Geography Research Forum

Editorial: Thinking New Regionalism in Israel – Concepts, Challenges, and Directions

Itzhak (Kiki) Aharonovitz — 2025-05-08

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Local Government Rising: The Emergence of New Regionalism in Israel

Itai Beeri — 2025-05-08

This study examines the rise of New Regionalism within Israel's local government framework, emphasizing its emergence as a response to national and international crises. Crises—whether security, environmental, economic, democratic, or health-related—have acted as catalysts, exposing systemic failures in centralized governance and accelerating the need for decentralization and regional collaboration. Events such as the October 7^th 2023 War exemplify these failures, highlighting the urgency of fostering resilient and adaptable governance structures. The research introduces an integrative framework linking crises with evolution of governance, demonstrating how incremental reforms have empowered local governments and fostered regional cooperation. A triad of interdependent reforms is identified as essential to achieving sustainable governance: enacting a Basic Law for Local Government and Regional Governance, institutionalizing regional governance structures, and enhancing human resource capacities. These reforms aim to replace fragmented and reactive approaches with cohesive, strategic shifts towards adaptive, inclusive, and efficient governance models. By situating Israel’s governance trajectory within the broader theoretical framework of New Regionalism, the study underscores the paradigm’s emphasis on subsidiarity, multi-level governance, and community resilience. These principles are presented as critical for navigating Israel’s complex socio-political and economic challenges, offering a pathway to sustainable development and stronger societal cohesion. Policymakers are urged to institutionalize these reforms, transforming crises into opportunities and paving the way for a more equitable and adaptive governance future.

Imagining a New Regionalism of Israel: Methodology, Work Process, and Future Vision

Liat Savin Ben Shoshan — 2025-05-08

This paper proposes a new regional division map for the State of Israel, as a response to the country’s ongoing social, political, and territorial crises. Against the backdrop of the October 7th massacre, the war in Gaza, and Israel's deepening internal divisions, the proposed regional framework is an act of spatial and political imagination, aimed at fostering equity, safety, and sustainable development for all citizens. Building on a critical reassessment of the 1951 Sharon Plan—Israel’s first national master plan—the study deconstructs its colonial and ethnocratic foundations while retaining its structural vision of interdependent regional planning. The new map outlines 33 regions anchored by strong urban cores, promoting collaboration between local authorities and bridging urban-rural divides. Drawing on contemporary theories of new regionalism and city-based democracy, the paper positions cities not only as engines of economic growth but as hubs for democratic engagement, social justice, and environmental resilience. It argues for the need to move beyond Israel’s fragmented municipal landscape of 259 local authorities toward a more integrated regional framework that enables equitable distribution of resources, strengthens local governance, and enhances civic participation. Mapping is thus employed as a transformative tool—both diagnostic and generative—capable of shaping more just spatial futures. The proposed regional vision invites a rethinking of national planning as a platform for pluralistic, inclusive, and resilient society-building.

A Regional City—From Division to Cohesion: Feasibility in Arad and the Western Negev

Batya Roded — 2025-05-08

This article assumes that the peripheralization of the Negev region of southern Israel over many decades is the product of a policy of extreme centralization imposed by central government, leading to the neglect of the region and the exclusion of some of its communities. This reality has created profound and worsening gaps—not only between the Negev and the center of Israel, but also within the region. We argue that to change this reality and move toward a more just and egalitarian region, Israel must radically change its perceptions regarding the municipal structure of regions, especially in its peripheries. The combination of neo-liberalism with ethnic nationalism, and governmental centralization are part of the explanation for peripheralization. After presenting the theoretical framework on peripheralization and regionalism, as well as the possibilities for narrowing gaps through administrative and governmental change, we present the research method as qualitative, based on primary and secondary sources (which include numerical data), an analysis of interviews with officials in the Negev, media reports, and the deliverables of workshops. These sources inform an examination of the processes and governmental attitudes with a view to possible change. Hence, we briefly describe the background to the processes and causes of inequality in the Negev; a research critique of the lack of regionalism in Israel; and an analysis of steps toward decentralization adopted in recent years. This is followed by a presentation and discussion of the regional city model as an administrative and governmental structure for narrowing social gaps. The city of Arad and the Western Negev region serve as a test case, as their spatial condition is suitable for the proposed structural change. The article concludes with a summary and discussion of the need for further practical studies to validate the proposed model.

