page_title: Arad, Israel
section_title: State of Israel
hierarchical_section_title: Arad, Israel / History / State of Israel
caption_attribution_description: Map of the original city plan for Arad, Israel, the first city in Israel which was built according to a city plan. Source: HaNegev - Adam UMidbar (book), page 574.
context_page_description: Arad is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It is located on the border of the Negev and the Judean Deserts, 25 kilometres west of the Dead Sea and 45 kilometres east of Beersheba. The city is home to a diverse population of 26,451, including Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, both secular and religious, Bedouins and Black Hebrews, as well as new immigrants.
  After attempts to settle the area in the 1920s, Arad was founded in November 1962 as an Israeli development town, the first planned city in Israel. Arad's population grew significantly with the Aliyah from the former Soviet Union and peaked in 2002 at 24,500 residents.
  Landmarks in Arad include the ruins of Tel Arad, Arad Park, a domestic airfield and Israel's first legal race circuit. The city is known for its annual summer music festival, the Arad Festival.
context_section_description: On 15 November 1960, a planning team, followed by a full-fledged committee on 29 December, was appointed by the Israeli cabinet to examine the possibility of establishing a city in the northeastern Negev desert and Arad region. An initial budget of 50,000 Israel pounds was granted for the project, headed by Aryeh Eliav. On 31 January 1961, the final location was chosen (3.5 kilometers (2.2 mi) southwest of Mount Kidod), and plans were approved for roads and water connections. In March 1961, blueprints for a city of 10,000- 20,000 residents were drawn up. Yona Pitelson was the chief architect and planner.
  The plan took into account topography and climate, with residential buildings constructed with large inner courtyards that offered protection from the desert sun and wind. High density residential areas were built first in order to create an urban milieu and shorten walking distances.
  The oil company Nefta built a work camp in the area in July 1961, consisting of six temporary sheds, after oil was found there in commercial quantities. The town itself was established in 1962 by a group of young ex-kibbutz and ex-moshav members seeking an environment free of overcrowding, traffic, noise, and pollution. The founding ceremony was held on 21 November, and attended by then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. It was one of the last development towns to be founded. According to the city website, Arad was the first pre-planned city in Israel.
  Until 1964 Arad had about 160 families, most of whom were natives. After 1971 Arad began absorbing olim (Jewish immigrants), mostly from the Soviet Union, but also from English speaking countries and Latin America, and its population increased from 4,000 in 1969 to 10,500 in 1974 and 12,400 in 1983. During the first half of the 1990s, Arad absorbed 6,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In 1995, the city had 20,900 residents. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared Arad a city on 29 June 1995.
caption: Original city plan for Arad
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