When Good Planning Policies Do Bad Things: Two Policies That Meant Well but Went Wrong

This study examines the conflict between two planning policies operating simultaneously but at different spatial scales: comprehensive statutory planning, which coordinates development at the neighborhood scale, and Israel’s National Outline Plan 38 (TAMA38), which promotes seismic strengthening and urban renewal at the scale of individual buildings. Using Carmeliya, Haifa, as a case study, the research investigates how the cumulative implementation of building-scale renewal affects neighborhood quality. Cumulative changes are examined at the building-cluster, street, and neighborhood scales through a multiscale evaluation framework that combines statutory-plan analysis, building-permit data, field observations, semi-structured resident interviews, three-dimensional scenario modeling, visibility analysis, and GIS-based shading analysis, using indicators of built form, public and private open space, vegetation, visual openness, privacy, street interface, shading, and infrastructure pressure. Based on these indicators, a multidimensional evaluation model was developed to connect the two planning frameworks. The findings demonstrate that projects considered acceptable individually may increase building volume and density, reduce open and green spaces, narrow distances between buildings, obstruct views, alter street character, and intensify pressure on neighborhood infrastructure. The study identifies a mismatch between the scale at which renewal policy is implemented and the scale at which its cumulative effects are experienced. It therefore proposes an integrated evaluation approach for coordinating building renewal with neighborhood planning and protecting environmental quality.