Urban Revitalization and the New Frontier
Urban Revitalization:
Israel's Project Renewal and Other Experiences, Introduction
Daniel J. Elazar
The Great Frontier
In 1992, the world will celebrate the five-hundredth anniversary,
of the opening of Europe's great frontier. That frontier, which
opened with Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the New World,
brought with it the expansion of European civilization to new
lands in North and South America and Oceania. In the process, it
generated great challenges, great opportunities, great growth, new
freedom, and more equality than ever was known before in the
history of civilization.
Four hundred years later, in 1892, taking advantage of an
exposition marking the four-hundredth anniversary of the Columbian
discovery, the American historian, Frederick Jackson Turner,
proclaimed the end of that great frontier in the United States,
and in the process offered an explanation that soon became the
standard interpretation of the rise of democracy in the United
States. In fact, Turner was somewhat premature in his assessment
even for the United States, not to speak of the rest of the world.
That great frontier actually ended worldwide in the middle of the
twentieth century.
More important than the precise date is the fact that, even by
the time that Turner made his famous statement, the Great
Frontier had initiated a chain reaction, triggering a set of
processes that have made the frontier a central and continuing
feature of modern and contemporary life. Early in the nineteenth
century, first in the United States and then elsewhere, the land
frontier gave way to an urban-industrial frontier, whereby
territories well-settled by the first frontier had their
patterns of settlement transformed from rural to urban as a
result of the transformation of their economic bases from
agricultural or extractive to industrial.
A century later, no more than two generations ago, the
urban-industrial frontier began to give way to the
metropolitan-technological frontier. Urbanization became
metropolitanization while industrialization was transformed
through even newer technologies. In all three cases, new
challenges generated new opportunities based upon continued
growth, further advancing both freedom and equality. Each new
frontier stage added new forms of spatial organization - new
patterns of land settlement.
Now, as we approach the 500th anniversary of the opening of the
Great Frontier, its cutting edge has entered a new stage, that of
the rurban-cybernetic frontier. Each frontier stage has changed
the pattern of human settlement and has left a backwash of
declining settled areas in its wake. In the past that backwash
has been left to its own devices. Today, in a more civilized and
concerned world, with less available space, that is no longer
inevitably the case.
Urban Revitalization and the Metropolitan Frontier
The metropolitan-technological frontier gave birth to the urban
revitalization movement, which soon became part of the continuing
frontier process. The distinctiveness of urban revitalization
lies in the fact that it is concerned with reutilization of space
for the people, not for the rulers. In the past, cities were
allowed to naturally decay or, if renewed, were rebuilt at the
whim of rulers seeking self aggrandizement through the
construction of great monuments or great boulevards. The residents
of the areas affected were simply displaced.
Urban revitalization, on the other hand, is based upon the notion
that cities could be renewed for the sake of their residents. It
is part of the metropolitan-technological frontier in that
renewal not only involves new technologies but represents the
effort to restore health to particular segments of the
metropolitan area. Urban revitalization is a form of urban
reclamation, the provision of opportunity through the reclaiming
of space otherwise abandoned or in the process of being abandoned.
As urban revitalization developed, it added another element to the
frontier equation - first to generate opportunity through
reclamation and then to generate community as well.
The Frontier and Colonialism
This great and continuing frontier differed from earlier forms of
expansion on the land because it was not a one time affair. It
became a new way of life. On the other hand, in its latter
stages, as Europeans looked for new lands to conquer, it
degenerated into colonialism, a distortion of the original
frontier purpose. Colonialism also ended with the end of the
great frontier.
While in true frontier societies, one frontier stage opened
the way to another, where the frontier impulse had become merely
colonialism, when the European powers withdrew, retreating in the
face of the popular aspirations of the colonialized peoples, the
frontier impulse -- already distorted -- disappeared. The
continuing frontier in some countries, coupled with the aftermath
of colonialism in others, has led to the present condition of the
world. Now we must all unite to share the benefits of the
continuing frontier and to bring the former colonial areas into
its orbit.
