Housing Policy as a Planning Tool

Abstract

In Israel, housing policy has traditionally been aimed at broader objectives beyond the supply of adequate shelter. Using data from a nationwide survey of young couples (N = 2,591), this study examines the relationship between the government's major housing-assistance program and two principal national goals: a spatially balanced and socially integrated population. The housing policy's basic tenet, the provision of extra benefits to those settling in new towns, appears to promote dispersal but to hinder integration. This finding parallels a divergence between standard measures of housing quality and resident's own evaluations. The conclusion discusses the importance of considering a plurality of goals and both objective and subjective indicators in policy making.