Abstract
The Oslo process leading to the Interim Peace Agreement between Israelis and Palestinians requires conceptualization and strategic planning so that a new Palestinian state can be undertaken in a comprehensive and timely fashion, complementing existing spatial and community structures. A development strategy must be agreed on to determine priorities and facilitate national development objectives. This paper sets out a spatial strategy for settlement structure and planning policy in the new state, a strategy that, by encouraging investment, strives to strengthen urbanization on an axis joining the four main Palestinian cities. The strategy further endeavors to create a Palestinian core and promote economic growth, while seeking to maintain a hierarchy of long-term rank-size settlement structures.