Urbanization on the Desert’s Edge: New Research Center Reimagines Life in the Negev
A new research collaboration between Ben-Gurion University and MIT aims to think up new plans for development in Israel’s Negev region and generate insights to be used across the world
A new initiative launched by Ben-Gurion University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is promoting novel research into Israel’s urban desert landscape. Less than two years after the October 7, 2023, attack scarred Israel’s arid Negev region, the Negev Urban Research (NUR) center in Beer Sheva is rewriting the region’s narrative.
During a difficult and complex time for Israel, together with all our partners, we have established a center aimed at planning for a better, more just, and sustainable future through multidisciplinary collaborative platforms and the development of innovative data-driven tools. The Israeli landscape is fraught with global challenges, such as the climate crisis, and others unique, such as the demographic challenge. We have much to learn from other places in the world, and the world has much to learn from the Negev.
“During a difficult and complex time for Israel, together with all our partners, we have established a center aimed at planning for a better, more just, and sustainable future through multidisciplinary collaborative platforms and the development of innovative data-driven tools,” architect Merav Idit Battat, head of the research center, said. “The Israeli landscape is fraught with global challenges, such as the climate crisis, and others unique, such as the demographic challenge. We have much to learn from other places in the world, and the world has much to learn from the Negev.”
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Prof. Chamovitz and BGU VP for Regional and Industrial Development Prof. Dan Blumberg in the NUR Lab. (Courtesy)
The Negev covers about 60% of Israel, but it is less developed than most of the country, and only about 10% of the population lives there. Even before the establishment of NUR, Ben-Gurion University’s vice president of regional and industrial development, Dan Blumberg, told The Media Line that the university had played a significant role in driving cultural, economic, and social development in the Negev and across Israel.
“Technology can play a major role in the development of the social and environmental aspects of the area and will help build the area we live in,” Blumberg said.
Be’er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich described the city as “among the leaders in smart cities and sustainable spaces, working in global partnership for future generations.” “It will connect leading minds from academia, industry, and the public sector, driving the creation of advanced solutions to urban, social, and environmental challenges,” he said of the project.
NUR was established as part of an Israeli government decision to promote development in the Negev. The research center’s primary goal is to rethink urban planning, life in city centers, and Israel’s overall development strategy. “Through NUR, we hope to study these connections and create innovative solutions that could shape Israel’s future development,” Battat, the center’s founder, told The Media Line.
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The center is located on Rager Boulevard, Be’er Sheva’s main thoroughfare, offering a physical space to explore the intersection of climate change and urbanization. The boulevard is at the heart of what the city calls its “innovation district,” which is home to various higher education institutions, tech companies, and startups. The one-square-mile district also includes high-quality housing and other key amenities, including Ben-Gurion University, Soroka University Medical Center, and the Gav-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park.
Students and interns from Ben-Gurion University, Tel Aviv University, and Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, where Battat teaches, are all expected to research at NUR. The center is also collaborating with the Urban95 initiative, which aims to make cities accessible for young children and their parents, Clalit Medical Services, and Soroka University Medical Center.
NUR is one of ten labs in MIT’s City Science Network, an initiative that focuses on urban technology worldwide. The other labs, located in Germany, Andorra, Spain, Mexico, Chile, China, Taiwan, the US, and Canada, each focus on specific local challenges and generate broadly applicable insights.
Prof. Daniel Chamovitz (R) with Beer-Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich in the NUR Lab. (Courtesy)
Ariel Noyman, one of the founders of the City Science Network, told The Media Line that the idea for a lab in the Negev began just before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and took shape over the following years.
The formal agreement between MIT and Ben-Gurion University was signed on the evening of October 6, 2023. The next day, an unprecedented Hamas attack left more than 1,000 Israelis dead and set off a full-scale war. MIT initially assumed the lab’s launch would be delayed or even canceled, Noyman said.
What actually happened, he said, was “the opposite. There was so much energy and motivation to push this forward.”
Very much in the Israeli spirit, we did not slow down.
“Very much in the Israeli spirit, we did not slow down,” he explained.
The attack disproportionately hit the Ben-Gurion University community, with dozens of students and faculty members killed and ten taken hostage. Blumberg said that it was clear that the school needed to keep moving forward with the project rather than be paralyzed by the war.
The Negev was hit hard, but this was our vision, and it remains our vision for the area.
“The Negev was hit hard, but this was our vision, and it remains our vision for the area,” he said.
Noyman said that NUR will lead the research needed to rehabilitate the Negev and shape the future of the region’s urban life.
