Development town (,
Ayarat Pitu'ah) is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in
Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing to a large influx of
Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and other new immigrants (Olim), who arrived to the newly established
State of Israel. The towns were designated to expand the population of the country's peripheral areas and to ease development pressure on the country's crowded centre. The towns are the results of the
Sharon plan - the master plan of Israel. The majority of such towns were built in the
Galilee in the north of Israel, and in the northern
Negev desert in the south. In addition to the new towns,
Jerusalem was also given development town status in the 1960s.