This is a good survey, but there is one important element that is being left out – and that is the privatization of public space for the benefit of a privileged minority. Abdali isn't creating public streets but a private precinct over which private security guards will have total control, just like Solidere in Beirut.

Then you have 50JD-a-day Dead Sea resorts built on government land and French five-star hotels owning thermal waterfalls in Ma'in…. We are deliberately excluding 90% of the country, hiding them in ill-developed neighbourhoods and in filthy buses while the Hummers drive aorund Dabooq.

I agree with these problems as serious, far-reaching, and relevant social issues for Jordan. But I think that, if the amaneh is taking modern concepts of Urban Planning seriously (which I hear it is), then such “regeneration projects” should address a good amount of these issues. The wadi amman project should create a public transportation system which addresses part of the transportation issue you mentioned, the amman-zarqa project also addressed this. Should public transportation expand throughout amman? Sure. But this goes hand-in hand with such projects, I think. For al-Abdali, I share your concern on the possible social issue of feelings of elitism, but another issue is that it might employ a huge sum of people (and if the amaneh does this right, it would be local labor) and push their standards of living up, maybe even allowing them to enjoy some of the perks of the area (definitely not living in those luxurious suites, unfortunately, but maybe utilizing the area's shows, etc.).

Education is another real issue, but again, I don't think premature “regeneration” before education reform will create problems.

Basically, I think that regeneration has the power of addressing a lot of issues you address, some of which it is already addressing, I think.

Take a leisurely stroll down the street for sidewalk cafes, award winning restaurants and shopping.

Hello … This article is extremely interesting and sheds light on important topics that are happening in Amman. Thank you Saed!

Visit http://www.theorganizedcity.org

Downtowns in all modern cities are expensive and are only for young educated professionals, where people who are older with higher income or young with lower level of income go the suburbs, Downtowns are for the young middle class, there is nothing wrong with that.

Based on the market dynamics, high demand for scarce resource(limited supply) will bring the price up, downtowns have limited supply of apartments and the demand is expected to be high prices will shoot, that explain the “expensiveness” trend in downtowns…simple microeconomics…that’s not an opinion it’s a scientific fact.

If we are to consider Abdali project as new Downtown, then it should be no different than the rest of the world “new downtowns”, check apartment prices for downtown DC, I rent one 2300$/month 700 sq foot/65 meters squared, and the building is not that good…check Downtown London, Downtown Paris, Downtown New York, Downtown Dubai…

All big cities have crazy drivers and crazy traffic, try getting in a cab in New York City – Manhattan…mmmm….ya ma a7la shufereyyet el taxasi 3inna…I don’t understand what is so specific to Amman, Amman is a big city even in world numbers, if Amman is an American city it will rank the third biggest city in America!! Between Los Angeles and Chicago!!

The Problem with Amman is that there is no good alternative for transportation, which is to your point, there is no real clean, punctual and safe public transportation, I think we need to stop building bridges and widening streets and start building real transportation system, although Amman’s latest endeavor in Public transportation “high frequency buses” can help…nevertheless, having a metro is inevitable…

True Capitalism is all about broadening the middle class, capitalism doesn’t believe in helping the poorer class, not even the most regulated capitalism believes in supporting the poor class.

The problem in Jordan is that we are talking about supporting the poor class first, and eventually supporting the upper class, with no attention at all paid to widening the middle class, because of that the middle class of Jordan is under slow extinction, middle class people in Jordan are either drifting to poorer class, or leaving the country to make a living. Leaving the upper class and the poorer class in direct clash! Which is what you talked about when you said “Before we start creating a metropolitan Amman, we should start creating peace/acceptance between the people”.
Abdali Project, at least I believe, is the government endeavor to start a vibrant young and educated middle class living in its own small apartments, renting or owning, again just like the rest of the downtowns in the world, to stop the bleeding of the young Middle class, and I can see how this project can help. Also, Abdali will concentrate population, making a metro option even more economically feasible.

I still have more, but it’s a very long discussion, but if you are interested in the Economics of cities, read a new book called the “the triumph of the city”, it talks about how the US managed to turn cities like New York and Chicago from being a sh*** holes to being what they are right now in the last 20 eyars, from high crime rates, diseases, pollution and garbage everywhere like we used to see on movies of the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, to New York City Manhattan having the highest life expectancy in the US and the least amount of smokers and crime in 2010.

You may also want to study economics, because a lot of the stuff you mentioned is debated on daily basis in economics, in any event it’s a good article that shows raw talent…

you:”This report looks to me like going to the doctor complaining about your stomach pain and he agrees with you without giving you the remedy.”

this makes no sense, if you think about it logically (no offense,sir/madam)

you:”Why don’t you accept the fact that it is there and come-up with practical solutions to the problem that you created and no one else.”

