Metropolitan Growth Summary Report | Amman Institute

Summary Report

THE AMMAN PLAN

Metropolitan
Growth

THE AMMAN PLAN METROPOLITAN GROWTH SUMMARY REPORT

THE AMMAN PLAN METROPOLITAN GROWTH

2 THE AMMAN PLAN METROPOLITAN GROWTH

Summary Report

THE AMMAN PLAN

Metropolitan
Growth

Summary Report

THE AMMAN PLAN METROPOLITAN GROWTH 3

The Amman Plan:
Metropolitan Growth
Summary Report

Published by Greater Amman Municipality
May 2008

P.O. Box 132
12 – Ali Bin Abi Taleb Street
Hai Al-Muhajereen – Madina District
Amman, Jordan

Website: www.ammancity.gov.jo
Email: ammanplan@ammancity.gov.jo

THE AMMAN PLAN METROPOLITAN GROWTH

King Abdullah II’s Message 7
Message from the Mayor 9
Vision 10
Aspirations 13
Introduction 14

A Amman Plan 17
A.1 Planning Context 18
A.2 Amman Plan 20
A.3 Planning Approach and Component Plans 24

B Metropolitan Growth Plan 29
B.1 Metropolitan Growth Plan 30
B.2 Metropolitan Growth Plan: Components 38
a) Limited and No Growth Areas 38
b) Metropolitan Transportation and Transit 46
c) Primary Growth Areas 50
d) Metropolitan Services 58
B.3 Growth Models and Development Densities 60

C Metropolitan Growth Plan Implementation 65
C.1 Implementation Approach and Tools 66
C.2 Phasing Plan 70
C.3 Financing Infrastructure and Services 76
C.4 Institutional and Regulatory Framework 77

Glossary 80
Acknowledgements 83


HM King Abdullah II’s Message

“To achieve the optimum balance of healthy growth and quality living,
flourishing expansion and organized districts, 21st century conveniences
and traditional character, we must embark on a serious and comprehensive
project of city planning for Amman.”

Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein
Amman,
5 Rabi’ Al Thani 1427 Hijri
3 May 2006


Message from The Mayor

“Our City is a reflection of ourselves. It is our office to work in; it is our
home to raise a family in; and it is our playground to relax in. It is where we
spend our lives.
All of us have seen Amman grow over the past several years with
tremendous impact on transportation and other services, including our
neighborhoods and unique cityscape. This development has been happening
without a plan; we can no longer afford to grow without direction for it
will damage what is special about Amman and we will miss opportunities to
become a modern world city while retaining the soul of our community.
The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has embarked on the
preparation of its first official Amman Plan. This Plan will be the City’s
blueprint for sustainable development and will help Jordan achieve the
objectives outlined by the National Agenda. It will guide the growth of our
community and address such issues as the built and natural environment,
culture and heritage, transportation and infrastructure, and community
development . . .
We are committed to preparing this Amman Plan based on community
input so that it reflects the aspirations of our citizens. Such aspirations begin
with a Vision of what we want our City to be, rather than just reacting to
current problems . . .”

Mayor Omar Maani


Vision
Amman 2025
Amman is a bustling World City that has been able to blend its rich
natural and cultural heritage and its unique cityscape with modern urban
development.
The City takes special pride in its cultural mosaic, celebrates pluralism,
and has become a model of multiculturalism in the Arab world. In Amman’s
hinterland, the City Government has been careful to protect the traditional
villages that dot the landscape, maintaining their cultural integrity and
traditional lifestyles.
Amman has become a favourite destination for travelers; for many,
visiting Amman is a pilgrimage. The annual Amman Festival is a world event,
attracting more than a million visitors. The Festival celebrates Arab arts and
culture, explores the spirituality of Islam, and builds on The Amman Message
that was drafted nearly twenty years ago.
The City has established itself as the Capital of Agreement and
Reconciliation within the region. The Amman Message has forged an
international East-West cultural bridge, establishing goodwill and friendship
that has extended into the business world. As a result, Amman has become a
major centre for investment in the Middle East.
The City’s knowledge-based industries are flourishing, particularly the
spin-off activity resulting from innovation at the R&D incubators on the
campuses of its major universities. Amman has become the Middle Eastern
and North African (MENA) ‘back-office’ for many international companies,
with state-of-the art business parks providing technical and professional

(left, top to bottom) Conserving our cultural
heritage; Celebrating a pluralist city;
Protecting our unique cityscape;
(right) Greening the city


