The seminar will introduce current theories dealing with the politics of urban planning, urban design and development, and use their tools to examine urban development questions in Israel. The first sessions will introduce concepts of urban politics and the associations with local society, national ideologies, planning and architectural theories and shifting accumulation regimes. The later sessions will issue main factors in Israeli urban developmental: government, markets and citizens relations, ethnic and ideological struggles, land and housing management, democracy and planning communications. To sum-up we will define continuity and change in local development patterns, and evaluate main achievements and problems. The students' papers will add to the discussion based on a research of issue, text case or question in current Israeli planning.