Public Housing in Israel: From Welfare State to Neoliberalism

This paper analyzes and explains the evolution of public housing in Israel. Compared to other countries, Israel’s public housing has undergone massive change throughout the last few decades, and is therefore an interesting case study. In the 1950s and 1960s, public housing made up 60% of the state’s total housing stock, and most of the population was eligible. Today, however, public housing is marginal in scope and earmarked for only 1.9% of the population, most of which come from the poorest households. This study presents the explanation of these changes and the current state of public housing in Israel.Cet article analyse et explique l’évolution du logement public en Israël. Comparé à d’autres pays, Israël a connu les plus grands changements dans ces logements au cours des dernières décennies et constitue donc une étude de cas intéressante. Alors que, dans les années 1950 et 1960, les logements sociaux représentaient 60% du parc total de logements de l’État, et la plupart de la population était éligible; aujourd’hui, les logements sociaux sont marginaux, réservés à seulement 1.9% de la population, principalement les ménages les plus pauvres. Cette étude présente l’explication de ces changements et de la situation actuelle du logement public en Israël

Bills, Rights and Housing Policy: The Evolution of Israel’s Seven-Decade Housing-Related Bills

How do bills contribute to the promotion of housing rights? Is there a relation between the content of proposed bills and a country’s dominant political economy? Are changes in the political-economic regime reflected in housing-related bills? What type of bill is most likely to be enacted: a provision or a protection? These are the challenge of this study. The analysis is based on the theoretical classic distinction between “provisions” (positive rights) and “protections” (negative rights) from the realm of human rights, producing an empirical cumulative-aggregative analysis, which examines the scope and content of housing-related bills in the Israeli parliament since its establishment in 1948, until today. The research findings are counterintuitive, challenging the understanding that welfare regimes encourage extensive provisions, as opposed to neoliberal regimes that promote extensive protections. Given the current global housing affordability crisis, the research findings are relevant to many countries, parliaments, and organizations that are currently seeking to promote various housing rights

Public Housing in Israel: From Welfare State to Neoliberalism

This paper analyzes and explains the evolution of public housing in Israel. Compared to other countries, Israel’s public housing has undergone massive change throughout the last few decades, and is therefore an interesting case study. In the 1950s and 1960s, public housing made up 60% of the state’s total housing stock, and most of the population was eligible. Today, however, public housing is marginal in scope and earmarked for only 1.9% of the population, most of which come from the poorest households. This study presents the explanation of these changes and the current state of public housing in Israel

Join the Club: Club Goods, Residential Development, and Transportation

A good and sustainable city requires compatibility between the various functions and services that it provides its residents. This study examined the relations between the development of new residential neighborhoods and transportation infrastructure by applying Tiebout’s model of club goods. Thus, we introduced the spatial dimension into the theory of club goods by referring to neighborhoods as clubs and their residents as the club’s members, who make location decisions. Specifically, we explored how residents behave spatially in response to the problematic transportation infrastructure of the neighborhoods. That is, to consider the socioeconomic implications of inadequate transportation infrastructure, we used data from newly developed neighborhoods in Israel to examine the extent to which an increase in traffic congestion can reduce a neighborhood’s size. Our findings show a negative correlation between increases in travel time and the number of housing transactions undertaken in a given neighborhood, thus confirming Tiebout’s assumption that people vote with their feet: When traffic congestion increases, residents prefer to leave the neighborhood and move, in all likelihood, to a place with less congestion. The paper also discusses the results with respect to the social consequences of these trends and warns against the expected socioeconomic consequences, namely that those who can afford to do so will leave in favor of a club with better conditions. The key lessons derived from this study of the Israeli experience are considered relevant to many other countries experiencing similar situations