The "Committee on Human Geography" of the Academy of the Hebrew Language (there is such a thing), which has been active in recent years at Ben-Gurion University, seriously discussed a new Hebrew term for the term: "periphery."
The word that was seriously discussed in the committee was "Shula," a marginal word, but was ultimately rejected by the Academy's Central Nomenclature Committee, when the Academy's president, Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher, strongly disapproved of it, and rightly so.
After all, the periphery is no longer marginal. The more common word is "spaces," and it accurately describes the layout of cities in Israel. This word was adopted by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, but was not discussed by the committee. I'm all for it. You?
What is really the periphery today and what are the real areas of demand? So friends, don't say more Gedera-Hadera axis - but Krayot-Netivot - they are the new areas of demand of the State of Israel. Don't use the word "periphery" anymore, but say: "spaces." In general, this whole country is like a daily commute from New Jersey to Manhattan more or less, or a small town in China. Quite "lame" in cosmopolitan values.
Alfasi Netivot neighborhood Photo: Almog Group, Photo: Almog Group
Among other things, the COVID-19 pandemic "bears responsibility" for connecting residents from the center to the regions, with many discovering that these are preferable to urban lockdowns, which led to a breach of demand boundaries. If once we had to "gamble" and wonder which residential neighborhood is considered good and recommended to live in, today we know how to map quite easily in a short stroll on the Internet in order to understand which neighborhood is more desirable and which is less.
What defines a residential neighborhood as desirable and to what extent is it related to geographical boundaries? From the real estate developer's point of view, the terms "periphery" and "center" are a thing of the past. The accelerated development of transportation systems in our compact country and the rise in housing prices in the center of the country have increased the public's demand for cheaper housing in the regions as well.
"The term periphery is a term with a negative connotation compared to the center of the country and areas of demand," explains architect Gil Shenhav, "We believe that language creates reality, and as part of the efforts to bridge the gaps that exist today between the center of the country and its northern and southern regions, we need to change the terminology and not refer to cities like Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, Netivot or Be'er Sheva as cities that are far from Tel Aviv but as cities in the 'expanses' that are developing in Israel."
However, there are a number of very clear criteria common to neighborhoods that are considered successful and desirable. If we take the Afeka neighborhood in Kiryat Bialik, for example, we can see a prominent case study that illustrates the issue at the national level. On the face of it, this is a neighborhood in the northeastern stern of the city. "It's not a neighborhood in a prestigious city in the Gush Dan area, it's not even a prestigious Haifa neighborhood, but it's still one of the most successful and sought-after neighborhoods in Israel," says Yossi Fairmark, vice president of entrepreneurship at Sela Binui.
The truth is that it took time for the token to drop for entrepreneurs as well as the public. The new neighborhood faltered at first, but the municipality finished planning the neighborhood more than a decade ago with a clear and uncompromising vision for expanding the city and a desire for significant positive immigration, and finally worked wonders.
Afeka Sela Binui Vineyard Project Photography - All In,
The Afeka neighborhood will include about 5,000 households that will benefit from public institutions that will serve the public, such as kindergartens at an unprecedented number per household, elementary school, middle school, high school, a commercial center that combines commerce and employment, a synagogue, a school for children with disabilities, rich environmental development full of green spaces, a nature reserve and great transportation planning. "This will allow residents to receive all the services in the neighborhood itself without having to start the car," explains Mayor Eli Dukorsky.
In addition, the neighborhood benefits from main traffic arteries that allow accessibility to and from the neighborhood, such as the recently built Bialik North Interchange (Chen Interchange), which connects the neighborhood to Highway 22 Krayot Bypass, Highway 4 and Highway 6, via the new Somekh Interchange.
Demand makes the map
Sound like an advertisement for the perfect place to live? Definitely coming close to that. According to the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, the data speak for themselves. A report by the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance shows that the periphery – that is, the areas – bypasses Tel Aviv and its neighbors. Demand areas in the center of the country, which are characterized by relatively high price levels, particularly in the Tel Aviv area, are leading the decline in the number of transactions in 2022 as a whole.
In contrast, around Be'er Sheva and Haifa, the rates of decline in the number of transactions on the free market during the same period were relatively moderate, ranging between 8–4 percent, respectively. Among those improving housing, compared to the second quarter of 2022, purchases declined by 14 percent.
In the Tiberias and Safed areas, there was an increase of 6%.
From this we will learn that the attractive demand is actually for cities in the periphery and not for the center. Or in other words - to the spaces and not to the state of Tel Aviv.