Amman: a World City
services ranging from software development and web hosting to legal,
that takes you a step
accounting, engineering, and architectural services. Amman is now the hub beyond, for it is a City
for Arab-language call centres.
Amman’s biomedical research and medical tourism sector has fully with a Soul!
matured and is attracting clients from both the MENA region and Western
Europe. Major outsource contracts with the public health agencies of
Holland, France, and Italy have provided stability and growth to this sector.
The recognition that its knowledge-based sectors are world-class has given
Amman, and Jordan, a unique edge in the MENA region, while providing the
traditional tourism sector with a tremendous boost.
To ‘feed-the-soul’, Amman has evolved into a centre of the arts in the
Arab world. The Darat King Abdullah II is a world-class architectural marvel.
The Cultural Village that has grown up around the Darat King Abdullah II
includes the region’s leading theatre and visual
arts school. It also houses an arts and cultural
incubator of affordable studios, which allows
artists from Jordan and elsewhere to celebrate
their craft. This creative activity has spun-off a
vibrant cultural industry that is now recognized
around the globe; it has become known as the
Amman Movement.
Amman is a city of choice. One can step back
in history by walking through the designated
heritage districts. These pedestrian-friendly
neighbourhoods have been thoughtfully restored
and generously landscaped to provide ample
shade. Traffic is limited to local residents only
and a careful blend of inclusive residential and
commercial development makes this area a favorite destination. The old
Downtown has been transformed into a meeting place for Ammanis and
has been ‘greened’ to become the City’s ‘lung’. The heart of the City blends
culture, the arts, history, commerce, and residential development, and now
forms a major tourist destination for the country.
For those with an interest in contemporary living, Amman provides
ample options. The City is known for its distinctive architectural style.
Partnerships between the design community, the City Government, and
investors have resulted in a carefully crafted city design that respects local
topography and historic built form, reflects the creativity of the Amman (top) Centre for Arts in the Arab World:
Zaha Hadid Architects’ design for the
Movement, and is unique to Amman.
Competition for the Darat King Abdullah II;
Zahran Boulevard – Amman’s signature street – is an example of the (bottom) Nurturing the City’s medical
impact the Amman Movement has had on the design of the city; it is a blend knowledge sector

of contemporary architecture that has a unique Ammani texture and feel. The


streetscape boasts a wide promenade, with outdoor living spaces and cafes
that link into a pedestrian network. This network extends into the Sweifieh
District, which is now a fashion district with pedestrian shopping streets and
lofts - both design studios and residences. Dotted with exclusive clothing
and jewelry shops, boutique hotels, and restaurants, the district has become
the SoHo District of the Arab world and is a favorite destination for Emirate
shoppers. The Abdali Central Business District has become a vibrant centre
for commerce and modern living, and has been connected with a public transit
system that provides easy access from all parts of the metropolitan area.
Public transit ridership is made up of all sectors of society, and the City’s
integrated transportation system has become a best practice model that is
being replicated in all major Arab cities. Amman’s physical growth has been
carefully planned, and the Intensification and Densification Policy adopted
nearly twenty years ago has paid off. Metropolitan Amman’s hinterland
(above) A pedestrian city; (below left) Tourism has been protected from urban sprawl and presents Ammanis with an
Projects: Proposed arts and crafts market at
undisturbed and varied landscape, including arid desert, gently sloping hills
the former electrical company hanger; (below
right) Inclusive community: engaging our with lush vegetation, and a productive agricultural area that specializes in
children organic produce - now in high demand in a health-conscious Amman. This
organic agriculture also supplies a thriving export market. Ammani families
continue the old habit of escaping the City’s summer heat, and protected
green reserves, which serve as the ‘lungs of the city’, provide for quiet shady
settings where families can enjoy Friday outings.
Amman has become known as an inclusive and socially responsible city.
In 2006, the Greater Amman Municipality began
a program of Corporate Social Responsibility.
It also created a ‘social contract’ between the
private sector, non-governmental organizations,
international donors, and government to assist
those with special needs. This relationship has
provided ample affordable housing, developed
centres for those with special needs, retrofitted
the City for Ammanis with disabilities, and
created a community development program that
secures meaningful employment for under-privileged residents. The current
Mayor of Amman is a ‘graduate’ of the Child Friendly Initiative, as are nearly
a third of City Council members.
The City motto is ‘Citizens First!’,
and leadership and civic responsibility are
the cornerstones of Amman’s success. This
success is the legacy of an initiative that
began over twenty years ago - the City is
now harvesting its fruits. We have built a
sustainable city with a bright future.
We continually aspire to move Amman
a step beyond; we are a City with a Soul!


Aspirations
Reflecting this Vision, we foresee Amman evolving into:
• An Efficient City
• An Inclusive and Multicultural City
• A City with Citizen-Centered Governance
• A Destination City for Investment and Visitors
• A City of Heritage and the Arts
(above) Protecting our natural
• A Green, Sustainable City heritage; (middle left) A child-
friendly city; (far left) A multi-
• A City for Pedestrians
cultural city; (below middle) New
Abdali Central Business District;
(bottom) Blending the past with the
present


Introduction

The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is pleased to present this
introduction to the evolving Amman Plan. The Amman Plan is a work
in progress, being built and refined as different layers of planning are
undertaken in Amman, and will remain so through to its 2025 horizon and
beyond.
The Amman Plan presents a somewhat unorthodox approach to
metropolitan, urban, and community planning. Conventional ‘Master
Plans’ are typically structured from the top down – that is, from the larger,
metropolitan scale down to the small community scale – in a progressively
more detailed sequence. The Amman Plan is being created at all scales
simultaneously, from both the top down and the bottom up.
The Amman Plan has been prepared under the guidance and shared
vision of the Mayor and the Greater Amman Municipal Council, the Central
Government Ministries, the Mayor’s Roundtable, urban professionals, and
many of Amman’s informed and concerned citizens. In many respects, it
reflects current government planning and the ambitions of the National
Strategy. As much as possible, it also reflects the intimate knowledge and
passion of the countless admirers and inhabitants who call Amman home.
The Amman Plan has been prepared under the Authority of the Royal
Decree that set the process in motion and under the legal authority of the
Cities, Villages, and Buildings Planning Law, No. 79 of 1966.
This report is a summary of the full Amman Plan, which contains the
policy that will be used to guide day-to-day planning in the City, and is
presented in three sections:


Section A of this report describes the overall approach and framework of
the Amman Plan, which responds to the pressing growth challenges facing
GAM at a variety of planning scales.
Section B provides an overview of the Amman Plan’s primary response
to the City’s growth challenges: the Metropolitan Growth Plan (MGP). The
MGP and its subsidiary plans establish a growth framework that is responsive
to Amman’s varied landscape and rich history.
Section C of this report assembles various tools that will be used to
ensure that the Amman Plan can be implemented and financed by GAM,
various public utilities, and the Central Government.


