Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

The two latest reforms the government seeks to promote – the land reform and a new railroad expansion plan – are part of a long lasting tradition of policymakers towards developing Israel’s “periphery”, mainly by attracting population from the center. However, in most cases, these policies fail and gaps between the center and periphery continue to widen. In Reut’s opinion, implementing these new reforms without changing the discourse is unlikely to work in the long run.

One of the main goals of the land reform is to lower national housing prices. However, it seems that high prices are not the main factor preventing people from settling in the periphery, where many empty apartments are for sale. Therefore, whether housing prices fall at the same rate across the country, or in the case where apartments in the center become more accessible, it is more likely that the current trend of ‘centralization’ will increase. In turn, this would mean a further brain drain and weakening of the periphery.

A new railroad expansion plan is an important and necessary infrastructure for those currently living in the periphery. However, it is unlikely that fast trains by themselves will lure a higher skilled labor force. A study (Hebrew) by the state revenue administration claims that even today people prefer to live in the center and commute to the periphery. Increasing accessibility, without any parallel means alongside it, would exacerbate this trend.

It thus seems that such reforms and incentives are not enough without the creation of a new discourse and shift in perception. Certain areas, which are currently ‘framed’ as being part of the periphery (in relation to the center) should instead be defined as standing on their own. The key is in identifying endogenous and unique assets these regions have to offer. In addition, it is crucial to transform these regions into competitive global clusters and to discover the unique quality of life that distinguishes the region from others.

Only then will the people who are truly interested in what the region has to offer make their homes there.

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Article by the Socio-Economic team on this topic published in theMarker.