Revisiting the diversity-urban development nexus: perspectives from Israeli immigrant towns

This paper proposes a critical appraisal of the intersecting phenomena of diversity (and particularly immigration-induced diversity) and urban development. It examines the extent to which immigration participates in the “neoliberal remaking, reimagining, and competitive marketing of cities” (Glick Schiller & Çağlar, 2010) in the particular case of Israel peripheries. Based on the analysis of immigration policies formed in the towns of Acre, Arad and Kiryat Shmona, I aim at unpacking the position of municipalities towards immigration. Findings show that city officials and agents in municipalities proactively engage with immigration policymaking because of the perceived benefits of immigration for urban development. However, two substantial limits emerge: firstly, local immigration policies aim at selecting immigrants on the basis of their perceived economic utility, following a logic of “neoliberal multiculturalism” (Kymlicka, 2015); secondly, the neoliberal logics at work stand alongside other political projects, related to national frames of citizenship. The ethnocentric character of Israel immigration policies remains, and is ever more limited by economic criteria.