A


Amman Plan
A.1 Planning Context 18
A.2 Amman Plan 20
A.3 Planning Approach and Component Plans 24


Beirut

Mediterranean
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LEBANON
Damascus

SYRIA
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Lake
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Irbid

Mafraq
Aijloun
Jerash
Tel
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Zarqa
BANK
Ramallah Amman
Jerusalem Azraq

Madaba
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Al Karak SAUDI ARABIA

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SAUDI
Al Aqabah
gulf ARABIA
of
Aqabah

Haql

Al Bi’r

Kilometers
0 37.5 75 150


A.2 Amman Plan

The Amman Plan is an ongoing and evolving series of interrelated and
coordinated plans for the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM). Its main
challenge is to accommodate Amman’s projected growth to 2025, and to do
so it will:
• Provide a Vision of the future growth of the City
• Provide a Policy Framework to guide the physical development of the
City to the year 2025
• Include multiple Component Plans at different planning levels
– Metropolitan, Planning Area, and Community

Planning Boundary
The Greater Amman Municipal Boundary serves as the Metropolitan
Planning Area boundary for the Amman Plan. This Metropolitan Planning
Area consists of 1,661,904 dunums (1,662 square kilometres) and includes the
recent 2007 amalgamations (see Map 2)

Map 2: Greater Amman Municipal Boundary and Amalgamation Areas


TO IRBID
ZARQA
SALT

8th CIRCLE
LANDFILL

KING OF
BAHRAIN
TO DEAD SEA
PARK

TO A
ZRA
Q

AIRPORT
MADABA
TO
AQA
B
A

LEGEND
Greater Amman Municipal Boundary
GAM Area before 2007: 705 km2
GAM Amalgamation after 2007: 957 km2
TOTAL: 1,662 km2


Planning Scales
The Amman Plan features sequential scales of planning and corresponding
levels of planning detail within an overall plan hierarchy (see Figure 4):

Metropolitan Scale: Relates to the entire 1,662-square-kilometre
Metropolitan Planning Area and is the scale of the Metropolitan Growth
Plan - the subject of Sections B and C of this report.

Figure 4: Amman Plan: Planning Scales

Metropolitan Growth Plan Scale

ZARQA
SALT

8th CIRCLE
LANDFILL

KIN
KING
KING OF
IN
KING
BAHRA
BAHRA N
AHRAIN
HRA
HRA
R
BAHRAIN
PARK
A
AR
ARK
PARK

MADABA AIRPORT


Planning Area Scale: The Metropolitan Planning Area will be split into eight
Planning Areas to provide a finer scale of planning detail. Area Plans,
when completed, will be based on the Metropolitan Growth Plan and
will include elements such as land use and major road alignments.

Community Scale: Occurs at the level of 228 existing neighbourhoods,
which can be broken into smaller planning blocks. Community Plans for
these neighbourhoods will provide the greatest level of planning detail,
including detailed zoning and local road networks.

ARAFAT NODE

AIR
PO
RT
RO
AD

AL YADOUDA
Um Al Kondom

SOUTH PARK

ADC

Metro Gateway

Planning Area Scale
Inner South Planning Area

Metro Gateway Community Plan


A.3 Planning Approach
and Component Plans
The Amman Plan is being developed in seven Planning Phases that define
a range of Plan Components (see Figure 5 on page 27), each developed at
one of the Planning Scales defined in Section A.3. The Amman Plan initially
undertook bottom-up, community-level planning in response to immediate
and critical pressures to develop tall buildings, urban corridors, industrial
areas, residential compounds, and the Airport Road. Phases 1-4 described
below reflect these first steps.

Phase 1: Amman Plan for Tall Buildings
(formerly Interim Growth Strategy)
The Amman Plan began at the community scale, with the preparation of
the Amman Plan for Tall Buildings that focused on the location, planning,
design, and regulation of ‘High-Density Mixed-Use’ (HDMU) development,
including the location and regulation of tall buildings.

Phase 2: Corridor Intensification Strategy
The Amman Plan continued at the community scale with the Corridor
Intensification Strategy for ten separate but interconnected urban
transportation corridors located in the west-central part of Amman and
measuring over 40 kilometres in total length (e.g., Mecca, King Abdullah II,
Queen Rania II, Zahran, and Arar).

Phase 3: Industrial Lands Policy
The Industrial Lands Policy designates industrial areas in selected locations
where scattered industrial development applications can be consolidated
with appropriate access to housing, transit and other urban amenities (e.g., Al
Jeezah Industrial Area and Sahab – Al Mouwaqer Corridor). This policy also
introduces a new industrial classification system.


Phase 4-A: Outlying Settlements Policy
(formerly Rural Residential Policy)
The Outlying Settlement Policy is a response to increasing interest in
residential developments, particularly large-scale compound and gated
communities, beyond the Amman Development Corridor in GAM’s outlying
areas. This policy designates four growth areas around existing villages where
outlying settlement development will be consolidated.

Phase 4-B: Airport Corridor Plan
The Airport Corridor Plan contains proposed conceptual land use plans for
five communities that will be developed in phases from north to south: Arafat
Intersection, South Park, Al-Yadouda, Metro Gateway, and Alia International
Airport. This plan also addresses the expansion and development of the new
Metro-Park.

