Hope, Cynicism Abound In Community Forum
Citizens participate in a community forum
Written By: Ramsey Tesdell
A community forum in Salt was held recently to determine the needs and wants of the community in Salt. The Amman Institute, a spin off of the Amman municipality, organized the event after the Salt municipality solicited their help in developing a master plan for Salt. The event took place in the cultural center of Salt.
“We are planting the seeds of democracy today. Real democracy,” said Asma Al Khurausat, an organizer of the forum and urban planner with the Amman Institute for Urban Development.
“They are wasting our time,” remarked Rojai Nesheiwat, a mechanical engineer. “They are going to take our suggestions and do whatever they want anyway.”
As you can see, a wide variety of opinions were expressed at the community forum.
After a series of speeches, moderates joined each table and helped each table answer four questions: 1) What in Salt do you not like? 2) What do you like about Salt? 3) How do you see Salt in the future? 4) How do you see Salt’s identity?
Answers were written on large sheets of paper, and brought to the front of the room. A large map of Salt adorned each table and participants were asked to point out areas where problems or where things could be improved by writing directly on the map. Each table presented their ideas to the group.
It is easy to look at this event with a certain amount of cynicism; we have history on our side when we say such initiatives will fail and end up shriveling up into nothingness doing very little good, and more often than not, making things worse.
It is also very easy to dismiss last week’s exercise as a smoke screen for the institute’s own objects. Simple enough; ask the people what they want, ignore the feedback, and do what makes economic sense, not what makes sense for the community.
Men write suggestions on a map
The Amman Institute isn’t the first to study this problem. While maybe the first organization with the political power to do something about it, the Center for the Study of the Built Environment has thoroughly produced professional, and of exception quality, reports on Jordan and Amman in particular.
But after decades of unplanned or poorly planned infrastructure growth that has led to poorly maintained infrastructure, unbearable traffic problems, and a plethora of safety issues, the motivation to try to improve the situation has come from both sides of the political spectrum.
Amman’s mayor, Omar Maani, received a mandate from HM King Abdullah to develop a master plan for Amman in order to improve the services and civilian infrastructure of the city. With a wave of new investment and building taking place, Amman cannot handle more cars and people without studying the situation and develop solutions.
This led to the creation of the Amman Institute, which spun off from the municipality in order to work with other cities in Jordan.
On the other end of the political are the people of Jordan who are sick and tired of waiting in traffic jams, water and electricity services being unreliable, and a lack of public spaces to explore. Also floating around the citizenry are the endless stories of emergencies that need to be dealt with within minutes, and emergency services arriving hours later do to traffic or an inability to find the location.
The poor planning is due to a number of reasons: incompetent public officials, political inability of public officials to implement changes, successive waves of refugees from various wars around the region – most notable the Palestinians in 1948, 1967, and returning from the Gulf after the first Gulf War after Kuwait sent them ‘home,’ and more recently, Iraqis adding hundreds of thousands of people to the population.
It is easy to be cynical, but it is more important now to be encouraged and participate in the change. More, now than ever, exist opportunities for citizens to give their feedback to highest powers of the land, and have something be done about it.
Jordan is growing and changing dramatically and quickly. Without the participation of people whose lives will be impacted, the same mistakes will be made over and over again. Amman can’t take anymore unplanned growth.
The challenge is twofold: those with the charge to improve the situation need incorporate the feedback they received and will continue to receive, and actually incorporate in their plans; and the citizens needs to hold the public officials responsible for their actions.
I’ve worked in many countries over the past 30 years, and you’re right, one of the biggest challenges in Jordan is cynicism. The only way to turn this around is a commitment to follow-through on promisses, and perhaps more importantly, for promisses to reflect community needs and aspirations. The Salt planning program has been designed to make this happen…it’s the mission of the Salt team to convert the cynics into believers. The initiative is as public and transparent as it could possible be; hence, there can be accountability. At the end of the day, the Salt Plan must be ‘owned’ by the community, if it is not…the initiative will be a failure.
