“Unit Pride”: Public Events and the Construction of Community

Abstract

This article explores the impact of public events on the development of a Tel Aviv neighborhood. The events were structured as egalitarian: They involved no financial expenditures and avoided ethnic or political issues. Tracing four events, the paper illustrates the gradual crystallization of a local image until it became a resource, sought by both the public and business entrepreneurs. The paper is based on a three–year fieldwork project (1988–1991) in the neighborhood, hereafter called Givat Narkis, and on a local survey conducted in late 1990. [Public events, gentrification, Tel Aviv, Israel]