarter Aleph, designed by Walter Sheinkman, under construction, 2024. This is the first "clear and build" urban renewal project in the city, launched in 2018.
Ashdod's preliminary urban planning exerts significant influence over its cultural landscape and social interactions. According to urban sociologist Meirav Aharon Gutman, who conducted three years of field research in the city, the residential districts serve as a core component of residents' identities, functioning as an internal tool for social definition and affiliation[12] – expressed in everyday language as "I'm from Aleph", "I'm from Zayin", or "I'm from Teth" – and thus represent a locus wherein the urban melting pot occurs.[12] Gutman contends that district boundaries serve as markers of identity within the city.
I stopped next to a shared taxi and asked the driver how to get to Quarter 8, where we had agreed to meet. The taxi driver laughed and said, "It's as if you had your passport stamped three times without realizing – it's long behind you."
The major traffic arteries, wide roadways separating the residential districts, exemplify, in Gutman's view, the ambition of the city's master plan, with pedestrians on the boulevards dwarfed by the scale of the urban space.[12] She also notes that adjacent districts may display substantial differences in apartment prices, municipal tax rates, and even dress codes.[14] In the city's early years, national industrial enterprises intentionally attracted specific populations to settle in the city. For instance, the Ashdod-based ELTA Systems recruited engineers to Quarter 4 (Dalet; Hebrew: ד) by offering housing incentives – leading to the nickname "Delta" – while the Israel Electric Corporation housing was concentrated in Quarter 1, creating a form of "class-based segregated housing".[15] Gutman concludes that, based on the city's diverse culinary styles and languages, Ashdod has become more of a mosaic than a melting pot.[16]
Jane's Walk in Quarter 2 following the 1959 master plan, May 2025
Benjamin Frankel, one of Ashdod's port planners, observes that district commercial centers were initially unfamiliar to the city's early population, composed predominantly of immigrants from Morocco and Romania, who preferred linear streets such as Rogosin and Haim-Moshe Shapira over ring roads or centralized business districts. He suggests that, despite planners' intentions for districts with parks and daily services, city residents gravitated toward bustling public streets.
City residents filling the old Rogosin Street during the pedestrian festival, Quarter 1, August 2023
As early as 1958, Ashdod's planners warned of two major challenges in the city's design: lack of political and economic cohesion, and a concern that a future city center would conflict with the interests of independently developed older neighborhoods. In the 1990s, planning revisions noted the emergence of social segregation along east–west lines: The city of Ashdod exhibits social segregation along longitudinal strips – its northern districts are regarded as older and aging both in terms of infrastructure and population. The neighborhoods in the south of the city are newer and more affluent, attracting a younger population with greater means and relatively higher education. Most of the eastern neighborhoods were built by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and populated by immigrants, while the western strip near the sea is characterized by private construction and long-standing residents. In practice, this has created a fragmented city with non-continuous territorial sections, whose structural characteristics indicate the seeds of social polarization that may develop within it..[17]
Project Ashdod: Portrait of a City exhibition (curated by Dafna Gazit), Ashdod Museum of Art, November 2018 – January 2019
In November 2018, the Ashdod Museum of Art hosted the exhibition Project Ashdod: Portrait of a City, which explored urban identity and space from the perspective of city residents. Initiated by artists Daniel Shoshan and Amit Matlon, the exhibition engaged 3,000 residents. In 2020, architect Sharon Yavo Eylon published research examining the project, comparing it to concepts developed by American urban sociologists RobertE. Park and Ernest W. Burgess in their 1925 book The City.[18]
The Peres Campus (Hebrew: קריית פרס, romanized: Kiryat Peres) is a future mixed-use district planned for the southeastern outskirts of the city, included in Ashdod's original urban design. A 1965 municipal master plan document prepared by the "Ashdod Company" described the quarter as "an area for special regional buildings and institutions such as the central hospital, institutions of higher education, the main stadium, exhibition and display halls, and similar facilities".
Named after Israel's ninth president, Shimon Peres, the district is characterized by a mixed-use plan that integrates academic institutions, high-tech industry, residential areas, and commercial spaces. It is bordered by the railway in the east, Menachem Begin Boulevard in the north, Altalena Boulevard in the west, and by the Great Dune and Quarter 14 in the south. Currently, the district houses the municipal Magen David Adom station and the Assuta Ashdod Medical Center. Plans for the quarter also include the establishment of an Ashdod Academic Campus and a science park.
