Yoad Shachar
Jerusalem Institute for Israel
Studies www.jiis.org
The modern city serves
us, its residents, in a variety of ways. We live, work, seek leisure and
recreation, or simply walk around within the city. In the past, space was not
sharply divided along its different uses, but during the nineteenth century the
various uses of space within the city began to be differentiated so as to
prevent nuisances or harm from certain uses of land to other parts.
The combination of land
uses within a city varies across Israel’s various municipalities and local
councils, and the particular mix generally reflects the character of the city.
For example, a local council with a particularly high percentage of residential
areas will serve primarily as a bedroom suburb whose residents seek employment
and recreation elsewhere. Land use plays a major part in the socio-economic
status of a city. We would expect, for example, that a town with large
industrial zones – which are a main source of employment – would have many
residents who are employed as blue-collar workers in the industrial sector. In
contrast, a town with large areas of office space would serve as a home for
many professionals. The combination of land uses is extremely significant in relation
to the municipal budget, which is based on municipal taxes (Arnona) from
apartments and properties in the city, some of which yield higher taxes than
others: areas zoned for commerce yield a much higher Arnona than residential
zones. In other words, the combination of land uses in large part determines
the city’s economic base.
Jerusalem is Israel’s
second-largest city after Dimona in terms of area of jurisdiction. It covers
125 square kilometers, significantly higher than the figures for Tel Aviv, with
52 square kilometers, or Haifa, with 65. Yet only 47% of Jerusalem comprises
built-up areas, compared with 73% of the area of Tel Aviv and 55% of Haifa. The
large discrepancies between these cities become strikingly apparent when we
examine how their built-up areas are divided for various uses.
Among the major cities
with a population greater than 200,000, Jerusalem dedicates the highest
percentage of its built-up areas to residential purposes (71% of all built-up areas).
This is a high percentage relative to what we might expect for the country’s
largest city and the center of a metropolis. Among the major cities, Ashdod and
Haifa have the lowest percentages of residential areas as a proportion of
built-up areas. These cities have large areas zoned for industry as well as the
infrastructure and transportation necessary for the ports they contain.
Another striking
discrepancy among the major cities is the difference in percentage of area
zoned for commerce and office space. Only 6% of the built-up area in Jerusalem serves
as commerce or office space while in Tel Aviv the figure is 17% of built-up
areas – nearly threefold. In Haifa 13% of built-up areas serve as commerce and
office space, twice the figure for Jerusalem.
Areas zoned for commerce
and office space are particularly significant in terms of the municipal budget
because they yield higher Arnona municipal tax revenues than other land uses.
As most of a municipality’s independent revenue comes from Arnona, the
motivation to expand areas of commerce and office space is evident. This is apparently
the reason that the big plans for city development focus on the business zone now
taking shape and form at the entrance to the capital. It is important to keep
in mind, however, that zoning land for commerce and office space does not
guarantee that it will be used for this purpose. After zoning land for a
particular use, and before printing those promising Arnona bills, the city must
create incentives for companies and business owners to come and set up shop in
the new business zone and thus actualize its intended use.
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