The divergent logics of urban regeneration in Israel: A neoliberal toolkit and national rationales

Abstract

In recent years, urban regeneration policy in Israel has relied largely on market-based mechanisms to deliver its goals, seemingly in keeping with neoliberal trends. Whereas, in previous decades, the construction and renovation of housing was facilitated primarily by state-run projects, current urban regeneration policy relies heavily on private actors – developers and homeowners – motivated by profit and the allocation of building rights. In this article, we argue that while this policy appears to be consistent with neoliberal trends, the Israeli government, as well as the public, in fact continue to view urban regeneration as a project of national significance, deserving of public funding if market forces should prove inadequate. We describe the unique characteristics of urban regeneration policy in Israel, arguing that they derive from ‘moral economy’ logic as well as geopolitical considerations such as national security and commitment to the periphery. We make this argument by examining urban regeneration in the country’s geographical and economic ‘periphery’, where the state is expected to finance and incentivise regeneration in the absence of market incentives. We conclude that even in a supposedly heightened neoliberal era, Israel’s regeneration policy continues to be centralised and driven by national objectives and centre–periphery relations that reproduce the country’s path-dependent development trajectory.

In search of social equity in entrepreneurialism: The case of Israel’s municipal regeneration agencies

“…Alster and Avni’s (2021: 9) argument that Israeli UR is shaped around homeowner class interests. Municipal interventions in non-market housing, for example, could offer a more substantial and long-lasting contribution to social equity.…”

“…Yet, these reforms often weaken the involvement of local governments, planners, and civil society, while allowing the central government to retain its control through new or reinforced top-down governance mechanisms (Feitelson, 2018; Mualam, 2018). Centralization was evident in response to the ongoing affordability crisis, which was addressed through national-level planning and budgeting mechanisms (Alster and Avni, 2021; Friedman and Rosen, 2020).…”

“…First, UR’s policy goals represent a national-strategic shift from population dispersal to smart growth (Feitelson, 2018; Orenstein and Hamburg, 2009). A social equity argument often accompanies this goal, as the program offers low-income homeowners a chance to upgrade from the cheaply built, mid-20th century housing blocks common in Israel (Alster and Avni, 2021; Kainer Persov and Carmon, 2015). After affordability issues drove the 2011 protests, UR was rebranded as a central pillar of the national housing supply strategy, albeit without altering its viability-led mechanism (Hananel and Nachmany, 2021; Mualam and Max, 2021).…”

“…In addition, the national planning committee VATMAL, originally instated to fast-track plans stuck in the district-level backlog, was also given jurisdiction over large UR plans, thereby concentrating more power at the national level (Mualam, 2018). Third, the centralized governance of UR is also used to extend the program’s reach into low-demand peripheral areas, supposedly in the name of redistributive justice (Alster and Avni, 2021; Margalit and Mualam, 2020).…”

“…Israel’s state-led UR program presents a unique setting to examine these dilemmas. The program has been operative since 1999 and tackles the country’s aging housing stock, limited land supply, and acute housing shortage by permitting the demolition of run-down buildings and allowing their redevelopment in significantly higher densities (Alster and Avni, 2021; Margalit and Kemp, 2019). Redevelopment relies on a market mechanism that stems from Israel’s predominantly privately owned housing stock: government incentives are provided to developers and homeowners who choose to engage in redevelopment (Geva and Rosen, 2018).…”