This month, Israel is set to open the first stage of a planned 2,000-acre urban park in Tel Aviv on the former site of what has been, for decades, the country's biggest environmental health hazard. Named for the late former prime minister, Ariel Sharon Park will be Israel's largest urban park when the $250-million project is completed in 2020.
Work on the public-private effort involves transforming the Hiriya landfill site and surrounding floodplain into a recreational site. It was built at a height of 60 meters atop a mound of 16 million tons of waste that accumulated until the dump closed in 1998. It still will serve as a transfer point for 3,000 daily tons of waste sent to sites in southern Israel for disposal.