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The geo-biographies of spatial knowledge: regional planning from Israel to Sierra Leone and back

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Abstract

This article examines the flow of spatial knowledge in different locations and territorial scales, focusing on the geographies of regional planning and its transplantation in the work of two Israeli planners, Arie and Ursula Oelsner. We argue that too often, researchers focus on the movement of spatial knowledge from Western countries to developing countries. We shed light on alternative ways in which this traffic follows different models, that are related to specific political and national constellations. Based on historical study and a thick description of two projects in Israel and Africa planned by these two Israeli planners, we show that spatial knowledge is not only the generator of discourse and of the professional community partaking in it, but also traverses space, crossing national borders and geographies. This dynamic, we suggest, has a politics of its own, as part of its movement and development within the global space, particularly in the movement between first and third worlds.

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Fig. 1

Dudai and Oelsner (1964, no page number)

Fig. 2

Dudai and Oelsner (1964: p. 11)

Fig. 3

Dudai et al. (1968: p. 55)

Fig. 4

Dudai et al. (1968: p. 58)

Fig. 5

Dudai and Oelsner (1965)

Fig. 6

Dudai and Oelsner (1965)

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that due to different planning cultures (and knowledge!), there are many regional planning approaches in Europe and the US, which are beyond the discussion in this paper.

  2. "Palestine/Eretz Israel" is the official connotation employed by the British Empire's Mandate (1919–1948), to describe the mandatory territory of Palestine. 'Eretz Israel' is Hebrew for ‘The land of Israel'.

  3. On the work of Christaller, which was taught for a long time in Israel in the Technion and geography departments throughout the country see Golan (1997). On the ways in which the Nazi regime adopted his ideas of regional development and planning and implemented them in East Europe and Africa see Bernharrd (2016).

  4. Current researchers dispute this assumption and claim that the Society's effect on formulating the planning paradigm was limited, and primarily served Brutzkus to fortify his own position and advance his own convictions. See Wilkof (2018).

  5. This publication, which refers to the work of Glikson, Weitz and others in Crete in the early 1960's, based on the development of the regional planning paradigm, has been studied recently, see Kallus (2015).

  6. It is conceivable that this is where she met Dudai, who allegedly was also involved with planning projects in the Greek Isles during the 1950's.

  7. The study of Levin (2015) is the first and most comprehensive to date, dealing with Israeli architecture and planning in Sierra Leone in general, with a chapter dedicated specifically to this plan. However, she does not recognize Ursula Oelsner's role and her contribution to the plan, only mentioning Oelsner in the bibliography. The chapter deals only with Dudai's work. He was, admittedly, the lead in creating ties with high-ranking Sierra Leonean government officials, but the work was conducted and signed by both Oelsner and Dudai.

  8. Planning and development aid during this period was not exclusive to Africa and was extended to Asian countries as well. See Feniger and Kallus (2016).

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Acknowledgements

This article forms part of the research ‘The Architecture(s) of Foreign Policy: Israeli and GDR Development Cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa 1950-1990, funded by the Israel German foundation (I1315-402.10/2015), and the Israel Science Foundation Research Grant ‘The Architectures of Foreign Policy’ (No: 177/15). An early drafts of this paper were presented in three academic workshops, in Tel-Aviv museum of art in June 2016, in TU Berlin in October 2016 and in Van-Leer Jerusalem Institute in October 2017. We would like to thank participants in these workshops for their helpful comments and suggestions, and in specific we would like to thank Phillipp Misselwitz, Rachel Lee, Anna Fenk, Johan Lagae, Smadar Sharon, Keren Kinberg and Mori Ram. We also grateful to the interviewers who helped us studying the geo-biographies of Dudai and Oelsner by sharing their memories, knowledge and materials – Ruthie Fridman, Barbara Zur, Dan Soen, Rachel Wilkanski and Harry Brand. Special thanks to Maya Oelsner, Rachel Alterman, Shira Wilkof, Shelly Cohen, Naama Meishar and Zvi Elhayani for their support, suggestions and some extremely helpful materials they contributed to this project.

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  1. Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Haim Yacobi & Chen Misgav

  2. Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, London, UK

    Haim Yacobi

  3. Minerva Humanities Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Chen Misgav

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  1. Haim Yacobi
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Correspondence to Chen Misgav.

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Yacobi, H., Misgav, C. The geo-biographies of spatial knowledge: regional planning from Israel to Sierra Leone and back. GeoJournal 84, 1383–1401 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-018-9924-x

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