Phase 5: Metropolitan Growth Plan
(2008 - This Document)
The Metropolitan Growth Plan is the highest-scale component of the
Amman Plan. It provides an overall settlement structure and growth frame-
work with supporting policies for the entire Metropolitan Planning Area
and encompasses all earlier and subsequent plans. This Plan also includes a
Phasing Plan to provide guidance for planned capital improvements.

Phase 6: Area Plans
(2008 forward)
Two Area Plans are scheduled for preparation and approval in 2008. These
will likely be the Central Area Plan and the Inner South Area Plan. These
Area Plans will provide a link between the larger-scale Metropolitan Growth
Plan and the more detailed Community Plans.
continued . . .


Phase 7: Planning Initiatives
(2008 forward)
Further components of the Amman Plan will include Metropolitan Corridor
Plans, Urban Corridor Plans, further Area Plans, Heritage Studies, Urban
Design Studies, Community Plans, and Sector Plans (e.g. Affordable Housing
and Economic Development). Some additional studies of these types are
already underway and listed here:
Amman Development Corridor Master Plan
Amman Metropolitan Transportation Study
Amman Housing Plan
Inner East Area Plan
Amman Heritage Studies
Amman Urban Design Studies
Zahran Heritage Study
Airport Corridor Detailed Design
Government City
Amman Urban Corridors
Community Plans

Figure 5: Amman Plan: Planning Framework
This overall Planning Framework represents the individual plan components included in the Amman Plan
and identifies the various tools that will be used to implement them.


N A T I O N A L P O L I C I E S (National Agenda)

AMMAN VISION AND ASPIRATIONS

METROPOLITAN GROWTH PLAN

Limited / No Growth Primary Growth Transportation and Infrastructure

Openspace
Mineral Natural Cultural Agriculture and Public Housing Employment Growth Corridors Energy and Telecomm- Water and Storm Water Solid Waste Transit and
Extraction Heritage Heritage Institutions Centers Electricity unicatios Watsewater Management Management Roads

AREA GROWTH PLANS

THE AMMAN PLAN
North West Central Inner South Inner East Outer East Outer South South West

AMMAN PLAN
COMMUNITY PLANS

Amman Plan for Tall Buildings Corridor Intensification Strategy Outlying Settlements Policy Industrial Lands Policy

Airport Road Concept Plan Amman Development Corridor Outer East Area Plan Amman Heritage/Conservation Studies

METROPOLITAN GROWTH
Inner East Area Plan Zahran Corridor Heritage Study Airport Corridor Detailed Design
Government City Amman Urban Corridors Amman Urban Design Studies To be continued ...

IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS
SECTOR STRATEGIES

Regulations Public Infrastructure Public Governance and Development Urban Design Public/Private
Public Zoning
and Incentives Works Programs Public Participation Review Guidelines Partnerships
Projects
Completed Community Plans
Community Plans in Progress

27

B


Metropolitan
Growth Plan
B.1 Metropolitan Growth Plan 30
B.2 Metropolitan Growth Plan: Components 38
a) Limited and No Growth Areas 38
b) Metropolitan Transportation and Transit 46
c) Primary Growth Areas 50
d) Metropolitan Services 58
B.3 Growth Models and Development Densities 60


B.1 Metropolitan Growth Plan
The Metropolitan Growth Plan (MGP) is the primary component of the
Amman Plan. The MGP provides the overall framework that unites and coor-
dinates all other component plans. This framework is spatial and structural
in nature but is also policy- and process-based. The MGP answers the most
fundamental questions about the future of urban growth in Amman until 2025:
• Where should the City grow?
• Where should the City be prevented from growing?
• How should growth be structured, organized, phased, and financed?
• Which policies should guide this growth?

Planning and Development Principles
The MGP reflects the following planning and development principles:
• Encourage compact urban growth in order to make the best use of
existing services, promote increased transit use, improve pedestrian
accessibility, and improve affordability for both the Greater Amman
Municipality (GAM) and its residents
• Direct growth to both existing built-up areas, in order to make the best
use of existing services, and to new designated expansion areas that are
located close to the urban core
• Promote mixed land use in general, and a mix of residential and
employment uses in particular, in order to foster a diverse economy and
to limit commuting times
• Promote clear distinctions between urban, suburban, and, traditional
communities in order to protect valuable environmental and agricultural
lands and to support traditional lifestyles and culture
• Focus GAM’s transportation policy on moving people and goods rather
than moving vehicles
• Promote public transit and develop a transportation system that offers
choice
• Provide for a safe and convenient pedestrian environment that is
integrated with other modes of transportation
• Conserve the cultural heritage of the City, including modern and
ancient heritage
• Create a connected Natural Heritage System that protects and
connects important environmental features - forests, wadis, highlands,
deserts, and water aquifers - at the same time as it accommodates a
network of public walking trails and urban parks throughout the City


Metropolitan Growth Scenarios
The conceptual foundation for the MGP is based on an examination of three
alternative scenarios of settlement expansion and intensification sufficient to
contain the projected population growth in Amman by the year 2025 (from
2,200,000 to 6,500,000 people) (see Figure 6). Applying the planning and
development principles described above, each scenario was evaluated. The
preferred scenario became the foundation for the MGP.
Scenario 1: The City continues to grow as it has for the past 10-15 years,
primarily through outward expansion onto undeveloped land and at the
current overall density of 5 persons per dunum. This scenario will fill most of
the Metropolitan Planning Area by 2025 and will require the development of
most of the existing agricultural land.
Scenario 2: The City grows through an equal combination of intensification
(see Glossary) of existing built-up areas and outward expansion onto
undeveloped land, resulting in an overall density of 10 persons per dunum.
Growth in this scenario is largely contained within the Amman Development
Corridor, but ‘spills over’ this boundary in the Sahab-Al Mouwaqer area and
a limited number of other designated areas.
Scenario 3: The City grows through a greater emphasis on intensification
combined with densification (see Glossary), resulting in a further reduction
in perimeter expansion and an increase in overall density to 15 persons per
dunum. Development is fully contained within the Amman Development
Corridor.

