Identity Transformation and Reconstruction in Multicultural and Multiethnic Jaffa: Urban design solutions based on Jaffa's urban morphology and Ajami neighborhood architectural design studies.

This thesis study examines, the transformation and reconstruction of identity in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural background. The thesis focuses on Jaffa, an administrative district of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, which is a multicultural and multiethnic district dominated by Arab ethnicity and culture, by researching its social and cultural background and its historical development from ancient times to contemporary Israeli rule. The two main challenges facing Jaffa were identified as the transformation of its identity from a traditional Arab city to a multi-ethnic, Arab-dominated district, and the housing shortage in the midst of urban regeneration and development. According to these challenges, a solution was sought from the field of urban and architectural studies to extract the characteristics of Jaffa's urban morphology and architectural spaces and form by studying the city's transformation from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, the urban morphology, and the traditional architectural typology of the typical neighbourhoods of the ajami in Jaffa. On the basis of these studies, an experimental urban design project was finally proposed for a site within the ajami neighbourhood, maintaining a similar fabric and density to the neighbourhood from the master plan and developing the design according to the topography of the plot. The architectural types introduces public mixed-use buildings and residential areas to meet the requirements of different groups of people, responding to the challenges of the identity transformation and the housing crisis in Jaffa.