Baruch A. Kipnis

Role and timing of complementary objectives of a regional policy, the case of Northern Israel

Abstract The lessons of a regional development policy for Northern Israel are evaluated. The policy has been led by two complementary objectives: the creation of a demographic balance in favour of Jews and the geographical development of a continuous network of Jewish settlements. Each objective had its appropriate spatial timing in the regional process. The first took advantage of geopolitical needs, ideological values and social conditions of the evolving nation during its pre-state and its early years. Attempts to reach the other objective through urban development programmes had failed until recently due to the strong polarization effects of Metropolitan Haifa. Starting in the mid 1970s, spontaneous metropolitan spread effects have created favourable conditions of growth. They have been reflected by both urban growth and massive rural development throughout the spillover effect area of the metropolis.

Technology and Industrial Policy for a Metropolis at the Threshold of the Global Economy: The Case of Haifa, Israel

The spatial concentration in Israels core region of greater Tel Aviv, induced by Israels entry to the post-industrial age and its affiliation with the global economy, has left, at least in the short run, the rest of the national territorial space, including metropolitan Haifa, the second-largest urban and economic agglomeration of the country, at the threshold of the global economy. Following an appraisal of the process of post-industrial functional upgrade and spatial concentration in the greater Tel Aviv region, possible avenues for a technological and industrial development policy for metropolitan Haifa are evaluated. This includes a presentation of probable alternative functional and spatial development strategies for the Haifa region and an appraisal of the inherent potentials and the anticipated roles to be played by the regions leading industries in instituting dynamic technological change.

The Impact of Factory Size on Urban Growth and Development

Medium size manufacturing plants, achieving increasing scale economies by a disintegrated production process within the urban economy, are more favorable for urban growth than larger plants. These plants (as indicated by a survey of 150 plants in nine, southern Israeli towns) are large enough to maintain diversified production activities, but they are not big enough to take advantage of internal economies of self supply or to depend on out-of-town supply agents. The medium size plants, therefore, create a substantial demand for local input and service resources, and initiate intensive linkages within the local economy. The beneficial effects of the medium size plants are best accomplished in the medium and larger urban centers. The policy implications of these findings are that regional development and industrialization policies, which strive for regional equality, should concentrate on the establishment of medium size plants in medium size urban centers.

Minority perceptions of housing needs and the planning of a housing aid policy: the urbanizing Arab village in Israel☆

Abstract A process of planning a housing aid policy for a distinct minority, the urbanizing Arab villagers of Israel, is delineated. It reveals that the inclusion of primary grassroot values and sources of legitimacy in the process makes the policy acceptable to the minority, and reflects their perceptions of housing needs. Primary data are employed to define levels of housing distress and eligibility criteria for government aid, and to determine the efficiency of various sums from aid funds to motivate families to take action in the improvement of their housing. Other possible impacts of government housing aid funds on the built environment are discussed.

Well-being in a pluralistic society: toward a policy-oriented methodology

Abstract The concept of the well-being of an individual and a social group in a pluralistic society is defined within the context of social theory as a voluntaristic process, acknowledging the duality of human agents and social structures. Subjective measures of well-being are quantified, using a value stretch model. The lessons of a pilot study on housing needs and well-being of urbanizing Arab villagers of Israel, a distinct minority in a pluralistic society, are evaluated. The case study indicates how the perceived group normative well-being thresholds ought to be incorporated into a social well-being policy.

Plant Size and Urban Growth

The issue of the impact of plant size on urban growth is evaluated, using survey data employed in constructing an input-output table for Joinville, an isolated urban manufacturing city in Brazil. The study indicates that small and medium size plants are more favourable for urban growth than are larger plants. This is found to be true for backward and forward flows of goods and services, and for the labour force structure. These findings, along with those revealed in other studies referring to plant size, suggest a revision in the way that manufacturing industry, as an initiator of the urban growth process, is applied.

Manufacturing plant size - toward a regional strategy. A case study in Limburg, Belgium

The impact of manufacturing plant size on urban and regional growth is analysed in the region of Limburg, Belgium, extending both geographically and in scope previous studies on the same issue in Israel and in Brazil. The study reveals that medium size plants are important growth constituents, whose favourable impacts are felt in the immediate local and regional industrial spaces. The study is extended to evaluate the influence of town size on input-output flow patterns and to examine interrelations between plant size and level of technology. Development strategy considerations for peripheral regions are discussed.