Urban Renewal and the Right to a Home in the Neoliberal Era: Legislation, Governmental Planning Guidelines and Research

The article straddles the intersection of legislation, planning guidelines, and housing policy studies in the neoliberal era. Its objective is to examine the right to a home within urban renewal projects. It addresses the gap between residents’ experience of housing as “home” and private developers’ view of housing as strictly an investment. This raises the question: how do laws, planning guidelines, and scholarly studies reflect the meaning of home? This question is examined through the Israeli case study. The method is parallel and interpretive content analysis of laws, guidelines, and research spanning more than a decade. The results indicate that in response to rapid population growth, urban renewal in Israel relies heavily on demolition and rebuilding. Low-rise buildings accommodating mainly disadvantaged populations are replaced by high-rises, to which these populations are expected to return. The conclusion is that the neoliberal perspective dominates the discourse. Despite the financial and human costs associated with high-rise living, the relevant literature pays insufficient attention to the loss of the right to a home. Accordingly, financial compensation for disadvantaged populations is recommended by legislation and research, along with limiting residents’ responsibility to their apartment as a planning solution for the eroded right to a home.