A "Supertanker" Against Bureaucracy in the Wake of a Housing Crisis: Neoliberalizing Planning in Netanyahu's Israel. Issue 5 (21st April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Charney, Igal
• Is Part Of: Antipode. Volume 49:Issue 5(2017:Nov.)
• Page Start: 1223
• Page End: 1243
• Publication Date: 2017-04-21
• Subjects: neoliberalization -- governance -- planning policy -- housing crisis -- Israel; Geography -- Periodicals; 910.5
• DOI: 10.1111/anti.12331
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0066-4812

Abstract

Abstract: This paper critically questions the state's hostile takeover of planning regulation followed by experimentation initiated by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been seeking to subordinate the planning apparatus to market calculus and to short‐term political ends. To substantiate this argument, I have examined a large corpus of documents (official government documents, planning records, and court appeals and rulings, and NGO reports) and analyzed the media coverage between 2011 and 2016. By introducing fast‐track planning that is firmly controlled by the central state and focusing on the fictitious delivery of housing units, the structure of the planning regulation has dramatically changed. Further, two already‐dominant government ministries (Finance and Defense) have been significantly empowered, becoming the supervisors of the reformed planning system. In a state captivated by neoliberal fixation and embroiled in a housing crisis, the restructuring of planning governance has been a means to an end.