The Statue of Liberty adorns the parking lot of the Manhattan Project commercial center, a short walk away from the train station. Netivot's liberty lies in its recent transformation into a national commercial hub, or, as Mayor Yehiel Zohar puts it, "Netivot has taken upon itself the liberty and responsibility of caring for its future."
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"People feel here as if they're abroad," says a local entrepreneur, meaning that it isn't necessary to go abroad for high-quality shopping. Throughout the rapidly growing city, over 400 local businesses now supply the diverse needs of local residents and those from surrounding towns. At the moment, the sixth large shopping mall is under construction in Netivot. It will join the impressive existing variety, which concentrates all the leading Israeli fashion, food retail, and pharmacy chains.
The growing commercial volume in Netivot provides an impressive solution to the population growth expected in the city in the upcoming years. It also attracts residents of the city's surroundings, as the leading commercial and recreational center of the Western Negev.
High-quality buying power
How has Netivot, with its 43,000 residents, become the commercial capital of the Western Negev?
Thanks to its location, and in parallel with the city's sharp population growth, Netivot has become the Negev's commercial capital, with hundreds of local businesses and leading chains that together occupy over 100,000 sq.m. in commercial space, translating to three square meters per resident – more than double the national average, which is about 1.15 sq.m. per resident (and high, too, in comparison with Rishon LeZion and other large cities, which have over 3 sq.m. of commercial space per resident).
The buying power of Netivot's residents is about NIS 40 million per month, and that of the region's residents – about NIS 220 million per month. Netivot's population is expected to triple to 100,000, and it is already overtaking all of its competitors in the south of the country in terms of economic acceleration, becoming the region's retail hub. Over the past three years it has also been leading in the accelerated construction of housing units: while at the beginning of the decade, about 150 units were built per year, in 2020 that number reached nearly 1,000. The ultimate goal of the roof agreement is to expand the city's population to 100,000.
Accelerated growth
Netivot, for those who haven't yet visited, is located between Ofakim and Sderot, about 28 kilometers from Beersheba and about 40 kilometers from Ashdod. The rural area surrounding it includes the regional councils Sdot Negev, Merhavim, and Bnei Shimon (totaling about 35,000 residents). About 43,000 residents live in Netivot. By comparison, the total population of Ofakim and Sderot is about 50,000. Netivot's growth momentum bolsters its status as a district capital in the Western Negev. Ofakim's planned capacity is about 80,000 residents, Sderot's – about 50,000, and the planned maximum capacity of the regional councils is 50,000 to 60,000 residents. With Netivot's expansion, the region's population will reach more than 250,000. These residents will search for the regional commercial center, which they will find in – Netivot.
"Netivot belongs to the Beersheba Subdistrict. However, the city's expansion is not meant to replace Beersheba," explains town planner and CEO of the Geocartography Knowledge Group Dr. Rina Degani. "Netivot's growth was intended to provide a meaningful urban solution to the western area of the Negev and the subdistrict and its educational, cultural, recreational, commercial, and employment needs. Netivot can only provide all these as a city of significant size."
The commercial volume of the city's businesses is in fact much greater than its urban buying power, since it is fueled by regional demand. About 15% of the residents of Ofakim, Sderot, and the surrounding regional councils visit the shopping centers in Netivot frequently (up to once a week), and about 27% visit the city at least once a month.
Dr. Degani's analysis shows that Netivot will continue to serve as an important commercial hub in the upcoming years. Ofakim's proximity to Beersheba reduces the need for massive commercial development there, so Netivot is expected to remain in the lead regionally.
In 2010, Netivot's population numbered about 27,500; today, 11 years later, it numbers over 43,000, according to data from the Ministry of Interior. The pace of construction in the city and the high demand for apartments for sale supports its ongoing and rapid growth in the upcoming decade as well. The analysis performed by the economic department of the Geocartography Group reveals that since its founding in the late 1950s, the city has experienced high demand for housing, growing at an accelerated rate of about 4.5% per year.
Netivot's growth is very prominent both locally and nationally: while the Israeli population is growing at a pace of slightly less that 2%, and Beersheba, the metropolis, is growing at a rate of 0.8% per year (in the past five years), Netivot is growing at a pace of over 4% and is set to reach 100,000 residents and more, thanks to the pace of land marketing and housing starts in the city.
According to data from the city's engineering department, until the middle of the decade, about 8,400 housing units will be built in the city under the roof agreements and other plans for privately-held lands.
Compared to its neighbors, too, Netivot is soaring: between 2008 and 2020 it grew by 51%, compared to 30-40% for Ashkelon, Ofakim, and Sderot, and about 10% growth in Beersheba.
Degani, a town planner who develops economic plans for commercial complexes and economic development in local councils, emphasizes that this is a very rare phenomenon in Israel's geographic periphery, and that few cities numbering less than 50,000 residents can offer such a rich variety of successful commerce.
Local anchor
What is the secret to Netivot's success? Its central location and its residents' entrepreneurial spirit have created fertile ground for business opportunities over the last decade. In the same spirit, the city was designated in the district outline plan for the Beersheba Metropolitan District TMM 23/14/4 as a "local anchor" – and it certainly fits the bill.
Noam Cohen, director of Geocartography's economic department, explains the city's commercial development processes: "First, the Globus Center was built, on local initiative, around 2010. In 2011, the Zim Urban complex was opened. Over the years, old workshops and factories along Ba'alei ha-Melakha Street were converted to large commercial spaces, and in the past year, more shopping centers were launched by local entrepreneurs. The Paris Center opened, with a replica of the Eiffel Tower and a mall of local and international stores topped by three floors of office space – mixed-use construction at its best. Another center that opened this year is the G Center in the courtyard of the Globus complex, also located on Ba'alei ha-Melakha Street. It features branches of leading food, fashion, and retail chains."
Alona Shefer, CEO of the roof agreement administration, notes that this gradual development of commerce in Netivot proceeded logically and in response to the demand of residents in the city and outside it, as well as occasional internal tourist traffic. This development also brought about the renewal of the city's old industrial zone, and recalls processes in other industrial areas in the center of the country supported by trends in the Israeli economy.
For most hours of the day, Ba'alei Ha-Melakha Street is bustling with consumers visiting tens of thousands of meters of commercial space, including fashion stores, sports brands, cafés and restaurants, stock shops, wine shops, large supermarkets, DIY stores, and many other services. The demand for these spaces is fueled by a consumer public spread out over a wide geographic area.
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The idea advanced by Mayor Yehiel Zohar is that as the city's educated population grows, so will the demand for office space. "In recent years, Netivot has become a magnet for residents of the entire region, with a large concentration of commercial centers, especially in the industrial zone," says Zohar. "We built bridges that connect the old city with the new neighborhoods, a park, an artificial lake with a promenade, and we've upgraded the older neighborhoods."
Business owners in the city feel a sense of community, aided by the city. The mayor called on the residents to support business owners so as to encourage local acquisition, and a Whatsapp group was even created with over 200 local business owners. A special municipal department was created to accompany local businesses, assisting in consultation and strategic development for businesses and connecting them to national projects and business advancement programs.
In sum, a short walk down Ba'alei ha-Melakha Street in Netivot is enough to sense its commercial power, both in absolute terms and compared to other cities in the region. Netivot is fulfilling the role of a regional anchor, just as stated in the vision of the district outline plan, thanks to its very rapid demographic growth, demand coming from the city's surroundings populated by tens of thousands of residents, and a local and national entrepreneurial spirit that brings in high-quality supply, gimmicks that support the city's image, and a strong local leadership that can both formulate a vision and make it a reality.
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