Anti-adaptive urbanism: long-term implications of building inward-turned neighborhoods in Israel

Theoretical models of neighborhood planning have changed substantially since the midst of the twentieth century. This is not necessarily the case, however, with the practice of planning and building new neighborhoods. Particularly, the influence of early-modernist models as ‘neighborhood unit” and “towers-in-the-park” remains extremely high. This paper ties these models with term “anti-adaptive urbanism” and highlights the qualities that make them stubborn: The comprehensiveness of the plan, meaning that such neighborhoods follow a complete plan prepared in advance, encompassing the public and private elements; and the hierarchical design dedicated for creating an inward-turned residential areas. Long-term socio-spatial implications of building such neighborhoods are investigated through comparing pairs of old (since the 1950s–1960s) and new (developed since the 1990s) neighborhoods constructed in five cities throughout Israel. Exploring the urban dynamics over the period of 1983–2013, the results reveal the socio-spatial burden of having anti-adaptive neighborhoods.