5 - Mass Suburbanization and the Stars Settlements

Summary

The suburbanization of the 1990s illustrates the further privatization of the settlement mechanism along the Green Line. During the 1990s, the Israeli government, together with the Israel Land Administration and the Ministry of Housing and Construction initiated nine new settlements in this area. Unlike earlier examples, where the construction of new settlements was a collaboration between national institutions, settling movements, and small-scale private initiatives, the state now put the process into the hands of large-scale private developers. Thus, while the earlier planning was done for, or by, the future settlers, taking in account their desires, needs, and abilities, the planners now had also to consider the investment and financial interests of the various entrepreneurs. Consequently, rentability became a crucial aspect in planning and executing new settlements, eventually shaping the built environment. This chapter focuses on the “Stars” settlements – nine new sites initiated by the state in the early 1990s that demonstrate the completion of the transition to a privatized national project. Analyzing the architectural and urban characteristics of these new settlements, as well as their development mechanism, location, and intended target population, the chapter provides additional insight into the changing relationship between the state of Israel and its privatizing market.