The purpose of the project was to develop the Directorate for Urban and Rural Planning in the Ministry of Planning. The main objectives of the project were: 1) Institution building, 2) Physical planning, and 3) Training. The Institutional building spanned both the internal organisational development with the ministry and development of the institutional relationships to other ministries and external entities. A major task was to prepare regional plans for the West Bank and Gaza, and to develop structural plans for three larger cities (Gaza City, Jericho and Ramallah/Al Bireh). The training part consisted of  on-the-job training, locally conducted specialised courses and a Masters Programme for 10 candidates at the Oslo School of Architecture. In addition, NORPLAN assisted in developing the GIS section within the Ministry of Planning.