The Life Cycle Concept and the Evolution of Villages

This paper tries to provide a theoretical framework for systematizing our understanding of how the rural settlements change. The work presents a structured description of the evolving phenomenon of Counter-Urbanization in the Moshavim (villages) in Israel using the product life cycle' model. The paper uses the model in order to explain the changes, which have taken place in the
Moshavim - rural villages in Israel. It is claimed that as part of an ongoing process of change the Moshav is gradually going through the stages of a product life cycle - starting at birth, then development, stagnation, decline,death and a possible eventual rejuvenation. Today, it is assumed that many Moshavim in the central part of Israel are to be in the stage of rejuvenation - which means that they are losing some of their unique features, those which formed the basis for their identities as a special type of rural community and are developing a new identity as a distinct type of rural community, or as a suburban or urban community. The researches main contribution is provision of an elaborate framework for systematizing our understanding of how rural settlements change during time. This usage of a framework of the Product life cycle model
was found to be suitable for interpreting the process that villages are experiencing today