Residential Communities in a Heterogeneous Society: The Case of Israel

תקציר

Israel presents an intriguing case study for exploring the role of communities and private forms of spatial organization in urban governance. Unlike most western countries, the overwhelming majority of land in Israel is publicly-owned, meaning that the validation of community exclusionary practices would regularly require affirmative governmental backing. The evolution of urban and rural forms of settlement since the early days of Zionism shows how some types of private associations enjoyed such validation due to political clout. Contemporary Israel is much more heterogeneous and fragmented both ethnically and ideologically. This poses new challenges for designing the regulatory and legal framework of residential communities.