A “Supertanker” Against Bureaucracy in the Wake of a Housing Crisis: Neoliberalizing Planning in Netanyahu's Israel

This paper critically questions the state's hostile takeover of planning regulation followed by experimentation initiated by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been seeking to subordinate the planning apparatus to market calculus and to short‐term political ends. To substantiate this argument, I have examined a large corpus of documents (official government documents, planning records, and court appeals and rulings, and NGO reports) and analyzed the media coverage between 2011 and 2016. By introducing fast‐track planning that is firmly controlled by the central state and focusing on the fictitious delivery of housing units, the structure of the planning regulation has dramatically changed. Further, two already‐dominant government ministries (Finance and Defense) have been significantly empowered, becoming the supervisors of the reformed planning system. In a state captivated by neoliberal fixation and embroiled in a housing crisis, the restructuring of planning governance has been a means to an end.     

Property developers and the robust downtown: the case of four major Canadian downtowns

By and large, the downtowns of Canada's largest cities have remained important business nodes within their metropolitan regions, even though they have experienced some dimensions of decline. This fact can be ascribed to political, economic and social factors. The focus of this paper is on the property dimension: the structure of property ownership and the role of property developers. Large and powerful property developers and owners (property development firms, banks, life insurance companies and, more recently, pension funds) control a substantial stake in downtown top-quality commercial properties. These agents attempt to reinforce the prominence of downtowns to keep the outstanding performance of their assets. Developers consider Canadian downtowns safe investment outlets in which they hold core assets. Through proactive measures they sustain the health of downtowns.     

IMPLAN's Induced Effects Identified Through Multiplier Decomposition

An analysis of regional multipliers is developed to reveal a structural flaw in how IMPLAN computes induced effects. This analysis reveals a fixed ratio across sectors between total and Type I employment multipliers, and that IMPLAN's "Type III" income multipliers are inversely related to the average wages in the direct and indirect sectors, and that "Type III" output multipliers are not affected by wages. A multiplier decomposition is developed that separates direct and indirect effects from the induced and further separates the induced impact into relative wage and regional income retention effects. The decomposition is useful in making comparisons among impact models.     

Canadian Human Landscape Examples

Suburban city centres and office parks are among the prominent forms of suburban development in the Toronto region. Suburban city centres combine civic and business functions whereas office parks were designed to accommodate business requirements. Drawing on the largest suburban municipality in the Toronto region, the City of Mississauga, this paper examines two cases: Mississauga City Centre and Heartland Business Community. Suburban city centres wish to replicate some urban qualities that generate big‐city identity whereas other parts of the suburban realm remain driven primarily by corporate considerations.