Dizengoff Square has always been a focal point of central Tel Aviv, with a lot going for it and even more revolving around it. It is just too bad that it is in a rather miserable state.
The square is located on a raised platform on the crossroads of Dizengoff and several smaller streets. It is surrounded by some of the city’s best kept and most impressive Bauhaus structures, standing next to dilapidating ones.
This whole area was designed with the Garden City concept of the city’s planner Patrick Geddes in mind. Geddes prepared in 1925 the master plan for the fast-growing city, and much of his influences can be seen right here. His concept was to create a clear distinction between main streets, residential streets and passageways with greenery. Much of this concept was realized and then abandoned over the years, but visible evidence of it still remains in and around Dizengoff square.
The square itself used to be one of the most scenic spots in the city back in the day, but it was raised during the 70’s, in a failed attempt to ease traffic. It has never recovered. A fountain (of “fire and water”), designed by world-renowned Israeli artist Ya’akov Agam, was placed in its center, and it now attracts mostly teenagers in black clothes with Mohawk hairdos schnorring cigarettes or gulping booze, old-timers accompanied by their hired-helpers, and homeless people looking for a place to rest their heads.

Human traffic on and around the square is always hectic. The nearby Dizengoff Center mall is also always teeming with locals looking to shop for everything from groceries and gadgets to high-end jewelry, in an air-conditioned two-part space that leaves the scorching and humid TA weather outside.

The Center sits on the Dizengof-King George intersection. King George is home to rudimentary shops selling housewares and bargain-basement clothes shops catering to the large crowds coming and going. Across the street from the mall is Gan Meir (Meir Garden), a not-terribly-preserved little park whose grass is more grey than green, but it’s still greener than everything else in sight?? There are big beautiful trees that provide shade and also some activities for toddlers, as well as for dogs, that have their own little amusement park in an especially designated fenced-in area.
Bugrashov Street, which is a two-minute-walk away from the square and adjacent to the Center, is a prime location for shopping for vintage or 2nd hand clothes. To rest your arms from carrying all those shopping bags and your legs from walking around admiring the Bauhaus structures, you can sit yourself down in one of the many coffee places lining this lively street.