Over the last sixty years the government of Israel has earmarked many resources for what it defined as "developing the Negev", projected to reduce the disparities between the center of Israel and its periphery.  It appears that this goal was never achieved and disparities have widened rather than diminished. This failure requires a renewed examination of the rationale behind current policy plans.

The Ministry of Health in Israel, as the sole body responsible for the equitable and efficient distribution of health services, is also the sole regulator over the health systems and the allocation of funds to them. This study examines whether the aspiration for equitable health services does indeed materialize. Using spatial analytical tools a comparison was made between the distribution of mammography and tomography (CT) institutions in various scenarios and the current existing distribution.

Its findings indicate that there is a disparity between the health policy and regulations and the current situation. These findings reinforce the need for and significance of clarifying the policy, and strengthening the ties between the various operating systems.

This volume of papers addresses national, district and metropolitan planning perspectives. Among them are the new generation of national and district planning issues and a return to comprehensive national planning. Some focus on a vision for long-term planning, Tel Aviv's empowerment and internalizing concepts of sustainable development as well as on combining between institutionalized operations and public and academic discourse. Others address dilemmas of metropolitan regeneration, strategies to strengthen Jerusalem and the late Professor Arie Shachar's unique contribution to urban geography, planning and mapping.

This publication focuses on the transformation in municipal planning arena in the last three decades, led by the growth in the number of players taking part in the process and the plethora of activities, interests and values. These changes, in a complex arena such as the city of Jerusalem, impact on the planning process and its output: the protraction of the process and an increasing disparity between planning and its implementation.

This study attempts to characterize the impact of scientists on shaping environmental policy in Israel and when, and in what way does the use of scientific rationale lead to maximizing the successful promotion of a desired policy? This is a particularly significant question in Israel, where the issue has not as yet gained wide public acknowledgement.

Urban creativity is currently the focus of theoretical and practical research and can contribute to the understanding of local government modus operandi and in particular to its effective management. The study focuses on Shoham and Holon, both defined by the Ministry of the Interior as successful municipalities. It examines the creativity of the municipality distinguishing between effective management, which emphasizes internal processes within the municipality, and democratic openness, which emphasizes the interaction between the municipality and the environment as well as increasing local capital resources.

The municipal water system reform in Israel has long passed the point of no return, both from the perspective of the volume of population and its single-directional legal approach. However, this outcome hardly heralds the reform's conclusion. Completing the municipal corporatization is only one aspect of the reform and does not secure its success by standards of its own initial principles and goals. Analyzing the policy process of corporatization on a national level uncovers fundamental phenomena which may impede, without possibility of redress, the reform's stated goals, the public interest and the interests of consumers. In the face of this disturbing possibility this research attempts to reevaluate the corporatization reform and its possible impacts.