People are rediscovering the quality of life in closed community neighborhoods, such as those in the Krayot. Whether it's the Givat Alonim neighborhood built by Sharviv in Kiryat Ata, or the new adjacent Givat Anemones neighborhood built by America Israel and Best, or the Afeka neighborhood in Kiryat Bialik.
Anemone Hill is a new residential neighborhood in eastern Kiryat Ata, built on a hill overlooking the Carmel landscape.
3,470 housing units will be built in the neighborhood, 664 of which are being built by America Israel and Best in 4 towers and 25 boutique buildings with a unique and modern architectural design with a Bauhaus touch by architect Prof. Gabi Schwartz. Alongside the residential complexes, public buildings will be built to serve the public, such as schools, kindergartens, a day center for the elderly, synagogues, and about 23 dunams for commercial space.
Anemone Hill Kiryat Ata of BST and America Israel Photo :(Simulation) and Viewpoint,
The Givat Alonim neighborhood in Kiryat Ata, near Givat Anemones, is an excellent example of another autonomous neighborhood, which enjoys many advantages, including community and high transportation accessibility. The neighborhood is located north of the Givat Tal neighborhood and enjoys proximity to major traffic arteries and large employment centers.
For example, the Kryon, the large shopping mall of the Krayot area, is only a 9-minute drive from the neighborhood; Residents reach the train station by car in just 14 minutes; Highway 22 (Krayot bypass road) is reached within a 7-minute drive and Highway 6 is reached in just <> minutes.
According to Sarah Ilin, vice president of marketing at Sharviv, which builds most of the houses in the neighborhood: "The Givat Alonim neighborhood is very fun and comfortable to live in.
On the one hand, it enables a quiet, communal and rural lifestyle, and on the other hand, it is very accessible to everything residents need on a daily basis – workplaces, public transportation and main roads. It's a peripheral model that creates high demand because it meets the needs of most families in Israel."
The relatively low prices undoubtedly lead to the choice to live in spaces. The sales campaigns, for example, catapulted Kiryat Gat to 2nd place in investor purchases last September, with 95 investment apartments purchased in Carmei Gat. This compares with only 12 in September last year (when the city was ranked 36th in investor purchases).
Raz Schreiber, co-owner of Inhouse, Marketing Residential Projects: "Over the past decade, the price in Carmei Gat has soared by more than 80% and we expect the price to continue to rise, as the trend in the real estate market continues in the status quo. There is great importance in developing residential areas outside of Tel Aviv and the periphery in particular, and there is very high demand for this, especially in residential areas that offer quality of life and community."
Schreiber's remarks are reinforced by Central Bureau of Statistics data indicating price declines in areas of demand, which gives an advantage to peripheral towns and cities. While in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, home prices declined by 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, in the Galilee and the North, prices rose surprisingly by 2.2 percent.
Not to "fight" but to "strengthen" In recent times, more and more voices have been heard believing in the concept that instead of "bringing the periphery closer to the center," the periphery should be "
strengthened" and turned into a center in itself.
The new reality in peripheral cities is expressed, among other things, by the adoption of planning models that were characterized mainly in the center and the Dan region, but in recent years have also spilled over into the new spaces.
The new "patent" for peripheral neighborhoods is a mix of uses that has become a binding trend in planning, according to which everything is located right under the house, with a combination of residential, employment, commerce, and even hotels and entertainment.
Asher Keshet, VP Sales of Rain Holdings, explains: "It is customary to use the term periphery to denote areas far from the large metropolis, but in the current Israeli housing market, the meaning of distance is diminishing day by day.
The big metropolis is really traveled to when there is an exceptional need."
"The accelerated expansion of the mixed-use philosophy to cities in the geographic periphery 'eliminates' one of the main challenges that will accompany residential in these cities to date – geographical distance from a focus of interest," adds Micha Klein, CEO of Africa Israel Residences. "This is in addition to making the residential experience accessible in attractive areas, which cannot be found in the center of the country.
Africa Israel Residences takes an active part in increasing supply to the growing demand for these projects, with the advancement of hundreds of housing units at various planning and construction stages in cities in the geographic periphery."
An excellent example of this is the "Carmel Lakes" project in Nesher, led by Africa Israel in cooperation with the Shikun & Binui Group and Clal Real Estate. Located in the heart of a nature reserve in the city, the project carries with it the spirit of modern neighborhoods, with thousands of apartments and hundreds of thousands of square meters of commercial and employment space, built with advanced and diverse planning elements, including construction on the slopes of the Carmel. The many uses of the project and the pastoral environment around it, in synergy with the high accessibility to transportation, education, leisure and commercial centers - position "Carmel Lakes" as a project that attracts a young and high-quality audience that strengthens the city and contributes to all its residents.
