Changes in an Urban Public Service System in Response to Population Dynamics

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between urban population dynamics and changes in public services. The first section is conceptual, presenting the effects of changes in the size, structure and composition of a city's population, and in the housing market, upon changes in consumption patterns of public services, in terms of their location and type. Two levels of analysis are discussed: the macro, city-wide level, and the micro level - the individual neighbourhoods which make up the urban whole. In the second section of the article the spatial dynamics of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population in Jerusalem serves as the background for a discussion of changes in the city's educational system, over a period of 15 years (1970/1 -1985/6). The data point to a massive increase in ultra-Orthodox education in the city. While the ultra-Orthodox population comprises about 27 per cent of Jerusalem's population, nearly half of the elementary schools in the city are included in the ultra-Orthodox educational network...