Technology and industrial policy for a metropolis at the threshold of the global economy: The case of Haifa, Israel

The spatial concentration in Israel's core region of greater Tel Aviv, induced by Israel's entry to the post-industrial age and its affiliation with the global economy, has left, at least in the short run, the rest of the national territorial space, including metropolitan Haifa, the second-largest urban and economic agglomeration of the country, at the threshold of the global economy. Following an appraisal of the process of post-industrial functional upgrade and spatial concentration in the greater Tel Aviv region, possible avenues for a technological and industrial development policy for metropolitan Haifa are evaluated. This includes a presentation of probable alternative functional and spatial development strategies for the Haifa region and an appraisal of the inherent potentials and the anticipated roles to be played by the region's leading industries in instituting dynamic technological change.