The reopening of the twice-destroyed Hurva synagogue, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, which Palestinians seek as part of a future capital, triggered a backlash.

BBC: US envoy George Mitchell postpones Israel visit

And they point to the buying by militant Jewish groups, encouraged by the government, of houses in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, as well as in other Palestinian areas.

ECONOMIST: Tampering with Jerusalem

He refuses to make do with Palestinian sovereignty over the Muslim holy sites and the adjacent Muslim Quarter of the walled Old City, and demands that the 200, 000-odd Palestinian citizens beyond the walls live on their own sovereign soil.

ECONOMIST: The distance between them

If you came this way from the Old City, you most likely walked through the Jewish Quarter.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Jerusalem, the Eternal Front Line

But a tornado in January wiped out a large portion of the Quapaw Quarter, the old heart of the city.

ECONOMIST: Urban development

Despite the destruction of Han businesses in 2008, many if not most of the city's shops, even in the old Tibetan quarter around the Jokhang, are run by Han Chinese.

ECONOMIST: Tibet

The same is true in Hanoi, where the city authorities are battling to stop new housing and retail developments encroaching on historic buildings in the old quarter.

ECONOMIST: Tourism could do a lot of good if Vietnam handles it properly