Immigrants as carriers of urban regeneration: International evidence and an Israeli case study

This article sheds new light on current urban processes, especially in city centres. It distinguishes between public‐private partnerships, mainly property‐led regeneration projects, and public‐individual partnerships, mainly gentrification and renovation efforts by incumbent residents. It points at another potential public‐individual partnership—revitalization by immigrants. It claims that this process is emerging as a significant route to urban regeneration. It can be strengthened and may achieve permanence in the urban landscape, if assisted by informed planners collaborating with the local public authorities and local leaders. These claims are supported by evidence from the international literature and by an analysis of a case study in Israel, a country which has received a large wave of immigrants from the former USSR during the 1990s.