The Great Frontier and the Jewish People
For Jews, 1992 will be a bittersweet anniversary. 1492, the year
of the opening of the Great Frontier was also the year of the
expulsion of the largest Jewish community in the world at that
time, the Jewish community of Spain, from its Spanish home. In
the short term, that expulsion brought great tragedy. In the long
run, it opened up the New World to Jews as individuals and led to
the collective effort of the Jewish people to rebuild their
national home in one of the final extensions of the land
frontier.
Significantly, the Jewish people have been part and parcel of the
Western frontier experience since it began, perhaps four millenia
ago. The frontier, indeed, is a particularly Western phenomena
which got its start in that very first West, western Asia, where
the Jews emerged as a people and joined the other peoples then
known "the peoples of the West" in settling the southwestern
fringes of that continent. Since then, Jews have been found on
every frontier and have developed a culture and civilization
uniquely adapted to frontier conditions.
Israel is the Jewish people's share of the great frontier of
modern times. It should be no surprise, then, that Israel
rapidly advanced from the rural-land frontier to the
urban-industrial frontier to the metropolitan-technological
frontier. As it advanced to the latter, it came to be in the
forefront of the urban revitalization movement.
Project Renewal is as much a part of Israel's continuing frontier
as its kibbutzim have been for two generations and as its
development towns of a generation back. In this respect, Israel
has played a unique role, not only bringing the great frontier of
our times back to Asia but involving people of African and Asian
backgrounds in the frontier process as participants rather than
victims. That is the significance of the International
Conference on Urban Revitalization: Project Renewal and Other
Experiences, sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
and held in Jerusalem, March 2-6, 1986. At this conference,
which brought together some 550 people from Israel and nearly
thirty other countries from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa,
and Australia, we examined Project Renewal, Israel's unique
countrywide effort at urban revitalization, and similar efforts
in other countries.
In preparation for that conference, the staff of the Jerusalem
Center prepared a book on Project Renewal in Israel (Lanham, Md:
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and University Press of
America, 1987). That book describes the Israeli project in
detail. Now we are happy to present a selection of papers from
the conference itself, examining selected aspects of the Israeli
experience in greater depth and the experiences of other
countries as well. This volume includes approximately half the
papers presented at the conference. It provides a
cross-sectional view of the state-of-the-art, state-of-the-field
in urban revitalization matters. The materials are divided into
eight parts. Each addresses a different theme of urban
revitalization.
In Part One we deal with Renewal and Community from the political
and cultural perspective. Norton E. Long begins with an
examination of "The City and Civilization" offering us spiritual
reasons why the local community must be renewed. Adri
Duivesteijn examines "Urban Renewal as a Cultural Activity,"
picking up on Long's theme and his own experience in the Hague to
set out what he sees as the way to renew cities.
In Part Two we turn to Israel's Project Renewal. We begin with
an overview by the Moshe Hill, "Project Renewal: How Successful
a Strategy for Neighborhood Rehabilitation?" His colleague,
Naomi Carmon, follows with "Israel's Project Renewal: Evaluation
of Goals Achievement." With these two general articles we
include two studies of specific neighborhood projects -- Ozzie
Samuels on "Katamon Het-Tet: After Five Years of Renewal" and
Alex Bloch and David Guggenheim, "Renewal of the Musrara Quarter,
Jerusalem" -- and an overview of "Poor Self-Image as a Problem
and Main Objective of Project Renewal in Israel -- The
Development Town Case," by Itzhak Ben David. Together these five
articles offer a comprehensive portrait of Israel's Urban
Revitalization effort.
In Part Three, we turn to the Renewal Experience in Other
Countries. We begin with a presentation of "Aims of Area-Based
Urban Renewal in the Federal Republic of Germany," presented by
the Committee on Regional Planning, Building and Urban
Development of the Bundestag of the German Federal Republic.
Their brief statement of comprehensive aims summarize the general
outlook with regard to urban revitalization in the West. A
number of the themes in that statement are expanded for Italy by
Andrea Devoto in "Urban Renewal and Building Policy in Italy."