Radical Imaginations? Changing Concepts of Agrotourism and Development as a Platform for a Regional Change in Bedouin Villages of the Negev Highlands

Noa Avriel-Avni — 2025-05-08

The Negev Highlands, located in Israel's arid zone, have been home to Bedouin tribes for centuries. Families and clans attributed the meaning of their place to this vast area. Within this region, they maintained a semi-nomadic lifestyle, moving seasonally in search of pasture and water, relocating and adapting to changing weather conditions. In the early 1980s, these families were forced to settle in parallel with the peace agreements with Egypt and the declaration of most of the Negev Highlands as military training zones or nature reserves. They established villages on the edges of their grazing lands, which were not recognized by the state and, therefore, were not entitled to essential services. Many traditional practices were irrelevant in their new location and quickly disappeared. Our research follows a group of residents from one of those unrecognized Bedouin villages who attempted to imagine a different and better future for their community while staying within their village but transforming it into a Bedouin Heritage Center. Eight in-depth interviews with the Bedouin group's leaders revealed several shifts in their sense of place, which later gave rise to a new spatial identity and spatial socio-political organization. The article follows first how the interviews revealed a local changing sense of place. It then adds a relational geography perspective, articulating the Bedouin changing sense of place with changes in Israel’s development policies and economy in the Negev during the early 2000s and with changing global environmental discourses and free market ideas, we claim these articulations gave rise to new regionalism, new regional spatial and political formations within the Negev highland Bedouin villages.

Regional-based Sustainable Planning in the Western Negev: The Key to Integrating Environmental, Climatic, Social, and Economic Elements

Galia Limor-Sagiv — 2025-05-08

In the past year, since the events of 7 October 2023, residents of the Western Negev have faced complex challenges of rehabilitation. Subsequently, the violence and ongoing war have led to serious injury to body and soul, extensive damage to property – mainly public infrastructure and private homes – as well as massive damage to, and pollution of, the surrounding area. However, the challenges not only included physical and mental damage, but also the dismantling of social textures causing growing concerns about the future among local communities, which are still facing the moral and economic consequences of these events. Looking back after a year, it is clear that rehabilitation efforts have largely failed due to lack of coordination between the various entities, lack of clarity about goals and processes, and particularly a lack of comprehensive regional vision. Furthermore, climate and environmental considerations have hardly been incorporated into the planning of the renewable area. We will argue that optimal rehabilitation of the affected area must be undertaken, and a regional approach based on the principles of sustainable development adopted. We propose that a broad regional perspective should be adopted when considering the reestablishment of settlements and rebuilding infrastructures, and communities; that rehabilitated communities should be fully involved in the decision-making and implementation processes; and that maximum use should be made of the natural, social, and economic resources in the region. In addition, we will outline the key features that make up the geographic, climatic, social, and economic characteristics of the Western Negev, so that they can be harnessed together – as they should be – to promote personal, regional, and national resilience and prosperity for the entire region.

From National Priority to Inclusive Regionality: Rethinking Economic Development in the 'Tkuma' Region

Dvora Abramzon Brosh — 2025-05-08

This study argues that government centralization is reflected in the "Tkuma" (Revival) administration's strategic plan for developing the Gaza Envelope region. The plan illustrates a zero-sum dynamic between the central government and regional interests in economic development. As a result, regional interests are missing and not seen, as reflected in regional economic indicators. The first aspect of the case study is recognizing the region as the "Gaza Envelope" based on the criteria of the "national priority" resolution, defining it as an area within 7 km of the border fence with Gaza, while failing to acknowledge the region’s borders based on commuting patterns and economic centers. The second aspect is the government’s focus on investment in agriculture, which aligns with national priorities but misses the larger complex regional opportunities (and challenges). While there is no doubt about the importance of the aspects promoted in the plan, it lacks a focus on the impact on economic growth and overlooks economic sectors that engage a larger portion of the local population. The study offers initial directions of thought on the region’s boundaries and economic structure.

The Pillars of Regional Strategic Planning: Guidelines for the Israeli Context

Tomer Dekel — 2025-05-08

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.

Book Reviews

Book Reviewers — 2025-05-08

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