Economic Development
To provide a physical, organizational and social infrastructure for comprehensive and sustainable economic prosperity. This infrastructure will enable an increase in the number and diversity of places of employment. The municipality will encourage the transition from polluting industry to clean industry, develop the historic heart of the city as a main business center of metropolitan importance, and invest in reducing intra-urban gaps. Spatial planning will support local economic development, while creating a synergy between land uses and the various users in the area – residents, workers and visitors.
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Background to formulating the vision
The vision is aimed at changing the trends that have characterized the city over the years in the economic sphere:
- The first vital change is the pace of job creation, both in absolute and relative terms (compared to the immediate surroundings and in Israel) – so that Haifa will also function as the metropolitan heart in economic terms, it must reverse the long-term weakening trend of new job creation.
- The second change concerns the type of employment. The intention is to diversify the labor market as much as possible, to create job opportunities suitable for the skills of as wide a spectrum of residents and potential employees as possible, while at the same time reducing the influence of polluting industries in the urban economy.
- The third change concerns the spatial deployment of employment centers in the city, focusing on preventing the leakage of employment centers out of the city and strengthening the heart of the city as the main urban center.
Situation Report in Haifa (summarized data from the annual statistical report 2020)
- Socioeconomic clustering of households according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS): 7 (on a scale of 1-10).
- Peripherality Index according to the CBS: 6 (on a scale of 1-10).
- The number of people employed in Haifa in 2018 stood at 178,600, of which 52.6% were men and 47.4% women. More than half of those employed in Haifa live in the city (51.6%).
- In 2018, the number of employed residents of Haifa stood at 137,200, or 3.5% of all employed people in Israel. 35.1% of them had an academic profession – higher than the national rate (26.8%) and the other cities in Israel apart from Tel Aviv (41.1%).
- The majority of employed Haifa residents work within the city (67.5%).
- Among workers in Haifa, most are employed in the health and welfare sectors (16.5%), education (12.8%), scientific and technical professional services (10.5%) and wholesale and retail commerce (8.4%).
- Local Authority Financial Steadfastness Index: Haifa is one of 15 cities defined as robust in accordance with the conditions of Section 232A of the Municipalities Ordinance.
Goals and Objectives
Haifa 2030 provides a broad umbrella for diverse economic development activities. Some of this activity is promoted directly by the mayor, some is conducted through municipal bodies specializing in a particular field (such as the HiCenter and the city’s Economic Company in the high-tech field), and some is accompanied by additional consultants through Haifa 2030 – a tourism consultant in the field of tourism and marine consultant in the blue economy field:
- High-Tech – Positioning Haifa as a bustling technological entrepreneurship center (in the anchor areas of the city), the engine of the technological entrepreneurship industry in the Haifa metropolitan area and the entire Northern District. This entails:
- Nurturing technological entrepreneurship and expanding investments in the field (an activity led by the HiCenter);
- Operating 46 growth companies and 20 accelerator companies by 2023.
- Companies in the program will raise 250 million shekels in five years.
- 50 million shekels will be raised for the Haifa companies by 2023 via the HiFund platform.
- Cooperation with the municipal Economic Company to attract large companies such as Intel and Apple to position or expand their operations in Haifa and promote the fulfilment of Stage B of the High-Tech and Sciences Park (in this framework, approximately 4,000 new jobs will be added).
- Transferring the Israel Navy’s ICT unit to downtown.
- Promoting the Innovation District that will be established in the area of the lower city, the port and the Bat Galim neighborhood along the city’s northern façade.
- Tourism – Supporting urban activity to attract investments in the tourism field.
- Blue Economy – Positioning Haifa as a national center for blue economy, including the establishment of a National Center for Maritime Innovation with government support (together with the Maritime and Sailing Consultant).
- Transferring to clean and advanced industry – Supporting the urban activity around the evacuation of polluting industries from Haifa Bay.
- Renting the commercial spaces within the Sammy Ofer Stadium;
- The sea front plan and sinking the railway line underground;
- Restorating and renovating the Talpiot market;
- Constructing an international airport in Haifa.
Formulating an urban framework – defining roles, authorities and ways of developing resources from international bodies (e.g. EU, OECD), philanthropic foundations and impact investors.
