in a very exclusive urban setting where the whole notion of urban memory and property ownership was expunged.^2
This reconstruction is creating a collaged urban morphology that is designed for consumption and linked with enter-
tainment geared for rich Arab Gulf tourists and the local elite.
The SOLIDERE model of urban restructuring was adopted in ‘Amman as well. In fact, the two cities share similar global
investors. This neo-liberalization of the creation of public space is leading to the dilution of local differences and the
circulation of “corporate” urban realities and images. The Abdali Project turns its back on ‘Amman’s original downtown,
which is only about 1.5 kilometers away from the Abdali site, and is expected to lead to urban geographies of inequality
and exclusion as well as spatial and social displacement.
‘Amman’s Abdali is promoted by MAWARED as the “New Downtown for Amman.” However, the project will in fact in-
tensify the socioeconomic and spatial polarization not only between East and West ‘Amman, but also between this new
“elitist urban island” and the rest of the city.^3 The Abdali Project has led to the displacement of the nearby existing Abdali
transportation terminal, together with its drivers, informal vendors, and occupants, to the outskirts of ‘Amman’s city
center. The project also will present fierce competition to the existing downtown area, which is gradually disintegrating
and is already suffering from a lack of economic vitality.
Although Damascus has not yet undertaken a major urban flagship project, several neoliberal real estate developments
already have had a considerable effect on the authenticity and sustainability of the city’s cultural heritage. Significant
transformations include the “development” intended for the historic Hijaz Railroad Station and the newly erected Four
Seasons Hotel. Other projects are anticipated along the Barada River.
COSMETIC URBAN REGENERATION IN S ECONDARY P ROVINCIAL CITIES
Jordan, Lebanon, and other countries in the region have received international funding from the World Bank and other
donor agencies to boost their national tourism strategies and development in the form of tourism/urban regeneration
in secondary cities and smaller towns. Such international aid has targeted cities such as Tripoli, Tyre, Ba’albeck, Sidon,
and Byblos in Lebanon, and Kerak, Salt, Jerash, ‘Amman, and Madaba in Jordan.
Comparative research and fieldwork analysis has concluded that the various components and the nature of the end
product of such projects are very similar across the two countries. Taking Salt, Jordan as an example, it is obvious that
the project mainly concentrated on the physical aspects of urban regeneration (e.g., tourist trails, pedestrianization of
public plazas, panoramic lookouts, streetscape, and signage). The intervention in the public urban space centered on
stone pavement for plazas, streets, or steps, outdoor furniture, and signage. Essentially, this is a one-time limited inter-
- Doris Summer, Neo-Liberalizing the City: Transitional Investment Networks and the Circulation of Urban Images in Beirut
and Amman (Master Thesis in Urban Planning, American University of Beirut, 2005). - Rami Daher, “Amman: Disguised Genealogy and Recent Urban Restructuring and Neolibral Threats,” in Elsheshtawy, ed.,
The Evolving Arab City: Tradition, Modernity, and Urban Development, pp. 37-68.
Daher...