Scenario 1 was judged to be unsustainable, unaffordable, and destructive
to the development character of Amman. Scenario 3 was judged to be only
partially achievable given current development conditions, pressures, and
constraints. A hybrid of Scenario 2 and Scenario 3 was selected, combining
the land requirements of Scenario 2 with the intensification and densification
features of Scenario 3. Figure 6: Metropolitan Growth Scenarios

008)
)

Current Built-up Area (2008)
Urban Expansion (2025)
Agricultural Land

Scenario 1: Scenario 2: Scenario 3:
Status Quo Intensification + Expansion Intensification + Densification + Expansion
Density (people/donum) 5 10 15
Urban Envelope (sq.km) 840 340 170
Prime Agricultural Land Impacted (sq. km) 474 225 96
Cost of New Road Infrastructure (Billion JD) 3.5 1.5 1.0


Metropolitan Growth Plan
The MGP provides a spatial growth framework and policies to guide future
detailed area, community, and corridor planning. The complete spatial plan
is presented on Map 3. Individual components of the MGP are described and
illustrated separately below in Section B.2.
The MGP uses the following specific key growth designations that
define the spatial growth of the City. These designations are visually
represented and defined further in Figure 7 (also see Glossary for more
detailed definitions of growth designations):

Primary Growth Areas: Within Primary Growth Areas, the MGP defines
Settlement Areas, Employment Areas, Metropolitan Corridors, and
Metropolitan Growth Centres, which will absorb most of Amman’s growth to
2025.
Within the Primary Growth Area, the MGP defines an Urban Envelope,
which includes the existing core built-up areas of Amman and extends beyond
them in designated areas to align with the Amman Development Corridor.
This Urban Envelope will contain 85 percent of Amman’s new growth.

Limited and No Growth Areas: Limited and No Growth Areas include
Natural Heritage Areas, Cultural Heritage Areas, Agricultural Areas, and
Mining and Quarry Areas where development is limited or prohibited.

Map 3: Metropolitan Growth Plan 2025


ZARQA
SALT

8th CIRCLE
LANDFILL

KING OF
BAHRAIN
PARK

MADABA AIRPORT

LEGEND g
Amman Metropolitan Boundary Major Heritage Landscapes Built Up Areas
Natural Heritage System Motorway Expansion Areas
Quarry and Mineral Extraction Lease Areas Rural Expressway Metropolitan Corridor
Quarry and Mineral Extraction Areas Urban Expressway Metropolitan Growth Centres
Rangelands Major Arterial Built Employment
Croplands Railway Expansion Employment
Core Cultural Heritage Centres / Major Antiquities Potential High-Order Transit Corridors Open Space System


PRIMARY LIMITED and
GROWTH AREAS NO GROWTH AREAS

Settlement Built Up Areas: Natural Heritage Areas:
absorb 45% of future prevent development
population growth within around environmentally
existing communities and sensitive areas, including
built up areas key watersheds, wadis and
forest areas
Settlement Expansion Areas:
absorb 55% of future Cultural Heritage Areas:
population growth on protect significant cultural
land that is currently or historical artifacts and
undeveloped antiquities

Metropolitan Corridors:
allow significant intensifica-
tion along designated por- Rangeland Areas:
tions with high-order transit provide a buffer around
service settlements for limited agri-
culture, desert reclamation,
and water harvesting
Metropolitan Growth Centres:
allow High Density and mixed
Cropland Areas:
use development that will
strenghthen agricultural
absorb significant population
communities and limit
growth and support high-
sprawl on Amman’s prime
order transit service
rainfed agricultural areas

Employment Built-Up Areas & Quarry and Mineral
Employment Expansion Areas: Extraction Areas:
absorb industrial, commercial protect the existing
and office uses over the next resource extraction land
25 years through intensifica- and employment base
tion of Employment Built-Up
Areas and additional expan-
sion within Employment Ex-
pansion Areas


Growth Concept
Figure 8 provides a different view of the MGP spatial plan. This cross-section
represents Primary Growth Areas in yellow and orange, and Limited Growth
Areas in green and brown. Settlement growth will be accommodated through
intensification of designated Built-Up Areas and through the extension of
development onto vacant land. Additional higher-density growth will be
facilitated within key transit-supported Metropolitan Growth Centres and
within developments along Metropolitan Corridors. Figure 8: Metropolitan Growth Plan:
Growth Concept

Urban Envelope
Built-up Areas

Built Boundary
Croplands Expansion Areas Expansion Areas Rangelands

Expansion Areas

Natural Heritage System

Metropolitan Corridors
Metropolitan Corridors

Metropolitan
Growth
Centres
Greater Amman Municipal Boundary

West East

Figure 9 further describes the types of development that can occur within
Primary Growth Areas.
Figure 9: Primary Growth Area
Built Boundary Settlement Development Types

Existing Settlement Area:
Amman’s population lives primarily within
the built-up areas of cities, towns, and villages
located within the Greater Amman Municipal
Boundary. Approximately 40 percent of land in
Built-up Area Expansion the existing built-up area is vacant.

