This study will investigate the impact of the separation barrier or wall and its related infrastructures of security and control, by returning to the areas researched by ‘Conflict in Cities’ Projects 1 & 2 (2003-2005) before the wall was built and completed as well as some other sites that reveal the wall’s influence on the city. For the former, the mapping and basic background studies need not be repeated, and for all of the sites, our main focus is on the impact of the wall. The broader issue of urban division will be considered in context with the Belfast peacelines and include: the question of extreme measures in extreme circumstances; the possibilities for a temporary wall; the need for articulated urban identities.

Attention will be directed at the (re)use of land and public space, the significance of mobility or its absence, changes in interactions, clashes and segregation between Israelis and Palestinians, alterations in planning, policy and infrastructure as well as security and policing, and evidence of Palestinian resilience and resistance on a daily basis. Our present research indicates that the relationship between centre and frontier has become a significant urban force, and we shall continue to study it. Once again, a fieldwork team, including Palestinian and Israeli students, will investigate the sites. Some of this research will contribute to other projects described below.

Existing research will be extended to address central research questions for the ‘before’ and ‘after’ sites:

1. Modern Jerusalem: Damascus Gate area, the boundary between Palestinian and Israeli Jerusalem
   • With the wall far to the east, is this still the dividing point in the city?
   • How have major transport infrastructures affected the central part of Jerusalem?
   • How resilient is Palestinian urban life in this area?
2. The historic centre: Al-Wad Street, commercial and religious ‘strip’ in the Old City
   • How has the Islamicisation of this area developed now that the West Bank is closed
   • In what ways have Palestinians from Israel contributed to the Islamicisation?
3. The periphery: Israeli settlements, Palestinian villages, suburbs
   • What is the impact of cutting off the Palestinian hinterland from the city and the effect of the extended Israeli settlements on Jerusalem.
   • To what extent have soft borders like Pat/Beit Safafa/Gilo been hardened?