The Ashkelon Mass Transit System (Hebrew: המערכת להסעת המונים בנפת אשקלון) is a planned mass transit system consisting of light rail (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, designed to connect the Ashkelon Subdistrict area. The first draft of the system was published in August 2020.
The plan involves a high degree of integration with the city, positioning Ashdod as a key transit hub within the district's transport networks. Both of the main system lines – the Red Line and the Blue Line – pass through Ashdod, as well as the proposed subdistrict's network of long-distance bike pathsOfnidarom (Hebrew: אופנידרום).
The two main lines are planned to be implemented as light rail routes:
The Blue Line connects Ashdod to Yavne and its train stations (East and West), as well as to Rehovot's Tel Aviv Metro Line M1 station in Rehovot.
אשדוד: קובץ מאמרים Ashdod: Kovetz Ma'amarim [Ashdod: Collection of Articles] (in Hebrew). Department of Geography at Tel Aviv University, Municipality of Ashdod. 1976.
Raanan, Boaz. Written at Ashdod. אשדוד – גאוגרפיה, היסטוריה, טבע, מסלולי טיול: לקט מאמרים Ashdod – Geographia, Historia, Teva, Maslulei Tiyul: Leket Maamarim [Ashdod – Geography, History, Nature, Hiking Trails: A Collection of Articles]. Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
Jacobson, Michael; Elhyani, Zvi (2021). "מקרה אשדוד" Mikre Ashdod [The Ashdod Case]. אחרי המודרניזם: האדריכלות של משה לופנפלד וגיורא גמרמן Akharei HaModernizm: HaAdrikhalut Shel Moshe Lufenfeld VeGiora Gamerman [After Modernism: The Architecture of Moshe Lufenfeld and Giora Gamerman] (in Hebrew). Asia. pp. 107–131.
Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
Aharon Gutman, Meirav (2005). לתכנן ולחיות את עיר הלאום המודרנית: על גבולות ומגבלות האזרחות בישראל של שנות ה-2000 Letakhnen VeLikhyot Et Ir HaLeom HaModernit: Al Gvulot U-Migbalot HaEzrakhut BeYisrael Shel Shnot Ha-2000 [Planning and Living the Modern Nation-City: On the Boundaries and Limitations of Citizenship in Israel in the 2000s]. Tel Aviv University.
^A "roof agreement" (Hebrew: הסכם גג) is an agreement signed between the State of Israel, the Israel Land Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction and Housing with local authorities, in order to increase the supply of apartments.
^Wadi Sukrir (Arabic: وادي صقرير) was named after the nearby Arab village, Arab Suqrir.
^Sheinkman designed buildings along the boulevard as part of urban renewal and city projects, especially the master plan for South CBD Kirya in October 2024
^ ab"תכנון ומציאות בעיר מתוכננת" Tikhun U-Metsiut BeIr Metukhnenet [Planning and Reality in a Planned City]. אשדוד: קובץ מאמרים Ashdod: Kovetz Ma'amarim [Ashdod: Collection of Articles] (in Hebrew). Department of Geography at Tel Aviv University, Municipality of Ashdod. 1976. p. 71.
^ abcdefghijk"גאוגרפיה של עיר" Geographia Shel Ir [Geography of a City]. אשדוד: קובץ מאמרים Ashdod: Kovetz Ma'amarim [Ashdod: Collection of Articles] (in Hebrew). Department of Geography at Tel Aviv University, Municipality of Ashdod. 1976. pp. 19–21.
^ abcGutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. pp. 114–115. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
^Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. p. 115. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
^Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. p. 116. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
^Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. p. 118. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
^Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. p. 120. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
^Gutman, Meirav Aharon (2025). עומדים בפני עצמם: על סוציולוגיה עירונית ומזרחיות בישראל ʻOmdim bi-fene ʻatsmam: ʻal sotsyologyah ʻironit u-Mizraḥiyut be-Yiśraʼel [Standing on their own: on urban sociology and Mizrahiyut in Israel]. ישראלים (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda, Open University of Israel. p. 119. ISBN978-965-06-1742-4.
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Kindergarten courtyard in the Electric Company neighborhood, Quarter 1, 1964 – the city's first neighborhood.
Cornerstone laying ceremony for the Port of Ashdod, August 1961.