Settlement Densification:
A portion of the projected population growth
to 2025 will be absorbed by increasing the
permitted zoned density on individual plots
within the existing built-up areas of Amman. This
includes allowing additional floors and greater
lot coverage.

Settlement Intensification:
A significant portion of the projected population
growth to 2025 will be absorbed by developing
vacant land within the existing built-up areas of
Amman.

Settlement Expansion:
The largest portion of the projected population
growth to 2025 will be absorbed by extending
development beyond existing built-up areas of
Amman into vacant land.

Figure 7: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Definitions


Planning Areas
For planning purposes, the Amman Plan proposes that the Metropolitan
Planning Area be divided into eight Planning Areas (see Map 4). Five of these
Planning Areas are within the Urban Envelope. The Planning Areas provide
rational planning boundaries to conduct further detailed planning and to
create Area Plans in the future.
Planning Area boundaries were determined using a combination of the
following criteria:
• Development patterns – e.g., built, scattered, vacant
• Geographic distribution
• Physical boundaries – e.g., main roads, natural features
• Location with respect to the Urban Envelope – i.e., inside or outside
• Neighbourhood boundaries
• Former administrative boundaries

Map 4: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Planning Areas


North

West
Central Inner East

South West Inner South Outer East

Outer South


B.2 Metropolitan Growth Plan:
Components

The components of the MGP are presented in the following four sections:
• Limited and No Growth Areas
• Transportation and Transit
• Primary Growth Areas
• Metropolitan Services

a) Limited and No Growth Areas
(See Map 5.) Amman has few areas of natural cover remaining in the
municipality and most of these features are located on lands with
difficult terrain and poor shallow soil. In general, the quality of the City’s
natural system is severely degraded and presents many opportunities for
enhancement. Therefore, the MGP’s Natural Heritage System (NHS)
protects environmentally sensitive areas – including key watersheds, wadis,
wildlife areas, and forest areas – from development. The NHS incorporates
the following features for their natural and community value, as well as to
mitigate public hazards:
• Forests: including both natural forest areas and plantations
• Rehabilitated andor Restored Sites: including quarries, other
extraction sites, wadis, and steep slopes
• Major Wadis: including a 30 metre buffer surrounding the wadi
• Significant Physical Features: including ridges and severe slopes

Map 5: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Natural Heritage System


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Roads
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Mining and Quarries
(See Map 6.) Amman was fundamentally a mining town, built out of the stone
quarried from the surrounding hills of the original settlement. Amman’s
architectural character is defined by this relationship between the built
environment and the skilled transformation of the sources of its urban fabric.
In keeping with Amman’s distinctive urban form, quarrying and, to a lesser
extent, mineral extraction will continue within the Metropolitan Planning
Area, ensuring that Amman continues to be built out of local resources using
local craftsmanship. With respect to mining and quarries, the MGP will:
• Protect the existing resource extraction land and employment base
• Ensure sustainable practices for the extraction of mineral resources and
quarrying
• Strictly control the creation of new stone quarries within GAM
• Rehabilitate old quarries especially for inclusion into the Open Space
System
• Protect quarries with cultural heritage value including Roman quarry
sites

Map 6: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Mining and Quarries


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Quarry and Mineral Extraction Lease Areas
Quarry and Mineral Extraction Areas
Roads
Proposed Roads
Railway


Agriculture
(See Map 7.) If properly supported through planning and policy, local
agriculture offers great benefits to cities, including stronger economic
connections between urban and agricultural communities due to shared
markets and market volume (e.g., niche markets for value-added products
such as organic goods), greater food security due to proximity of agricultural
production, reduced energy expenditures and pollution related to lower
product transportation requirements, and reduced greenhouse gases
through carbon sequestration in the crop plants. For all of these reasons,
the MGP Agricultural Plan focuses on supporting agricultural activities and
communities as follows:
• Protect and conserve valuable agricultural resources, especially high-
quality rainfed agricultural land
• Reduce agricultural water use and improve water quality for agriculture
• Support and facilitate urban agriculture, increased water harvesting, and
conservation
• Ensure compatible uses in areas adjacent to agricultural land
• Encourage high value-added economic and environmentally sustainable
agricultural production such as organic farming

Map 7: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Agriculture


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Rangelands
Croplands
Roads
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Railway


Cultural Heritage System
(See Map 8.) Everyday , Amman residents encounter history within the
City’s streets, buildings, cafes, topography, arcades, and other features.
Amman’s history gives it a unique identity and a location on the global
map. The MGP’s Cultural Heritage System (CHS) lays the foundation for
the protection, conservation, and rehabilitation of Amman’s wide range
of cultural heritage features. The first of its kind for Amman, the CHS
integrates the modern and the ancient within an overall heritage framework.
The MGP will:
• Recognize historic and heritage town centres, corridors, areas, viewsheds,
and antiquity sites at the metropolitan scale
• Identify major cultural heritage features and integrate them into the
settlement structure
• Promote the City’s cultural heritage
• Support tourism development within Amman

Map 8: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Cultural Heritage System


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Rainbow Street ! !!
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Metropolitan Amman Boundary
Core Cultural Heritage Centers
Major Heritage Landscapes
Major Antiquities


b) Transportation and Transit
Transportation
Introduction
The MGP identifies the major roadway, transit, and pedestrian infrastructure
and services that the City will require by 2025. This infrastructure will provide
adequate mobility and support the overall development pattern identified in
the MGP. The policies presented below will guide development of the City’s
transportation programs and provide a basis for transportation infrastructure
investment. This public investment will reflect a rebalancing of priorities
toward higher-quality, higher-capacity, and more effective transit service and
far safer, better-connected, and more attractive facilities for people who walk.