Their application is discussed in a number of specific cases
which follow, including "Urban Economic Revitalization as a
Catalyst for Urban Political Change" by Sharon Perlman Krefetz, a
study of urban revitalization in Worcester, Massachusetts; "A
Cultural Approach to Urban Renewal in the Hague" by Adri
Duivesteijn; "Inner City Regeneration in England and Wales with
Particular Reference to Liverpool and Merseyside" by G.F. Turner;
and "Winnipeg's Core Area Initiative" by Matthew J. Kiernan.
What marks all these case studies is their new approach to urban
revitalization which combines physical and social dimensions,
historical preservation, economic development and social
regeneration.
Part Four examines the Interjurisdictional Dimensions of Urban
Revitalization. J.S. Fuerst looks at "Decentralization: A Live
Issue or Political Ploy" in a number of different European
countries in a comparative basis around the Western world. John
G. Sanzone examines the American experience in "State and Local
Economic Development: The Emerging Intergovernmental Challenges."
Also in the American context, Sarah F. Liebschutz examines "The
New Localism in Urban Revitalization." Saul Andron tackles a
different problem of interjurisdictional relations in looking at
"Program and Fiscal Accountability from Afar: The Project Renewal
Experience," where a Jewish diaspora community, in this case in
Los Angeles, is directly involved in the implementation of urban
revitalization programs in Jerusalem and Bet Shean. Paul King
follows up on this theme in "The Implications of Diaspora
Involvement in Project Renewal for International Bilateral
Assistance Programs" in an effort to generalize from the Israeli
experience for analogous relationships on the international
scene.
Part Five looks at Planning, Renewal, and the Urban Environment.
Ronald Thomas presents "The Urban Environmental Design Approach
to Planning with People," which includes case studies of his
experiences in the United States as to how environmental design
can be used to stimulate popular participation in the planning
process. Dalia Lichfield examines "Planning for Urban Renewal"
in an effort to describe the latest in planning methods used in
urban revitalization situations, bringing to bear her extensive
experience in Israel. Nahum Ben-Elia focuses in on "The Role and
Effectiveness of the Planning Process in Project Renewal:
Implications for Program Design and Management." In addition to
the Israeli and American experiences, August E. Roesnes discusses
"Planning Structure in Urban Renewal: The Case of Norway," and
William R. Code discusses "Planning Vitality at the Macro-Scale:
The Toronto Experiment."
Part Six looks at Grassroots Organization, Resident Involvement
and Community Leadership. One of the most important aspects of
Project Renewal has been the development of grassroots
involvement in an organized and systematic way, including the
mobilization of residents and the development of a local
community leadership. The Project has had a measurable success
in this respect as indicated by higher voting turnout in
municipal elections in neighborhoods that have undergone urban
revitalization through Project Renewal and the emergence of
candidates for municipal office, many of them successful, from
Project Renewal neighborhoods, who got their start in grassroots
Project Renewal organizations.
Yael Atzmon looks at "Public Participation in Project Renewal:
Autonomy vs. Control," one of the critical and recurring
questions in the Project Renewal experience. Despite the
commitment to encouraging grassroots activity, the tendency of
state and municipal bureaucracies to try to exercise control is
almost inevitable. The struggle between autonomy and control,
then, was a critical one in the Project. Arza Churchman looks at
"What Goals of Resident Involvement/Participation Did Project
Renewal Achieve?" Zvi Weinstein continues in this vein in his
discussion of "Grassroots Organization in Distressed
Neighborhoods in Israel." Audrey Gil focuses on "Citizen
Participation in Environmental Design." Ben Zion Shapiro looks
at "Social Development in Israel: Structures and Construction of
Social Helping," an empirical study of the Project Renewal
experience.
Turning to leadership development, one of the most important
dimensions of Project Renewal was the development of
paraprofessionals. Chaya Itzchaky discusses this in "The
Paraprofessional Option." Naturally, frameworks were required
for leadership development. Yosef Pardes discusses this aspect
in "Schools for the Development of Local Community Leadership."
