An-Najah Staff

In the light of the rapid development in most cities today, especially in third world countries, there is an urgent need to take care of the urban environment due to the serious deterioration that these cities faces in their centers, which have become unsafe, unclean, full of waste, and visually distorted, in addition to their crowded streets, and an overlap of old and modern buildings. This requires attention to both planning and architectural aspects, focusing on the visual and aesthetic elements of the urban centers. This thesis aims at examining and analyzing the visual and aesthetic elements of the central district of Tulkarm city, by assessing the current situation of these elements and identify the positive and negative influences, and develop proposals to help improvement of the area aesthetically, functionally and visually, thereby helping to create a visual and aesthetic composition of a harmonious and compatible in terms of urban spaces, green areas, street furniture, and architectural style. The methodology of the study is based mainly on the descriptive and analytical approaches depending on the available information for Tulkarem city and its central district, in addition to a comprehensive field survey and interviews with stakeholders. The results of the study indicated that the center of Tulkarem city is facing a visual distortion reflected in the facades of buildings, advertising billboards, umbrellas of shops and street pavements, as well as the lack of aesthetic and visual elements such as street furniture, green spaces, in addition to the lack of services and facilities such as parking, toilets, umbrellas and places to sit The study concluded a series of recommendations, notably the need for the restructuring and rearrangement of the city center by Tulkarem Municipality through the organization of spaces and arenas, providing the area of street furniture, studying the movement of vehicles and pedestrians in the region, organization of billboards, and the activation of municipal laws and regulations for the protection of historical and archaeological areas in the city center in coordination with the concerned authorities. Finally, the study emphasized the importance of promoting community participation in maintaining the aesthetic and visual elements in the Tulkarm city, and synergy among all institutions of the city and its inhabitants in order to upgrade the city physically and aesthetically, and retrieve its image as a green and clean city.