Author: Noy Drori

During this year’s conference, the Urban Clinic arranged a session on urban renewal as a tool for social mobility. During the sessions, participants and speakers from various professional backgrounds presented what urban renewal means to people of low-income and disenfranchised groups. Instead of discussing the current reality, the speakers attempted to provide a nuanced and renewed look at projects that use urban renewal to leverage social mobility and position it as a central goal alongside increasing the national housing supply.

An analysis of the current situation notes the preference for sectoral and economic residential segregation that advances planning based on economic goals. Having mixed populations in new neighborhoods has only happened accidentally, and the state does not plan for any type of diversity. Additionally, according to Avital Blonder, CEO and founder of Jindas, an NGO advancing social urban renewal, the state no longer uses or perceives housing as a tool for social mobility. This is particularly worrisome because socioeconomic gaps throughout the country and regions continue to grow, and a positive correlation between social mobility and residence address has been identified. Assaf Simon, CEO of Africa Israel, a development firm, explains that one of the main issues is that the discourse is still based on economic terms, mainly by the land income multiplier.

 

This raises the question, how do you begin to solve the issue?

 

Richard Baron, Co-Founder and Chairman of US-based real estate company McCormack Baron Salazar, was the main guest at the conference and shared his groundbreaking experience. Richard grew up in a mixed neighborhood in Detroit in the 1940s and experienced socioeconomic class diversity as something positive. His experience led him to formulate a vision for ‘nontraditional’ urban renewal. Beginning in the 1970s, he began to promote an alternative model for social urban renewal in areas with high concentrations of disadvantaged populations, few businesses, and little public investment. He did this by advancing an integrative model that looked at housing policy, public space, and education and welfare systems as critical factors in social mobility.

 

But can Baron’s vision be applied in Israel as well? Jindas is working toward making that a reality by applying Baron’s tools to diminish Israel's social and economic gaps.

 

Avital Blunder proposes a model for neighborhood urban renewal in Ramat Eshkol in Lod. She bases her work on the assumption that social mobility happens in mixed-income environments. When examining housing issues, Jindas provides a broader perspective, one in which urban renewal includes developing schools, community centers, and public spaces with a strategic and long-term outlook. Avital describes how, as of now, the key indicator for education outcomes in Israel is one’s address. Through this type of urban renewal, she claims, that that cycle can be broken. According to her, a model for urban renewal that targets the most disadvantaged places and populations who have real social needs is where one can effect change. However, these are neighborhoods that have not been slated for renewal opportunities because low property values result in unfeasible projects for developers.

 

In addition to presenting different plan alternatives, Avital describes the heart of the housing crisis in Israel. Currently, only 2% of the housing supply is state-owned public housing, and 98% is privately owned and regulated. However, most of the population does not qualify for public housing, nor can it afford to bear the growing rental costs or purchase a home in the private market, indicating that different housing solutions need to be presented. Avital emphasizes the need to create an intermediate housing market that offers affordable housing that is developed in tandem with centers for culture, education, and community in each neighborhood.

Avital Blunder (Credit: Israel Planners Association)

 

Two other speakers presented courses of action to complement this type of housing policy. First was Dr. Michal Braier, architect, planner, and the Clinic’s head of community engagement. She questioned how social leadership and fairness would come into play in Ramat Eshkol if/when it would undergo high-intensity development. She used Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem as a case study to propose the need to focus on non-statutory neighborhood master plans in addition to developing housing. She notes that neighborhoods’ public networks are rarely planned at the same stage as the actual housing. This is unfortunate because the public network is a crucial element in urban renewal and residents' quality of life. Michal explains that the public network is developed by various bodies that do not have a central command that coordinates the planning and project execution. This results in a process that largely benefits the homeowners as their properties go up in value but does not necessarily help the tenant populations who do not benefit from an improved public network.

 

Noga Adler, the Director of Community Urban Development in the Department of Community Work at the Ministry of Welfare, spoke next. She stressed the need to constantly refer to the question: urban renewal and social leadership for whom? Who are the beneficiaries of these processes? Noga claims that urban renewal is one of the country's biggest forms of social intervention. It can change the lives of disadvantaged members of society, whether it is those who lack familial support, individuals living in poverty, the elderly, or people with disabilities. They are most vulnerable to the complications of life. However, urban renewal is also a very complex process that may threaten their residence and daily life. There is often mistrust between developers and tenants, and their routine life is uprooted when their home undergoes renewal. According to Noga, demolishing the old and cheap apartments for urban renewal directly contributes to the displacement of these vulnerable groups. She concludes by saying that social leadership in urban renewal must take into account these people and their circumstances.

 

Translation: Galya Globerman