The Pillars of Regional Strategic Planning: Guidelines for the Israeli Context
Keywords:
strategic planning; urban functional area; polycentric regions; regional development; growth based on sustainable regional assets, Israeli planning.
Abstract
Regionalism is taking root in Israel with the formation of regional municipal clusters and recently, with regional strategic planning (RSP). New regional plans are being drawn, but in the rush to complete the new planning stratum, it seems that no coherent or agreed upon guidelines have been laid down to determine what constitutes a good regional strategic plan or even what constitutes a region. Our paper proposes a new coherent RSP framework, based on the key concept of functional spaces, and adapted to the specific Israeli context. We analyze mass movements in the Negev and the Galilee to outline functional areas. We also discuss the proper demography and urbanization destinations and propose a spatial scheme for regional planning. Finally, we lay down six foundational pillars that, if planned well, can march a region towards the overarching goal of inclusive and sustainable growth: A critical mass of population in the city, compact and renewed urban centers, mass transit, growth engines based on regional assets and innovation ecosystems, quality and diversity in all services and amenities, and regional government and partnerships.
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Albrechts, L. (2011). Bridging the gap: From spatial planning to strategic projects. In J. Farinós, J. Romero, & J. Salom (Eds.), Cohesión e inteligencia territorial: Dinámicas y procesos para una mejor planificación y toma de decisiones (pp. 85–103). Universitat de València.
Albrechts, L., Healey, P., & Kunzmann, K. R. (2003) Strategic spatial planning and regional governance in Europe. Journal of the American Planning Association, 69(2), 113-129.
Alfasi, N. (2006) Planning policy? Between long-term planning and zoning amendments in the Israeli planning system. Environment and Planning A, 38(3), 553-568.
Boussauw, K., Van Meeteren, M., Sansen, J., Meijers, E., Storme, T., Louw, E., ... & Witlox, F. (2018) Planning for agglomeration economies in a polycentric region: Envisioning an efficient metropolitan core area in Flanders. European Journal of Spatial Development, 69, 1-26.
Camagni, R., Capello, R., & Caragliu, A. (2013). One or infinite optimal city sizes? In search of an equilibrium size for cities. The Annals of Regional Science, 51, 309-341.
Capello, R., & Camagni, R. (2000). Beyond optimal city size: An evaluation of alternative urban growth patterns. Urban studies, 37(9), 1479-1496.
Dijkstra, L., Poelman, H., & Veneri, P. (2019). The EU-OECD definition of a functional urban area. OECD ILibrary.
Feitelson, E., Horowitz-Harel, A., Levin, N., Mintz, Z., Steenekamp, G., & Zaban, S. (2021). Haste makes waste: On the implications of rapid planning in Israel. Land Use Policy, 103, 105312.
Feldman, M. P. (2000). Location and Innovation: The New Economic Geography of Innovation, Spillovers, and Agglomeration. In Clark, G.L. , Feldman, M.P. and Gertler, M.S. (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, 373-394. New York: Oxford University Press.
Florida, R. (2014). The creative class and economic development. Economic Development Quarterly, 28(3), 196-205.
Friedmann, J. (2000). The good city: In defense of Utopian thinking. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 24(2), 460-472.
Glaeser, E. L., Kolko, J., & Saiz, A. (2001). Consumer city. Journal of Economic Geography, 1(1), 27-50.
Healey, P. (2006). Relational complexity and the imaginative power of strategic spatial planning. European Planning Studies, 14(4), 525-546.
Hershkowitz, A. (2010). Ideological shifts and doctrine changes in national level planning in Israel. Town Planning Review, 81(3), 261-281.
Hersperger, A. M., Grădinaru, S., Oliveira, E., Pagliarin, S., & Palka, G. (2019). Understanding strategic spatial planning to effectively guide development of urban regions. Cities, 94, 96-105.
Malý, J. (2016). Impact of polycentric urban systems on intra-regional disparities: A micro-regional approach. European Planning Studies, 24(1), 116-138.
McCann, P., & Acs, Z. J. (2015). Globalization: Countries, cities and multinationals. In Aidis, R. and Estrin, S. (Eds.), Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives (pp. 371-386). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Meijers, E., Waterhout, B., & Zonneveld, W. (2007). Closing the gap: Territorial cohesion through polycentric development. European Journal of Spatial Development, 5(2), 1-24.
Ministry of Interior. (2020). The reform for regionalism and decentralization from central to local government. The team for regionalism in Israel. (In Hebrew).
Ministry of Transportation. (2019). Information on national passenger movement according to cellular phone data 2018-2019. (In Hebrew).
Neuman, M., & Zonneveld, W. (2018). The resurgence of regional design. European Planning Studies, 26(7), 1297-1311.
OECD. (2020). Broad-based Innovation Policy for All Regions and Cities, OECD Publishing: Paris.
OECD. (2021). Regional Innovation in Piedmont, Italy: From Innovation Environment to Innovation Ecosystem, OECD Regional Development Studies.
OECD. (2023). Enhancing Strategic Planning and Innovation Services: Supporting Romanian Regional Development Agencies, OECD Regional Development Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Orsi, F., Cavaco, C., & Gil, J. (2024). From territorial capital to regional design: A multidimensional model for territorial analysis and scenario evaluation. Planning Practice & Research, 39(1), 116-135.
Pelzer, P., & Pot, W. (2023). Long-term perspectives and futures. In Elgar Encyclopedia in Urban and Regional Planning and Design (pp. 223-226). Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Planning Administration. (2024). Israel’s National Spatial Strategic Plan. Jerusalem. (In Hebrew).
Razin, E. (2006). Metropolitanization, globalization and governance—New regionalism, old regionalism or no regionalism in Israel. In International Metropolitan Observatory (IMO) Conference–Montreal.
Razin, E. (2015). District plans in Israel: post-mortem? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 33(5), 1246-1264.
Razin, E., & Charney, I. (2015). Metropolitan dynamics in Israel: An emerging “metropolitan island state”? Urban Geography, 36(8), 1131-1148.
Van den Broeck, J. (2010). Strategic spatial planning and strategic projects. In Planning: A Transformative Activity, 44th ISOCARP Congress.
Vasilevska, L., & Vasić, M. (2009). Strategic planning as a regional development policy mechanism: European context. Spatium, (21), 19-26.
Wilson, S., Plane, D., Mackun, P., Fischetti, T., Goworowska, J., Cohen, D., Perry, M., & Hatchard, G. (2012). Patterns of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Population Change: 2000 to 2010 United States Census Bureau, 2010 Census Special Reports.
Published
2025-05-08
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