Transportation Policy
MGP transportation policy emphasizes the integration of land use,
transportation, and infrastructure investment to encourage compact,
integrated urban development and a transition from automobile travel
to public transit use and pedestrian movement. The MGP promotes the
integration of land use and transportation by identifying growth centres and
corridors with a mix of residential and employment land uses structured
around new and upgraded transit facilities and services. This integration will
be supported in Area Plans and Community Plans by a pedestrian network
combined with an appropriate supply of public vehicular parking.

Transportation Hierarchy
The MGP’s transportation and transit planning provides a hierarchy of
roadway, transit, and pedestrian networks, each with its own function within
a larger integrated network. The hierarchy defines the function, scale, design
features, and operational characteristics of each element of the network.

Road Plan
The MGP identifies a hierarchical plan of roads in GAM, which designates
the location, connectedness, physical, and operational characteristics of each
type of roadway. The road hierarchy elements and network designated in the
MGP includes: Motorway, Rural Highway, Urban Expressway, and Major
Arterial Road (see Map 9). Lower-order elements of the road hierarchy
(Arterial, Collector, and Local) will be designated in Area Plans, Community
Plans, and Corridor Plans.
Future major investment in roadway junction improvements (bridges
and tunnels) will be focused on urban expressways to achieve free flow
conditions and on major arterial roads to resolve specific capacity constraints
at junctions where necessary. Future traffic flow on arterial roads will be
interrupted by traffic control signals at regularly spaced intersections to
allow for safe and efficient turning movements, side-street cross traffic, and
pedestrian crossing movements.

Map 9: Metropolitan Growth Plan:Transportation


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(Proposed)
Motorway
Rural Highway
Urban Expressway
Major Arterial
Major Arterial (Tunnel)
Existing Railway
Proposd Railway


Transit
The MGP seeks to substantially enhance transit service in Amman with
the goal of greatly increasing transit ridership and attracting a broad cross-
section of citizens. Transit planning emphasizes the creation of transit routes
with high-quality, reliable, predictable, comfortable, and efficient services.
The MGP facilitates the development of a safe and modern transit system
with an interconnected and coordinated route structure and an integrated
fare system.
The Transit System will be composed the following service levels:

High-Order Transit Service: Metro Transit, Light Rail Transit, and
Bus Rapid Transit
High-order transit service will be provided within corridors with transit-
supportive medium- and high-density mixed-use development. Potential
High-Order Transit Corridors are indicated on Map 10.

Major Bus Transit: Qualified Modern Buses
Major bus service will be provided within designated corridors that have
suitable transit-supportive high-density and mixed-use development in place.
These designated corridors will expedite the efficient movement of buses
using exclusive transit lanes, queue jump lanes, and traffic signal priority for
buses.

Regular Bus Service: Qualified Buses
Regular bus service will be provided on conventional routes in mixed traffic.
Routes will include designated stop locations and passenger shelters.

Service Taxis
Service taxis will operate within designated zones to provide complementary
service (short distance local trips and connections) that feeds regular and
major bus services.

Pedestrian
Amman is a walking city. The City is lucky to have a climate and topography
ideal for walking. Also, Amman traditionally valued walking, as evidenced by
the prominent role of stairs and historic promenades in its built form. Today,
however, the City’s pedestrian systems are in decline and pedestrians are
forced to use unattractive, unsafe, and inefficient infrastructure.
Transit riders are pedestrians before and after each trip and, consequently,
the transit system’s success in attracting new riders is dependent on the
quality of the pedestrian systems that feed it. New pedestrian systems should
be street based with wider and better-designed sidewalk pavements for
movement within and between communities. Pedestrian systems should be
specifically oriented to provide access to transit services.

Map 10: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Potential Higher-Order Transit Corridors


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Potential High-Order Transit Corridor
Existing Railway
Proposed Railway
Primary High-Order Transit Corridor


c) Primary Growth Areas
Settlement Areas
The MGP projects an increase in GAM’s population from the current
estimate of 2,200,000 to over 6,500,000 by 2025. This increase will require
up to 1,300,000 million new housing units. The MGP provides a settlement
growth framework that will contain the majority of urban growth and
development within an Urban Envelope (see Glossary), while providing for
small amounts of growth beyond this boundary. Approximately 85 percent
of new housing units will be located within the Urban Envelope, while the
remaining 15 percent will be situated in Primary Growth Areas outside of the
Urban Envelope and, in limited quantities, in Agricultural Areas.
The MGP provides for the spatial distribution of settlement development
as described in Section B.1 and as illustrated on Map 3. The planned
distribution of population and housing unit density for each Planning Area is
described below in Section B.3.
The following land uses are included within Primary Growth Areas:

Settlement Built-Up Areas
The MGP facilitates growth within existing built-up areas through both
intensification and densification (see Map 11 and Figure 9). Up to 40 percent
of land within Amman’s built-up areas is vacant, allowing for a large degree
of intensification. In addition, certain parts of Amman, such as Abdali, have
already been approved for redevelopment as areas of densification. 45 percent
of new housing units within the Urban Envelope will be accommodated
within the Built-Up Area.