Mark A. Zober and A. Solomon Eaglstein conducted "An Evaluation
of the Schools for the Development of Local Community
Leadership," a study of graduates of five schools of community
leadership.
In Part Seven, we look at Health, Eduction, and Welfare in
Project Renewal. Myriam Ostfeld looks at "Community Psychiatry
and Neighborhood Intervention" with the Holon Project Renewal
neighborhood as a case study. Frieda Macarov examines the role
of "The Community Health Nurse in Project Renewal," concentrating
on the Jerusalem Project Renewal neighborhoods. S. Werner looks
at "Community Physiotherapy Within the Framework of Urban
Revitalization," looking at the Israeli project more generally.
Michal Burgansky examines "Physical Rehabilitation as an
Accelerator of the Social Rehabilitation of Women in a Distressed
Neighborhood in Israel," a study carried on in one of the Project
Renewal neighborhoods which for purposes of this study has been
kept anonymous. A. Ornoy and A. Tennenbaum examine "The
Importance of Early Intervention in Children, as Demonstrated in
the Project Renewal Child Development Center in Beit Shemesh,"
the abstract of a research report. Shaul Livnay looks at "Roots:
A Community Multi-Disciplinary Program for Delayed Preschoolers,"
another project in Beit Shemesh. Yosef Orr and Yehuda Ben Hur
present their study of "A Communal Project in Environment
Education in a Renewal Neighborhood." This project was conducted
by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel in Dimona,
designed to promote love of the Land of Israel and a concern for
the protection of its natural environment. Yosepha Ben-Moshe
examines "Health Education Activities in Project Renewal" in a
number of different local Project Renewal neighborhoods in
Israel. Gil Yaniv looks at "Cooperative Housing for Young
Couples: Morasha, Jerusalem." Baruch Yoskowitz reports on an
"Evaluation of Public Facilities in the Context of Urban
Revitalization in Project Renewal," while Vered Lamm discusses "A
Computerized Data Base in Innovative Social, Educational and
Welfare Programs." The five foregoing, all in the nature of
short research reports, present the basic program or findings
of their respective studies.
In Part Eight we look at Phasing Down and Continuity. We begin
with a discussion of "Project Renewal in a Mixed Economy of
Social Welfare" by Josef Korazim to set the stage. Ronit Dulev
presents a "Program for Phasing Down of Renewal in
Neighborhoods." Yona Ginsberg and Elia Werczberger look at
"Maintenance of the Shared Property in Buildings Renovated by
Project Renewal." Our final article moves us into what has
become the next phase in the Israeli urban revitalization effort,
namely the move to regionalization. In "The Illusion of
Neighborhood Revitalization Versus the Reality of Regional
Development," Yehuda Gradus and Shira Leibowitz present an
intellectual grounding for this next step which is, in any case,
necessitated by the fact that outside of the main areas of the
country the success of urban revitalization is tied into the
transformation of the larger regions of which the development
towns are a part.
New Frontiers
In the last decade, a new frontier stage has begun to emerge,
based upon cybernetics and the communications revolution, on one
hand, and the combination of rural and urban settlement into
rurban city-belts on the other. This new frontier stage will
require built-in urban revitalization as a continuing dimension
of the renewal of civilization. It will involve the
routinization of revitalization yet, in every case, the areas to
be revitalized are and will be different. Thus there is reason
come together to learn the routines and explore the differences.
Aside from the elements already mentioned -- of challenge, of
opportunity, of growth, of freedom, and of equality, every
frontier must have two additional dimensions. It must involve
learning, and it must involve adventure. A frontier, by bringing
humans face to face with the unknown and the unsettled, makes
obsolete much of what has been learned in the past. Successful
conquests of new frontiers is possible only when there is
sufficient learning on the part of the frontiersmen, the pioneers.
Beyond that, every frontier involves adventure in the highest
sense of the term. Urban revitalization has proved to be that
kind of adventure in Israel, as elsewhere. For the moment, it
seems to be a continuing adventure, well-suited to take its place
on the continuing frontier.
