Who wants to live in a residential tower? Apparently fewer people than real estate developers thought. A recent study shows that between 1998 and 2003, there was a significant rise in the allocation of land for garden apartments and houses in rural communities, in contravention of the state's planning policy. According to the study, barely 50% of the land designated for residential housing during those years was in urban centers, while the other half was in rural areas, particularly in the central region.
The comprehensive study, conducted by environmental planner Moti Kaplan, for the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies and the Open Areas Department at the Environmental Protection Ministry, examined the use of all the built-up land in Israel. The researchers found that in 2003 Israel had 1,224 square kilometers of built-up land, 70% of which held residential housing and 11% roads. The remainder was used for commercial and industrial buildings.
The study showed that about 10% of the land north of the Negev is currently built-up, and that each year the built-up land increases by 1%. A substantial share of the construction in recent years has been low density (one- and two-story houses), despite the fact that official planning policy advocates reinforcement of urban areas. The Israeli dream house is apparently not a penthouse in an urban residential tower, but rather a cottage with a garden. The vast gulf between urban and rural housing density has been increasing. About 10% of the population lives on 29% of the residential land, while another 10% lives on just 4%. The most densely populated areas are Bnei Berak, Bat Yam, Elad, Holon and Givat Shmuel, where population density is 28 persons per dunam (1/4 acre) of land. In the 100 most sparsely populated communities, each resident occupies 0.6-2 dunams, while in the most densely populated areas, each resident enjoys just 0.03-0.14 dunam. Even so, in general, population density is increasing. In the years 1998-2003 this statistic rose by 6.6%.
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Wasteful land use
"The statistics indicate a steady trend away from the crowded cities to communities with low population density," states the study, with respect to Jewish towns. "The population density extremes, whereby a small proportion of the population is using a high percentage of the land resources, constitutes wasteful land use and the improper and unequal distribution of land resources."
Is residential space distributed as unequally as wealth, with the richest people living in the least densely populated areas? One of the study's interesting findings is that there is not always a correlation between the socioeconomic and population density indexes. The prosperous Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon has the same population density as the largely underprivileged Tiberias, and Holon's residents have one third the residential land space as those of Gedera, even though both these locales are on the same socio-economic level. Kaplan explains that cities such as Givatayim, Ramat Gan and Holon, which rank high on the socioeconomic ladder, are proof that densely populated cities can provide their residents with a high standard of living. Kaplan therefore believes that a different policy should be adopted - one that promotes urban centers with high population density and quality of life, while limiting the expansion of rural communities and suburbs, and avoiding the founding of new towns.
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