Israel is an urban country, more than 90% of the inhabitants live in urban settlements. The accepted division is into four large metropolitan areas: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beer Sheva which together cover more than 60% of the country's residents.
A little bit of history: before the end of the British mandate there were 24 cities in Israel, during the War of Independence some of them changed hands (for example Gaza came under Egyptian control, Nablus, Jenin and others went to Jordan) and some were emptied (the Arab cities of Lod and Ramla for example) so that in 1950 the Minister of the Interior declared 14 cities only. Over the years cities have been added and as of 2024 there are 82 cities in Israel.
Only nine cities have a population greater than 200 thousand inhabitants. Jerusalem, the leader, has about one million inhabitants, Tel Aviv about half a million and Haifa, the third, about 300 thousand inhabitants. Beer Sheva is not the fourth largest city, in fact it closes the list of nine cities with only 215 thousand inhabitants.
A little below Haifa are Petach Tikva and Rishon Lezion. Both have a good chance of succeeding Haifa's place as the third largest city in Israel in the coming years. Sometimes the matter of the separation of Kiryat Haim (and Shmuel) from Haifa comes up, such a separation would drop it directly to the fifth or sixth place in the ranking.
The Ministry of the Interior is working to unify authorities, so the danger of cutting off Kiryat Haim is not tangible at this stage, at the same time unification of Givat Shmuel with Petah Tikva (only sharp-eyed locals know where the border between them is) will result in Haifa dropping from third place or connecting Rishon Lezion with Bar The nearby Yaakov. Haifa can, of course, preserve its place by uniting authorities with Nesher (about 24 residents) and/or Carmel Castle (about 30 residents). the following:
- Rishon Lezion has a large land reserve from the evacuation of the Tsarifin camp. Also, the Alef Baal project is currently being built in the city.
Occupancy potential of about one hundred thousand residents in full construction. - Petah Tikva has great potential from the construction plans of the evacuated Sirkin camp.
- Growth rate in recent years:
() - for 8 years
() – multi-year average
The source of the data is the Central Bureau of Statistics
Both cities are growing faster than Haifa, they are more expensive and still enjoy a higher demand - meaning they have something that Haifa does not - a central location. We see how the state reacts to a threat to harm the center in the face of the daily reality of life in the north. Haifa has a good growth potential, every year thousands of students come to the city for the various higher education institutions in the city, a minority stay to live in the city for a long time. When you check what makes people live in a certain place, beyond the availability of housing, you usually find the following three reasons:
- Education
- Community
- employment
Often this is also the degree of importance.
The city of Haifa has a unique gift of nature, a city of mountains and sea. Maybe the topography makes it a little difficult, but it makes the city unique. The urban nature joins academic institutions, sea and air ports, a science industries center, museums that only exist in Haifa, Baha'i gardens, transportation wealth (cable cars and Carmelite) and more. So Haifa has everything necessary to preserve its position as the third largest city only if its leader and the city council are able to act in the required direction - not more buildings but strengthening the education system, and building communities on the basis of neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods.
Large and ostentatious construction projects such as the Lincoln/Tel-Aharon slopes or Ramat Goral (Givat Aizim) alongside mega-projects of urban renewal such as the Bat-Galim neighborhood are not the way to preserve the status of the city. These projects are destroying the uniqueness of Haifa and will make it difficult to maintain the status of the city.
And maybe the size doesn't matter? And the position of a city on the podium of the big cities is of no importance. Raz Kinstlich, the mayor of Rishon Lezion sees this as a goal, as part of Rishon Lezion's vision for the coming years and is working vigorously to fulfill this vision through the Alef project which combines housing, community infrastructure and employment, the three elements for success. If it is important for him, it should also be important for the pensioners of the city of Haifa to maintain the location of Haifa.
Haifa is the most beautiful city in the world in my opinion and I have definitely been in the world and I also lived in a city of over 15 million in Johannesburg
South Africa includes jumps and hundreds of art exhibitions in the world.
The problem in Haifa is the lack of connection between the municipality and its corrupt institutions
And among the residents of the most beautiful city in the world.
Bat Galim beach for example the best beach in Israel is just an example.
Instead of exchanging areas with the owner of the casino and turning the entire area like in Tel Aviv into a huge bathing beach plus a saltwater swimming pool as it really was...
And instead of developing hundreds of small hotels like in the towns in and around Salzburg
with cafes and restaurants and music shows
Like in Europe and I mean huge shows
Like the conductor Andre Rio.
At the Haifa municipality, they are just messing around
in a public act and milking arononos.
The problem is not the number of residents but the quantity and quality of services per resident (including environmental quality).
In this respect, Haifa is at the bottom of the list, for many years. Recently, the deterioration is also evident.
It is not so interesting to us whether it is the third or the eighth, the discrimination against the northern city has not changed all these years.
What is strange is that they are constantly building in Haifa and the number does not increase. In addition, there are at least 50 students in Haifa and according to the Ministry of the Interior there are:
"In Haifa, which has a population of 336 thousand (according to the Ministry of the Interior)" - February 2024 elections.
In the end, it is the central city for the entire Kiryat area, the Carmel Castle and Nesher, which means around half a million inhabitants in the vicinity of the city.
An airport and the removal of polluting factories such as Beit Zagan and Haifa will establish its place as a third city