From Forced Community to Individualism in Public Urban Construction

Abstract

From the 1970s to the 1990s, at the time of transition from the rule of the Labor party to the rule of the Likud party, the urban design of high density public housing changed completely. The new neighborhoods built by the state through the Ministry of Housing were planned according to different, not to say completely opposite, principles. While in the 1970s the neighborhood was planned to be disconnected from the city around it, in the 1990s it was planned as a part of it. While in the 1970s the neighborhood was planned facing inwards, towards green lanes and public institutions, in the 1990s it was planned outwards, facing the main streets. While in the 1970s traffic in the neighborhood was planned based entirely on walking, in the 1990s planning took into consideration motorized traffic. 

Examination of the these urban changes reveals that social processes, led by privatization and the loss of faith in the ability of professionals and the state to control society and man, were among the factors leading to the spatial changes. Under the guise of functional discourse and practical reasons, architects expressed deeper insights: of freedom of choice and individualism.