The study, which started in 2015 and should last two years, examines the impact of the IDF bases' relocation to the Negev on strengthening urbanity in the Be'er Sheva metropolitan area. Relocation of military installations is conceived as a major mechanism for strengthening the towns located at the Be'er Sheva metropolitan area. The study is examining this thesis, in relation to empirical evidence, indicating that inequality is increasing within metropolitan regions. Thus, the study focuses on the potential influence that the military bases will have on strengthening the Negev's urban sector by increasing its social integration, or the opposite: on encouraging urban sprawl and spatial exclusion.
In December 2016, we submitted a preliminary report to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The study examines the housing planned supply and the demand for it. On the supply side, planning would be examined in the study area, through evaluating how institutional key players perceive the urban and regional development policy. Whether the perceived development is targeted at strengthening the urban sector in the region or weakening it. The main research tools employed in the process of this examination are interviews.
On the demand side, four sets of surveys are planned to be executed, examining the willingness of relevant groups to live in the Negev. The surveys includes also the subjects’ willingness to emigrate and live in the Negev as part of communal arrangements. Another part of the study examines the likelihood that the sampled groups will emigrate to the Negev.
The study is conducted in collaboration with a team from Ben Gurion University.
The results of this study will provide decision makers with relevant information regarding their future planning and actions in this matter.
