Factorial Ecology in a “Controlled” Urban System: The Case of Metropolitan Haifa, Israel.

Abstract

The impact of government and public policies on the urban ecological structure is a matter which has received relatively little attention in geographical literature. Yet, it is a vital concern in certain economic and political systems. The most important characteristic of the Israeli system is the predominance of the public sector. Israel is also unusual in the social composition of its population. The Israeli society has a heterogeneous character, resulting from the multi-cultural origins of its inhabitants. These two characteristics affect the urban ecological structure of Israel's cities. Hence, the objective of this study is to identify underlying socio-economic dimensions of residences and their spatial distribution within metropolitan HAIFA. The results will be related to recently proposed ecological urban models and the effect of public policies will be considered. Unfortunately, none of the ecological models has considered the effect of government or public policies; rather they assume that residential patterns are a result of relatively free market forces. The present study will not only contribute evidence to Berry's of urban development, but will also probe another direction in compartive urban ecological studies, a new scale of ecological structures based on political and economic factors.