Despite the pastoral reality that emerges, still in terms of services per resident, the cities of the center and the Dan region are triumphing over the developing periphery. A study by the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance found that young people's chances of social mobility in strong cities in the center of the country are significantly higher than those of young people in peripheral cities.
According to Eitan Levy, managing partner at Ayala Agam: "The solution to this is not moving to the center, but strengthening the periphery and raising the socioeconomic index of local authorities in the periphery.
When the periphery attracts more and more strong populations, not only do the homes look better, but there is an increase in the level of education, health, hospitals, extracurricular activities, and other related services that young families consume – and we see this in the various cities."
David Yahalomi, CEO of the Fund for the Encouragement and Development of the Construction Industry in Israel and Chairman of the Foundation's Infrastructure Staff: "The expected doubling of the country's population in the next three decades requires the establishment of metropolitan areas in the north and south and their connection to the center through advanced infrastructure and the construction of 3 million housing units. The government must increase investment in construction and infrastructure and remove barriers in order to bring the periphery closer to the center. The Israeli government must see infrastructure development as an investment, not an expense."
Shimon Lankri, Mayor of Acre and Chairman of the Galilee Council, adds, "The Galilee should be the first priority of the State of Israel, in economic and infrastructural development in order to keep the young forces. The state needs to swing the pendulum from Gush Dan to the north. To establish quality employment centers here, and accordingly to build housing units and remove the traffic jam in the center."
Metropolis as a magnet
A good metropolis is one that is a center of employment, commerce and services, and provides the population with leisure and cultural activities. Its functioning is measured by the number of people entering and leaving it.
Planning the northern and southern regions and the consolidation of metropolitan areas in them are a clear goal of successive Israeli governments over the past 25 years, in order to turn the area into a metropolis with a number of focal points, at the base of the idea is an interest in creating an economic and cultural anchor that will serve as a counterweight to the growing power of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Unfortunately, despite the state's constant efforts, the socioeconomic gaps between the country's economic core in the central Tel Aviv region and the northern and southern regions are not closing. Market forces are stronger than government efforts, and in practice, the gaps have deepened over the years. The lockdowns during the coronavirus period opened the eyes of many, when a population of strong socioeconomic status moved to the new neighborhoods in Netivot and Ashkelon, and to the Krayot, around Haifa.
Still, most of the proposed plans emphasize spatial aspects when economic and employment aspects are not given the proper place, especially in implementation and implementation. This situation is one of the reasons for the lack of success of the plans for development in the periphery, and these cities are unable to cope with the strong "magnet" of the center of the country, whose core is Gush Dan and the city of Tel Aviv.
In order for the words to become reality, the new government and local authorities must work together to transform urban centers in the periphery into metropolitan areas (a collection of localities and cities with a common connection).
What are all the areas of demand in the State of Israel? In Israel, there are actually four distinct metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv-Center, Be'er Sheva, Haifa, and Jerusalem.
However, the narrowing of education gaps, employment opportunities, and transportation improvements – such as the paving of Highway 6 and the railway routes – stretch the areas of demand towards the Ashkelon governorate in the south, and the Krayot in the north. These are becoming the new fringes of metropolitan Tel Aviv.
"Defining the entire northern region, Galilee and Haifa district as one multi-focal metropolis will increase the chances of reaching a critical mass that can withstand the Tel Aviv magnet," says Michal Gur, CEO of Almogim, "Advancing the metropolis requires implementing a systemic approach based on a series of complex processes and large investments in broad areas."
Accessibility is the name of the game
Transportation Minister Miri Regev recently threatened to halt the metro project in the center until the train is promoted to Kiryat Shmona and Eilat – projects at a total cost of more than NIS 40 billion.
Transportation has undergone a significant upgrade in recent decades, both through Highway 6 that crosses Israel – which today connects Be'er Sheva and the northern Negev with the Western Galilee, and via the train – which already reaches Karmiel in the north and the western Negev via Be'er Sheva and Dimona in the south. What Highway 6 did to Yokneam is now done by the HaEmek Railway line to Afula and the line between Karmiel and Haifa.
It is expected that such prosperity will also occur in the Galilee landscape, with the connection of the light rail line between Haifa and Nof HaGalil, work that began last year.
