Barkat has served for five years as the head of the opposition in the city council.
Barkat also intends to encourage economic growth in the city by developing its tourist sector.
Yakir Segev, who founded and directs Ruah Hadasha, is one of the senior members of Barkat's party.
Indeed, it is the success of Barkat's vision that will put paid the notion that united Jerusalem is ungovernable.
Wary of a foreign outcry if the bulldozers move in, Mr Netanyahu has publicly asked Mr Barkat to slow down.
He also pointed out that Livni's key political advisor Eyal Arad is also an advisor to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
There is no guarantee, of course, that Barkat will be able to succeed in contending with the daunting challenges facing the city.
But the mayor, Nir Barkat, seems determined to push them forward regardless.
In contrast, their Democratic counterparts refused to meet publicly with Barkat.
As a mayoral candidate, Barkat has assembled a candidates list for his party comprised of members of the Likud, the Gil Pensioners Party, the Green Party and Labor.
Barkat has a vision of setting up a council of metropolitan Jerusalem that will involve the heads of the Jewish communities around the city in its overall development plans.
In a recent conversation, Barkat explained to me that enforcing law and order in the Arab neighborhoods while encouraging local, non-jihadist neighborhood councils to take a leadership role in their communities is one of his primary goals.
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