Growth of Urban Peripheries with Reference to Inconsistent Spatial Planning Policies: South-east Amman as case study

Abstract

The rapid random spatial growth of the urban peripheries of Amman calls for an immediate reconsideration of the enforced planning policies that govern the spatial growth of those settlements. However, an overall assessment of the current planning mechanisms is urgently needed. The article addresses some spatial factors which are impacting the peripheral growth at the south-eastern edge of Amman. It includes the urban land policies that are generated by Greater Amman Municipality GAM.The adoption of decentralization as a prevailing framework for urban policy in the latter two GAM master plans forms a turning point at the planning level. Such concept has evolved through the application of rigid frameworks that culminated into complex urban superposition. This study deals with a marginal settlement which lies at the south-eastern edge of the Greater Amman Municipality, i.e. Muwaqqer. The analysis intends to explore how Muwaqqer has expanded randomly, testing in the meantime the relationship between Amman city core and its peripheral settlements both spatially and functionally. Light shall also be shed on the two major master plans of GAM: The Greater Amman Comprehensive and Development Plan (GACDP) of 1986, and the Amman Master Plan: Metropolitan Growth of 2008, tackling their impact on the peripheral district in question. The study proposes some feasible planning measures to pave the way for better control of the rapid urban growth at the peripheral areas with the aim to mitigate the negative aspects which adversely affecting the urban structure of Amman. However, the paper also examines the urban transformation of the chosen settlement which further aggravates the multi-jurisdictional divisions that initially meant to sustain an urban uniformity for a modern Amman entity.