Settlement Expansion Areas
The Amman Development Corridor provides a clear and appropriate urban
edge - called the Urban Envelope in the MGP - that will serve to contain
most of Amman’s projected growth (see Figure 8). Settlement Expansion
Areas are primarily located within this Urban Envelope, but are also found in
designated Primary Growth Areas outside of it – see Map 11. Future growth
outside of the Urban Envelope is anticipated to add up to 700,000 additional
residents – especially within the Metropolitan Growth Centre planned in Al
Jeeza, adjacent to the airport. Outside of the Urban Envelope and outside
of designated Settlement Built-Up and Expansion Areas, only low-density
agriculture-related housing development, within the current zoning ‘as-of-
right’, is planned and allowed. 55 percent of new housing units within the
Urban Envelope will be located in Settlement Expansion Areas.
In addition to the physical growth of settlements, housing provision and
affordability is a crucial component of the overall development of the City.

Map 11: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Settlement Areas


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Built Up Areas
Expansion Areas
Roads
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Railway


Affordable Housing
Affordable housing has become a critical issue in Amman due to the inflation
in land, construction, and energy prices and to the planned removal of
rent controls by 2010. The high demand for affordable housing is further
complicated by 30,000 new families entering the housing market each year.
With an average Ammani household earning an income of JD576 per month,
many households spend beyond their means for new housing.
Although not directly responsible for ‘housing’, GAM can support the
provision of affordable housing through the MGP by:
• Assessing its municipal land bank and making available, in partnership
with Central Government and the private sector, surplus lands that are
suitable for affordable housing.
• Providing ‘bonus-zoning’ for developers committed to building
affordable housing.
• Introducing flexible zoning to facilitate density increases and alternative
development types in low-income areas, including height increases,
assuming that buildings have structural integrity and infrastructure
services in the area can manage the additional density.
• Cooperating with the private sector, professional associations, and
Central Government to undertake research into creative housing
typologies and alternative construction and insulation techniques that
reduce the cost of housing.

Metropolitan Corridors and Growth Centres Policy
Metropolitan Corridors include Airport Road, the Sahab Al-Mouwaqer
Corridor, and the proposed Amman Development Corridor (currently under
construction). Linked together (see Map 12), these corridors will provide
Ammanis with safe, easy access to all parts of the City, and:
• Serve as primary traffic and transit corridors
• Offer mixed-use development options
• Incorporate ‘green’ features
• Serve as economic conduits for the transport of goods

In turn, the Metropolitan Corridors will anchor a series of new Metropolitan
Growth Centres at their intersections (see Map 12). These centres will serve
to define major gateways to and from Amman and:
• Provide access to major recreation facilities and metropolitan parks
• Integrate high-order public transit
• Combine a wide variety of high-density residential, institutional, and
commercial land uses within a vibrant public framework consisting of
parks, gardens, pedestrian promenades, squares and open space.

Map 12: Metropolitan Corridors and Metropolitan Growth Centres


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Metropolitan Corridor
Metropolitan Growth Centres
Roads
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Employment Areas
(See Map 13.) Employment planning has to be responsive to the changing
economic and physical requirements of investors, workers, government
agencies, and other stakeholders. Employment Areas need to be integrated
with transit and transportation systems, other types of land uses and existing
infrastructure. Employment planning must be in line with the National
Agenda of diversifying the existing employment base by supporting value-
added manufacturing and service sector jobs, particularly in the knowledge
sectors. In order to meet current employment requirements while
accommodating for future demand from new production processes and
services, Amman’s Employment Areas will meet the following key objectives:
• Accommodate 1,800,000 jobs across GAM within a flexible planning
framework
• Support a range of employment uses within the City by providing
sufficient zoned land to accommodate industrial, commercial, R&D and
institutional land requirements
• Cluster employment uses to enhance competitiveness and reduce
infrastructure costs
• Improve opportunities and access to jobs for disadvantaged communities
• Encourage the development of Prestige-oriented employment uses that
diversify and stabilize the City’s economic base
• Provide space for new and expanding high-tech industries with low
environmental impact
• Support urban development that is attractive to value-added industry
and employees by reducing commuting times and offering reliable
transportation options

Map 13: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Employment Areas


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Built Employment
Expansion Employment
Roads
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Open Space System
Open space is generally defined as publicly and/or privately owned land
that is not intensively developed for residential, commercial, industrial, or
institutional use. It can include agricultural and forest land, undeveloped
scenic lands, public parks, and preserves. The MGP Open Space System
(OSS) includes open space areas of the following types within the Urban
Envelope (see Map 14):
• Natural Heritage System
• Urban Tree Canopy
• Cultural Heritage Sites and Corridors
• Existing and Proposed Parks
• Linear Connections among the open space sites
• Urban Agriculture Sites1 in undeveloped areas and Orchards in existing
developed areas

The OSS also includes all open space areas between the Urban Envelope
and the Greater Amman Municipal Boundary. These OSS components
located outside of the Urban Envelope are similar to those within the Urban
Envelope, but also include agricultural land (e.g., Rangeland, Cropland).
The establishment of parks in areas outside of the Urban Envelope will be
based on the protection of natural and cultural resources and other proposed
recreational facilities.
The OSS will allow GAM to continue:
• Providing a visual and scenic contrast to the built environment and
defines developable parts of the City
• Providing land for recreational, cultural, and community celebrations and
gatherings
• Supporting the conservation of natural or semi-natural habitats and sites
of scenic, cultural, or heritage interest
• Improving health and general quality of life

Map 14: Metropolitan Growth Plan: Open Space System


Metropolitan Growth Summary Report | Amman Institute

Metropolitan Growth Summary Report | Amman Institute

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