Planning as control: policy and resistance in a deeply divided society

This paper focuses on the links between planning policy and the problems of ethnic minorities, by examining in detail the planning and development of Majd el Krum - an urbanizing Arab village in Israel's Galilee region. It proposes a theoretical framework to analyse the way in which spatial planning can be used as a tool for controlling disadvantaged groups, primarily for the purpose of advancing majority interests and preserving a hierarchical social and political order. It then traces the use of planning in Israel to control the growth and development of a typical large (and urbanizing) Arab village. The analysis demonstrates in detail how planning policies can be systematically used for the opposite purpose of controlling a minority population. The paper then examines the consequences of Israel's control policies in the village, focusing on Arab protest, electoral behaviour and extra-parliamentary activity. The evidence shows that state policies of control have spawned Arab resistance which has fluctuated broadly in accordance with the level of control embedded in Israel's policies. The role of spatial (planning) policies in triggering resistance has been significant. Finally, the implications of the findings to planning theory and policy are discussed. -from Author