Uneven application of real estate valuation standards: a comparative study in Palestine and Israel

Abstract This article examines how real estate valuation standards operate in contested urban contexts, focusing on their uneven application in East Jerusalem (EJ) and West Jerusalem (WJ). Drawing on 37 interviews, 100 valuation reports, and extended fieldwork, it shows how standards are implemented differently across legally fragmented spaces. In WJ, valuations rely on formal data; in EJ, they are adapted to political resistance and infrastructural absence. Engaging with literature on gray urbanism, this article argues that standards do not just reflect legal distinctions but shape them, reinforcing spatial inequality. It contributes to debates on how global standards produce uneven urban geographies.