Dr. Jamal Dabeek led the Palestinian team, representing the Nablus project, alongside Eng. Kareem Al-Jawhari as a member of the international team. The workshop, attended by the global Tomorrow's Cities Program team, aimed to determine the acceptable level of risks in urban planning.

Dr. Dabeek shared the experiences and achievements of the Nablus team despite challenging conditions, emphasizing the importance of envisioning future scenarios to mitigate disaster risks in urban expansion areas. 

Tomorrow's Cities project focuses on informed planning in vacant areas, adhering to specific criteria to prevent potential hazards and rectify past mistakes. It also involves assessing the consequences of current urban development strategies and envisioning scenarios for the next 30 years.

Nablus, having joined the Tomorrow's Cities initiative in mid-2023, became the first Arab city and the fifth worldwide to be included in the project. The city met rigorous conditions, including imminent risks, an ongoing urban planning process, marginalized communities, and a strategic plan. The completion of four out of five project stages, or "work packages," marks significant progress. These stages involve identifying future population visions, verifying and developing maps and policies, modeling potential risks and impacts, and determining acceptable risk levels.

The Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction Center, responsible for organizing workshops and providing comprehensive project briefings to decision-makers and officials, recently concluded a session. The first phase of the Tomorrow's Cities project is set to conclude in Q1 2024, resulting in a replicable work methodology for planning residential community expansion in Palestine. An-Najah National University aims to extend the Nablus project experience to other Palestinian cities and globally to Arab cities.

The Tomorrow's Cities project operates on participatory planning, engaging representatives from diverse community segments, including youth, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, low-income and marginalized individuals, residents of high-rise buildings, civil society organizations, unions, municipalities, government, and media. The goal is to collaboratively manage future disaster risks, implementing measures unaffected by economic or political constraints, requiring joint efforts from all stakeholders within available resources.

Looking ahead, partial implementation of the fourth work package for Palestine is scheduled to take place at An-Najah National University in Nablus, involving local and national teams as soon as conditions permit.