The delivery of public services in rural areas is a problem encountered not only by declining and peripheral areas but also by newly founded exurban communities. The problems of small size are exacerbated by the demand within these communities for high levels and a high quality of service provision. The existing local government network in these rural and rurban areas is unable to cope with the increased demand emanating from these new communities. This is particularly problematic in Israel, where the rural system of local government, the regional councils, have traditionally fulfilled the role of providing services to agricultural and cooperative communities. In this paper the nature of the service demands made by new exurban communities in Israel, the problems encountered by the regional councils in providing these same services, and the tensions which result from this lack of compatibility are discussed. Proposed functional solutions are presented and compared, ranging from minor modifications to the existing system of rural local government to those which require a change in the formal municipal status of the exurban communities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlonsoW, 1971, “Equity and its relation to efficiency in urbanisation”, in Essays in Regional Economics Eds KainJ FMeyersJ R, (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA) pp 40–56
2.
ApplebaumLBaninT, 1992, “The impact of socioeconomic characteristics of regional councils on the patterns of their development activities”City and Regionnumber 22, 20–32 (in Hebrew)
3.
ApplebaumLNewmanD, 1989Between Village and Suburb: New Settlement Forms in Israel (Bialik, Jerusalem) (in Hebrew)
4.
ApplebaumLNewmanDMarguliesJ, 1989, “Institutions and settlers as reluctant partners: Changing power relations and the development of new settlement patterns in Israel”Journal of Rural Studies599–109
5.
BarlowI M, 1991Metropolitan Government (Routledge, London)
6.
BennettR J, 1980The Geography of Public Finance (Methuen, London)
7.
BoucherS, 1993, “New settlements and community benefits: Public and private responsibilities”Journal of Rural Studies9257–265
8.
BowmanMHamptonW, (Eds), 1983Local Democracies: A Study in Comparative Local Government (Longman Cheshire, Melbourne)
9.
CBS, various years Local Government PublicationsCentral Bureau of Statistics (Government Printer, Jerusalem)
10.
CBS, 1990Local Government Financial Data 1989/90 publication 922, Central Bureau of Statistics (Government Printer, Jerusalem)
11.
CiglerB, 1984, “Small city and rural government: The changing environment”Public Administration Review44540–545
12.
DearM J, 1978, “Planning for mental health care: A reconsideration of public facility location theory”International Regional Science Review393–111
13.
ElazarDKalchaimC, (Eds), 1987Local Government in Israel (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem)
14.
FrostL, 1991The New Urban Frontier: Urbanisation and City Building in Australasia and the American West (University of New South Wales Press, Sydney)
15.
HodgeI, 1986, “Rural development and the environment”Town Planning Review57175–186
16.
JarmanM GKouzminA, 1993, “Australian metropolitan development: Local government reform and urban growth into the 1990s”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy11143–160
17.
KirbyA, 1983, “Neglected factors in public services research”Annals of the Association of American Geographers73289–295
18.
LonsdaleR EEnyediG, 1984Rural Public Services (Westview Press, London)
19.
McKayD, 1983, “Local government in the USA”, in Local Democracies: A Study in Comparative Local Government Eds BowmanMHamptonW, (Longman Cheshire, Melbourne) pp 125–142
20.
MarsdenTFlynnA, 1993, “Servicing the city: Contested transitions in the rural realm”Journal of Rural Studies9201–204
21.
MassamB, 1975Location and Space in Social Administration (Edward Arnold, Sevenoaks, Kent)
22.
MassamB, 1993The Right Place: Shared Responsibility and the Location of Public Facilities (Longman, Harlow, Essex)
23.
MoseleyM J, 1979Accessibility: The Rural Challenge (Methuen, London)
24.
NewmanD, 1986, “Functional change and the settlement structure in Israel: A study of political control, response and adaptation”Journal of Rural Studies2127–137
25.
NewmanD, 1995a, “Creating homogeneous space: The evolution of Israel's regional councils”, in Israel: The Decade After Independence Eds TroenILucasN, (State University of New York Press, Albany, New York) pp 495–519
26.
NewmanD, 1995bThe Changing Functions and Structure of Rural Local Government in Israel: The Regional Councils (The Jerusalem Institute of Israel Studies, Jerusalem Hebrew) (in) forthcoming
27.
NewmanDApplebaumL, 1989, “Defining the rurban settlement: Planning models and functional realities in Israel”Urban Geography10281–295
28.
NewmanDApplebaumL, 1992, “Private sector communities and the municipal overlap: Between the regional and local council”City and Regionnumber 22, 52–71
29.
NewmanDOrgadA, 1991Regional Councils in Israel: An AtlasAssociation of Regional Councils, Shaul Hamelekh Street, Tel Aviv
30.
PacioneM, 1984Rural Geography (Harper and Row, London)
RazinEHassonS, 1994, “Urban–rural boundary conflicts: The reshaping of Israel's rural map”Journal of Rural Studies1047–59
33.
SaundersPNewbyHBellCRoseD, 1978, “Rural community and rural community power”, in International Perspectives in Rural Sociology Ed. NewbyH, (John Wiley, Chichester, Sussex) pp 55–85
34.
ScheislM J, 1977The Politics of Efficiency: Municipal Administration and Reform in the United States (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
35.
SharpeL J, 1970, “Theories and values of local government”Political Studies18153–174
36.
ShermanN, 1993, “Kibbutzim and moshavim: From ideological symbol to interest group”, in Local Communities and the Israeli Polity: Conflict of Values and Interests Ed. Ben-ZadokE, (State University of New York Press, Albany, New York) pp 211–239
37.
SmithD M, 1977Human Geography: A Welfare Approach (Edward Arnold, Sevenoaks, Kent)
38.
StockdaleA, 1993, “Rural service provisions and the impact of a population revival: A study of public opinion in Northern Ireland”Area25365–378
39.
TrueloveM, 1993, “Measurement of spatial equity”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy1119–34
40.
WeintraubDLissakMAtzmonY, 1969Moshava, Kibbutz and Moshav: Patterns of Jewish Rural Settlement and Development in Palestine (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY)
41.
WilkanskiROttolenghiS, 1992, “Regional councils in Israel: The structure of local government”City and Regionnumber 22, 6–19 (in Hebrew)