IDF servicewomen examining rocks at the Lachish River mouth, the location finally determined for the Port of Ashdod, according to Heinz Rau's initiative, 1970.![Elisheva Garden [he], 1964 – Ashdod's first municipal park.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/%D7%92%D7%9F_%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%A2%2C_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A2_%D7%90%27_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93%2C_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99_1964.jpg/500px-%D7%92%D7%9F_%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%A2%2C_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A2_%D7%90%27_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93%2C_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99_1964.jpg)
Elisheva Garden, 1964 – Ashdod's first municipal park..jpg)
![Elisheva Garden [he], 1964 – Ashdod's first municipal park.](/wiki/File:%D7%92%D7%9F_%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%A2,_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A2_%D7%90%27_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93,_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99_1964.jpg)
Quarter 1 center – Moshe Sharett Square
Quarter 2 center – Eli Cohen Square
Quarter 5 center – Center Park
Quarter 6 market, Dov Gur Street
Kalaniot Center, Quarter 8
HaNeviim Pedestrian Mall, Quarter 10
Quarter 11 center
Quarters 15 and 16 center, Tel Chai Boulevard
General view, 1958 – Ashdod
"California" housing projects against Givat Yona background, 1962
General view, 1963
Ashdod Port under construction, 1963
Eli Cohen Square – the commercial center of Quarter 2, 1964
Shopping at the commercial center of Quarter 1, 1964
1964
Shvei Zion Street, 1969 – "HaMashbir LeTzarkhan" and Canada House Absorption Center
Ashdod Port, 1967
Setting the precast beams in the construction of B'nai B'rith Boulevard bridge, crossing over Lachish River, executed by the Public Works Department The road, functioning to this day as a transportation artery, connected the developing city to the national road network.
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The City Tunnel on Menachem Begin Boulevard, passing under Ilan Ramon Square and crossing the commercial promenade of the "Zimmer Center"
Private transport at the intersection of Herzl Boulevard and Menachem Begin Boulevard
The Spiral Square – featuring the sculpture "Spiral Tribute"
City Park, also called Gan HaKirya
North CBD Quarter
South CBD Quarter – under construction
Central Bus Station
Aerial view of the Culture District
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Sunset at Kshatot Beach, view from Ashdod-Yam Park, 2024
Sunset over Pier 30 of Ashdod Port, view from Givat Yona, 2024
Sunset through the fortress walls, 2012
Fishing competition, 2007
HaTayelet Street, 2011
Open market at Lido Beach, 2011
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Menachem Begin Boulevard – Zimmer Center, Kiryat Quarter ("The City")
Aerial view of Ad Halom Interchange in the southeast of the city, connecting to Menachem Begin Boulevard
Construction of skyscrapers on Herzl Boulevard, near Bialik Station of Ashdod Metro Bus
Construction of the Lachish Park Quarter, July 2025
Ashdod Stadium under construction, July 2025 (viewed from Givat Yona)
CBD South Quarter under construction, September 2024,_%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%96_%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%A8,_%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%98%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%A8_2024_02.jpg)
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TAMA 38 project on Max Nordau Street, Quarter 1, 2024
Demolition of Lev Ashdod Mall in Quarter 5, 2024. The mall was designed by architect Yaakov Rechter and the site is slated for a mixed-use complex designed by Kika Braz.
Construction of skyscrapers (Yahad Towers) at the intersection of Herzl Boulevard and Haim-Moshe Shapira, Quarter Dalet, 2024![Jane's Walk tour highlighting urban renewal on the boulevard, led by local architect Walter Sheinkman[i], 2024](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%92%27%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F%2C_%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%9C_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93%2C_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99_2024_09.jpg/500px-%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%92%27%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F%2C_%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%9C_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93%2C_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99_2024_09.jpg)
Jane's Walk tour highlighting urban renewal on the boulevard, led by local architect Walter Sheinkman[i], 2024
Dekel Towers in Quarter Aleph, designed by Walter Sheinkman, under construction, 2024. This is the first "clear and build" urban renewal project in the city, launched in 2018.
![Jane's Walk tour highlighting urban renewal on the boulevard, led by local architect Walter Sheinkman[i], 2024](/wiki/File:%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%92%27%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F,_%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%9C_%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93,_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99_2024_09.jpg)
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In the 1960s, construction of the first quarters – 1 and 2
In the 1970s, construction of Quarters 3–6
In the 1980s, construction of Quarters 8 and 11
In the 1990s, acceleration in development, construction of Quarters 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, and beginning construction of the Kirya district
In the 2000s, construction of Quarters 12, 16, 17, and the Marina quarter