You’re working in a country that has a golden track record for initiating and not getting to the finish line Gerry, and continues to mess up on things that can be so much better thru a bit of common sense and a lot less ego.
The Salt Forum was a good start, and the important question is what’s next on the conversation with the Salt community?
What are the plans for wider outreach to involve more people and broaden the profile engaged in the conversation?
What about involving some of the artists, architects, designers and writers who have done work in the city in the past in this conversation with the community?
This is a good place to share the plan so that more people can understand how they can be a contribution.
I hope our activity is low on the ‘ego’ factor; the main point is for this activity to be community driven. But at the end of the day, the political process will have to run-its-course and the Salt City Council will need to decide on what direction it wants to take. The Forum is valuable input into this political process; in fact, it should make the job of the City Council much easier…
As part of the excercise we surveyed the ‘profile’ of the Forum participants, and as a result we are undertaking more focussed consultation with the groups that were under-represented, such as ‘housewives, mothers and students’ and those from the outerlying areas, because we also profiled the geography of the participants.
We will seek out those who have been active in the community, such as the artists, designers and writers you mentioned…but frankly, on a personal note, i am more interested in what the average person on the street has to say.
The planning vision and objectives of GAM/AI are great and we all agree if we get that right a lot changes for communities over time. But getting it right is way beyond lists, blue prints, awards, investors.
Do people better understand the world around them thru stories or facts?
Is passion fueled thru organized groups with checklists and red markers for the cons and green markers for the pros, or thru stories?
Gerry, hopefully the average person on that street includes creative and cultural workers.
At the end of the day, when public sector staff punch out, and the GAM/AI team head back to Amman, the conversation among the Salt community should continue and evolve throughout the planning process. Similar to how planners, designers and developers imagine their projects, people in the Salt community should imagine themselves in their evolving city. They should be able to work towards little dreams in their city. People should see themselves forward. And one of the most powerful ways to help achieve that is thru stories that touch their everyday lives.
Um Mohammad is a widow, mother of one 9yr old son. Owns a small piece of land. Took out a loan. Fixed up her house. Built an extension. Rented it out to a single working woman. This woman also tutors Mohammad in English. Um Mohammad and Mohammad should be able to imagine their future in Salt. If they do, they can help the neighbors imagine theirs too. And so on.
While walking around town with Um Mohammad, she talks about the garbage situation in Salt. Everyone knows and says out loud that garbage is one of the priorities to address. At the forum it was on every groups list. The municipality will work on that.
But who’s going to chat with Um Mohammad and Mohammad and talk to them about separating their trash so that the dumpster divers don’t rummage but still get their share? Who’s going to show Mohammad the videos and cartoons of what recycling is all about and why he should be concerned with it in his neighborhood? Who’s going to walk about the city and explain to Mohammad and his friends how the street is going to change, or where the new park is coming up or where they can play soccer in couple summers?
If Mohammad can imagine, we know how contagious that can be the next day at school. If Um Mohammad understands and can imagine, we can guess what she’s going to be talking about in the morning neighborhood coffee gathering the next day. And once this conversation gets going and more and more people can imagine, the buzz in the forum session becomes real among the community.
People who are good at weaving this fabric of change are storytellers. They don’t punch out. They walk the streets. They write about the alleys. They draw the hills. They paint the fields. They frame a memory. They perform a dream. They sing about the decaying country side. And people are entertained, engaged. Contribution comes from the soul if people get it. And if they do, then they will ‘own’ the Salt plan. And when they own it, then there is a community to nurture it, live it and love it.
If we plug in the missing conversation, everybody wins.
Here’s a little detail of GAM’s work that’s really sad and soul-less. It’s been months since this glass has been erected. Come mid summer some was broken and shattered – many days later GAM picked up the broken glass and decided to leave behind the rest – an invitation to a disaster waiting to happen.
It’s delivering sloppy work like this breeds skepticism.
Watch this vid. If you care, do something.
Greetings I’m new here
And it looks like a good forum, so just wanted to say hello! :):):)
And looking forward to participating.
Going on vacation for a few days, so i’ll be back