"If people can reach the center within an hour to an hour and a quarter, then the possibility of living in the periphery and working in the center will open," says Rakefet Lahav, vice president of marketing and sales at Almog Group, "but if they have to take a bus and then a train and then a bus again, and be on the road between 3-4 hours a day, it's not realistic.
It is also reflected in the difficulty of bringing the best professionals to the ends of the country, such as doctors and lecturers, who prefer to remain in the center. But if they had a good, efficient train, the situation would be different."
"What is a periphery?" asks appraiser Assaf Gestafreund, "is the Krayot a periphery? Highway 22, the Krayot bypass, which opened several years ago, made the Krayot accessible with Haifa and the Carmel and Acre tunnels, it serves as a main transportation route, similar to the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv. The road solved a lot of hardships and traffic jams. If in the past we drove from Kiryat Ata to the exit from Haifa for almost an hour, today we connect to the Carmel Tunnels within 10 minutes.
This process and the transportation improvements that will yet be made bring the entire north closer to the center and put communities that until now have been pushed back on the demand map."
Although there is much room for improvement, the results are already visible on the ground, and the periphery is approaching the center through transportation accessibility. "In terms of geographic distribution, the use of the term 'periphery' will become less and less relevant in the coming years. As more roads are paved and public transportation is improved and developed, travel times will shorten and physical distance will become less significant," explains Hannah Schwartz, VP Marketing and Sales at Avnei Derech Group.
Milestones and Cedars_Tzafnat Safed_Photo :(Simulation) of Bat El Zeitouni, Zeitouni Simulations,
The Mitzpe Hayamim neighborhood, located between Mount Canaan and the entrance to Safed, is a wonderful example of this. After decades of "drought" years in which there were no building starts in Safed, the new neighborhood overlooks the Sea of Galilee and will include about 1,400 new housing units, with the Israel Railways station planned about 5 kilometers from the neighborhood. The project is being built by "Arazim" and "Milestones" companies, which have identified the potential of the area, among other things due to transportation accessibility, and are currently constructing the "Tzafnat" project, which will include 244 apartments in 18 seven-story boutique buildings, expected to be occupied during 2025.
Non-residents are also discovering the peripheral potential. If so far the majority preferred to invest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Netanya, during 2022 foreign residents discovered distant cities, such as Kiryat Malachi (Carmi Hanadiv neighborhood) and Safed (Mitzpe Yamim neighborhood). In Kiryat Malachi, purchases by foreign residents accounted for one-fifth of the new apartments sold in the city. In Safed there was a higher rate, in Eilat and Ashdod, miraculously, almost no purchases were made by foreign residents in the second quarter of this year.
The periphery surpasses Tel Aviv
How do you see an increase in the standard of living? The number of towers in the periphery this year increased significantly, while in Tel Aviv the number of towers decreased. In 2022, there has been a decline in the number of building starts of buildings of 16 floors or more in Israel's tower capital, Tel Aviv, while in peripheral cities, towers are beginning to be part of the landscape and cut the sky line.
For example, in Be'er Sheva construction began on 343 housing units, in Kiryat Yam – 222 housing units, and in Kiryat Malachi – construction began on 195 housing units.
In localities such as Kiryat Motzkin (138), Yokneam Illit (138) and Nesher (110), building starts in the towers were recorded for the first time, after not a single tower was built in 2021.
According to architect Guy Miloslavsky, "The increase in the volume of construction of towers in the periphery is not surprising. The intensification of the planning policy of mixed-use complexes also places a high standard of living in the periphery in complexes that include residential, employment, commerce, services, leisure and green spaces. For example, the Vineyard Tower project we are planning in Acre, which includes two residential towers, takes place. Residents of the periphery have also understood the quality of life that can be obtained by living in a tower and therefore the demand for them is increasing. Mayors in the periphery understood that in order to attract residents, they need to invest in educational infrastructure, in attracting companies, offices and factories, and in supporting entrepreneurs who wish to initiate projects throughout the city."
Avishai Ben-Haim, CEO of Rotshtein, which builds in high-demand and peripheral areas, concludes: "It is worth taking into account the value for money. In peripheral cities, you can still buy a 5-room apartment for less than the price of a two-room apartment in Tel Aviv, and this is excellent value.
In terms of employment, the periphery has something to offer, there are employment parks scattered throughout the country and they provide a solution for job seekers, so that over time the peripheral cities will be independent blocs that include all the living space that citizens need."
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