From childhood, Patrick Geddes had been deeply interested in Palestine. The city of Jerusalem had appeared in the Cities and Town Planning Exhibition in 1911 as an important component of its message. Geddes was in contact with a prominent Zionist, Israeel Zangwill, from the 1890s. In 1919, the importance of the area's future was elevated on the international agenda. A friend and colleague of Zangwill, Dr. M.D. Eder, was involved with the Zionist Commission's project for a Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Geddes had forwarded Eder a copy of his Indore Report, incluing the plans for a proposed University there. Eder replied inviting Geddes to undertake a survey of Jerusalem: Past, Present and Possible. Geddes worked in Jerusalem between 1919 and 1925, submitting a plan for a Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and then later an overall plan for the city. His plan for Tel Aviv was presented in 1925.