Metropolitan Jerusalem

Yair Assaf-Shapira

A metropolis is defined as an urban area that includes a main (metropolitan) city, which constitutes the core of the metropolis, and other surrounding localities that have relations with it. There is, generally, interaction between the satellite communities of the metropolis and the metropolitan city for the purposes of employment, education, culture, shopping, and the like. The intensity of relations with the metropolitan city determines whether a locality is defined as part of the metropolis or not. Recently the Central Bureau of Statistics released new definitions for the metropolises in Israel, with Jerusalem included for the first time. Also included were the metropolises of Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Be’er Sheva. The definitions were based on the rate of employed residents of each locality who work in the main employment centers of the metropolis. About 75% of Israel’s population resides within these metropolitan areas.

Metropolitan Jerusalem has been defined as stretching from Jerusalem to Beit Shemesh in the west, and including Israeli localities in the West Bank, up to Mitzpe Yericho in the east, to Ofra in the north to Gush Etzion in the south. In all, the metropolis comprises 86 localities, and has a population of 1,164,000 residents. Metropolitan Jerusalem is the second largest, after Metropolitan Tel Aviv, which numbers 3,642,000. The metropolises of Haifa and Be’er Sheva have populations of 891,100 and 354,900 residents, respectively. 

We can learn about the character of the metropolis by looking at the population of the core city as a proportion of the entire metropolitan populace (the weight of the core city within the metropolitan area), both in spatial terms – how concentrated or scattered it is– and in economic terms – the weight of the metropolitan satellite communities and hence their potential contribution to the prosperity of the core city.

This factor varies greatly among Israel’s metropolitan areas. The population of Tel Aviv-Jaffa constitutes only 11% of the entire metropolis’s population, whereas in Jerusalem the population of the city constitutes 71% of the total for the entire metropolis. For Haifa and Be’er Sheva, the weight of the core city in each metropolis is 31% and 56%, respectively. Accordingly, the relative weight of the metropolitan city within the metropolis is lowest for Tel Aviv – an indication of the large number of residents with ties to the city, a fact that correlates with the economic prosperity of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Jerusalem’s relative weight is the highest, correlating with the low weight of the metropolitan satellite communities and indicating that Jerusalem provides services and employment primarily to its own residents. 

Source of data: Central Bureau of Statistics

To smoke or not to smoke?

Inbal Doron

During 2010, the Social Survey of the Central Bureau of Statistics explored the issue of health in depth and collected a large amount of data about cigarette smoking in Israel. Approximately 1,270,000 individuals aged 20 and above reported that they currently smoke. This figure represents 27% of Israel’s population for the 20+ age group. Among these smokers, 64% are men and 36% are women. In Jerusalem, 105,000 individuals indicated that they currently smoke, representing 24% of the city’s population aged 20 and above. This is lower than the figures for Tel Aviv and Haifa, where the percentage of smokers among the population’s 20+ age group is 32% and 29% respectively. In Jerusalem the ratio of men among the smokers was relatively high (75%) compared to Tel Aviv (55%) and Haifa (58%).

The percentage of smokers in Jerusalem is not relatively high, but Jerusalemites smoke more cigarettes per day. Only 17% smoke fewer than five cigarettes per day, compared to 30% in Tel Aviv and 25% in Haifa. A total of 70% smoke more than 11 cigarettes per day, which is much higher than the figure for Tel Aviv (50%) or for Israel and Haifa (55%).

The data indicate that the starting age for smoking in Israel is quite young. Among today’s smokers aged 20 and above, 64% started smoking before age 18. In Jerusalem the percentage of smokers who started smoking before age 18 was 58%, in Tel Aviv it was 65%, and in Haifa 67%.

Today 39% of smokers in Jerusalem are trying to quit. Jerusalemites who had smoked in the past indicated that their main reason for quitting was a health problem or health concern (70%), family and societal pressure (8%), or an aesthetic problem (6%). Less than 1% indicated that they quit smoking because of the high financial cost.

And what about passive smoking? In 1983 a law was passed to prevent smoking and exposure to smoke in public places, including workplaces. Despite this, approximately 338,000 individuals in Jerusalem, representing 77% of the population aged 20 and above, reported on exposure to smoke in their workplaces. Among these, 45% are exposed to smoke to a large or very large extent. 

Source: Analysis of data from the Social Survey 2010, Central Bureau of Statistics