DUN'S 100 - 2016

576 / 730

Local Authorities
576
2016 | DUN’S 100 DUN’S 100 | 2016
DUN’S 100 | 2016 2016 | DUN’S 100
3 Local Authorities (50,000 - 200,000 Residents)
RANK
Municipality of Hod-Hasharon
Hod Hasharon’s planning vision–Urban
Nature, is a unique vision in Israel. In this
vision, which is detailed in the city’s plans
for “2050 To the Future”, the planners found the
right balance between the city’s historic past, as a
rural settlement, and itsmodern development and
the construction of new residential complexes. The
city’s population density is the lowest of all of the
Sharon cities (and will remain as such in the fu-
ture). City planners have found the sensible equi-
librium between low construction and spacious
building saturation (inmodern residential towers),
while all its neighborhoods bask in green. The
city has numerous widespread parks and flourish-
ing public gardens, combined and surrounded
by open areas and farmland works, providing it
with an added value which is almost inexistent
in other cities in the center of Israel. Alongside
the accelerated development and construction
drive, Hod-Hasharon Municipality maintains its
character and cultivates a distinctive quality of
life for its residents, within the community vision
of “A green communal city”, and according to the
city’s strategic plan and the master plan which
determines a sequence of open areas, thrice the
required standard in Israel.
In the last decade Hod Hasharon has become
one of the most sought after locations in Israel,
owing to the unique combination between urban
and green, it’s developed community services,
an excellent educational system and its diverse
cultural and social life. 58,000 residents currently
live in the city, and it enjoys an annual positive
migration of numerous young families wishing to
make it their home, due to a leading educational
system and comprehensive services, which are
provided to the city’s residents. A short visit to
Hod-Hasharon instantly clarifies the city’s name,
as the beauty and splendor of the Sharon area
is fully displayed there in all its glory, and the
unique combination between urban and green
is that of which is alluring both to its visitors and
to its residents.
Developed Transport – Planned City – Urban
Nature
Hod-Hasharon Municipality prepared a master
plan for the city, together with the finest urban
planning experts in Israel. The plan determines
the development areas alongside the green wide
open spaces. During the last decade, high stan-
dard residential quarters were built, as well as
public and education buildings, roads combining
roundabouts and national roadways from both
south and north of the city bypass it. The munici-
pality is currently planning, alongside government
offices, additional access roads to the highways,
connecting the city to roads 4 and 5 along with the
connection to road 531, which is currently being
built. Hod-Hasharon was chosen as part of a plan
initiated by theMinistry of Transport to prepare 50
km long bicycle paths (half of the city’s roads). In
addition to the sporting aspect, the purpose is
to enable alternative transport means in the city
center, on the way to education institutes and ac-
cessing three train stations located at the outskirts
of the city.
Educational Excellence
Hod-Hasharon is classified in the country’s top tier
regarding matriculation and IDF enlistment and
leads various unique educational programs, em-
phasizing excellence andmoral standards, which
has become a role model for many cities.
Among the unique programs operating in the city:
Personal education which enhances the teacher-
student relationship in elementary schools and in
junior high schools; Haztzlacha centers teaching
centers in elementary schools and in junior high
schools that provide lowcost private tutoring, after-
noon courses, remedial teaching and preparation
for psychometric tests, among others; additional
studies for matriculation, programs for exceptional
children, a program which holds volunteering as
a central activity axis in urban spaces, in which
all children partake, from kindergarten to high
school, operating a municipal conservatorium
and playing schools, learning through advances
digital devices and more. Hod-Hasharon receives
praise regarding volunteer and youth leadership
work, while building advancedmodern education
structures. During recent years the municipality
inaugurated the city’s daycare classes, 30 new
kindergartens and two elementary schools and
thanks to its wide urban activities designed to en-
courage volunteering among pupils and residents,
the city won in this year’sVolunteering Community
Award, on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Social Services and The National Council for
Volunteering in Israel.
A Green Community City
The Municipality of Hod-Hasharon has turned
the development of the values of sustainability
and our relation to earth into its motto, as well as
promoting the environmental education. Unique
educational activities are being held at the urban
agricultural farm, shared by kindergartens and
elementary schools in the city. Hod-Hasharon
joined the recycling project, and educational in-
stitutes are being processed for the acceptance
of the green ordination mark from the Ministry of
Environmental Protection. For the past 12 years
Hod-Hasharon has been granted 5 stars of beauty
in the “Beautiful Sustainable City” contest by The
Council for Beautiful Israel and the prestigious
“Beauty Flag” award for its consecutive wins, due
to the cultivation of parks, gardens and count-
less activities regarding recycling and sustainable
construction.
Lake Park - A One of a Kind Project
As a part of the applied activities taking place
regarding sustainability and the promotion of
the welfare of its residents, the Municipality of
Hod-Hasharon initiated the establishment of Hod-
Hasharon Park, a unique park non like any other
in the country, which includes two ecological-bi-
ological system based basins in order to improve
the quality of water which is transferred from the
purification center to the Yarkon river, and a reha-
bilitation project of the four streams which cross
the city: Hadas, Hadar, Kane and Pardes. Hod-
Hasharon Park is currently being built in the city on
350 acres, located west of the employment area
of Neve Neeman, which includes walking paths,
bicycle routes and recreational, educational and
bird watching facilities alongside a water recy-
cling, streams revitalization and the country’s
largest ecological lake.
28 Ben Gamla St., Hod-Hasharon
Tel: 972-9-7759588
Esta b l i s he d
Founded in November 1964 as a local council
upon the unification of four neighboring
agricultural colonies – Ramataim, Kfar Hadar,
Ramat Hadar and Magdiel, Hod-Hasharon
was declared a city in May 1990, and since
then has become a big, modern vibrant town
F i e l d o f e x p e rt i se
Municipal Services
Hai Adiv
Mayor, Municipality of
Hod-Hasharon *
* See Top Executives Profiles - Page 582