I didn’t create it, I believe as jordanians, half the population merely accept what happens, nothing more, nothing less.
And the idea of this article (if you read it thoroughly) is (quoting from my article):
“If by now this article’s motive is still unclear, then allow me to put it as simply as possible:
Before we start creating a metropolitan Amman, we should start creating peace/acceptance between the people, at least making sure that they are all on the same wavelength, such that the whole country would move forward; together.”

and until this day, and the current happenings, the exclusion is clear; crystal clear. Misunderstandings are happening everywhere, body language can be taken differently by each of the next 10 people you see in the streets (figure of speech, by the way; im making a point). lets just say that there are people who are excluded from the “newer generations’ ideas” and that hinders the country. we as a country must all be on the same page, not following the EXACT SAME BELIEF SYSTEM, but rather UNDERSTANDING more.
Given that Amman is polarized (east and west, it is apparent in the sorts of liesure places, shop names, and architecture, if you doubt it) it is very clear that there IS social exclusion.

so when you say “For instance when you talk about the term of social exclusion of which I have never heard of!”
yes, YOU have never heard of it, look it up, there are some governments who AIM to fix polarization (which is directly connected to social exclusion) because it DOES exist.

you: “did you think of who is going to serve the area and the number of jobs it will create?”

yes, it would, good point. but do you consider anything other than that? the unity of the citizens is more important than money, its unity would help in every governmental idea being implemented almost perfectly, without having to worry about who gets mad and who loves it, and it would also create a sense of belonging, raise morale, their sense of security and comfort levels.
Have you ever studied national education? if not, then have you even experienced amman?

you: “Mind you I am not saying that we are living in the perfect city,yet it is better to light a candle in the dark rather then cursing”

criticism is something to consider, im not cursing. criticism allows for different viewpoints, and new ones, to be explored. awareness is not to be belittled.

you:”Do you suggest that they should demolish the project and convert it into a refugee camp for instance, as those camps are becoming very congested”

umm… did i suggest it in the article? no? oh then the answer is no. again… the criticism thing i said. eyeopeners are quite helpful, this article was written to be one.

you: “Furthermore if you go to any city in the world you will find the good the bad and the ugly when it comes to the living quarters.”

being poor and being rich plays a part in exclusion, but the extent of its impact on a social-fabric level, and the proportions of those 3 in relation to eachother (good/bad/ugly) tells you a lot about that city.

Thank you for your comment

Okay then…
calm down please..? what im reading feels quite tense. maybe its the exclaimation marks.

I responded because I don’t want you to be misled, as you clearly misunderstood my article. And I responded to it because I want you to know that I read what you said, and tried to understand every bit of it.

Anyway…

Im not saying i dont want rich and poor, im asking for equality in chances, which is exactly what social inclusion is about (if it is not obvious enough what social inclusion means, it is the process people do to reduce the social exclusion in a given region).

Also, social inclusion is what our country is about, everyone works for what they earn, but they have the same chances. And if you tihnk about it, if everyone works hard in our community, they do have a good chance, but the aspects i mentioned in the article (transportation, income, etc…) ARE affecting the chances people have, and these chances are in our time created by having access to transportation, money (a sufficient amount, not a huge sum), internet, education about making chances for yourself through various knowledge fields.

Social exclusion is a theory i made up, right? (very sarcastic/rhetorical question, by the way). Did you read my reply? I told you to look it up, clearly you haven’t, as the most obvious source has an article about it.

Quoting from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_exclusion):

Social exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which individuals and entire communities of people are systematically blocked from rights, opportunities and resources (e.g. housing, employment, healthcare, civic engagement, democratic participation and due process) that are normally available to members of society and which are key to social integration.

Another source; GSDRC: (http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/social-exclusion)

Upstairs and downstairs, I didn’t quite deny either. And yes I agree, having a difference in class and so on does really create ambition, 100%

You: “Rich and poor only exist in the amount of knowledge a person have and not by his bank account!A man can lose his fortune but not his knowledge,yet little knowledge is dangerous”

Again you misunderstand me, people don’t have access to knowledge due to the environment they live in, and due to the range of people they deal with.
Here’s a good example for social exclusion (sorry I know it’s your least favourite word, but bear with me). Do you think someone in a public school learns the exact same stuff many people learn in private schools? Scientifically, yes, but social aspects and the experience in studying is completely different, and so is the environment, and also, the teachers in a public school are less paid than those in a private school. Point of what I just said is: they do not produce students with the same mindsets, thus, they don’t have the same chances to do anything. And the fact that money DOES control what kind of chances they have in education, means that they are excluded from that chance of education (private school level) which would allow them to have the same chance as everyone else AND that they will not have the same chances in the future, as everyone else.

I must ask: how is this related to the topic?

“Do you know that Amman area is larger that Cairo?Yes it is,so why stressing on 3700m2 of Amman at the time we should ask the govt to demolish the refugee camps for instance.All the inhabitants of the refugee camps are fully fledged citizens.Do you think that the Palestinians must live in camps in order not to forget Palestine?
In fact If we work hard on this issue of demolishing those camps and transfer those people into a proper hosing that MUST be paid by the UN or whomever,we will create a movement in Jordan economy that will benefit everyone.”

And yes Abdali is going to bring life into the area financially probably, Mutaz Alawamleh’s above comment pretty much put things in perspective; the social impact of it, however, I’m not sure of, though.

Also, it does not deny that social exclusion does exist and is preventing some people from reaching their goals/dreams. And the government does try to fix that. This article is for awareness, I hope you got that.

Thank you again for your comment.

“Dear Saed, looks like you have been sourcing out info for a long moth to enable you to  respond to my comments.:D”lol, no I actually don’t check the article often >.<, and I'm not subscribed to the comment feeds and stuff. that's why my replies are late. :)

"Listen to me the whole point I was trying to say is that there is no point in criticizing the existence and side effect of this project especially the social side as it almost 70% finished.I would rather look for the positive side of it and may there are things that can be created to help the under-privileged citizens find jobs or even small businesses."

I agree with you on that, I just mentioned these points as I think they should be considered more before starting such a project. And while it is VERY important to look at the good side, which I didn't quite take into consideration at the time the article was written, I think it's a good thing to criticize for the sake of future steps in development.

"In regard to the  social exclusion theory I have to admit that the 1st thing I did when I read it in your article,I copied and pasted it on wikipedia,  inherent problem with the term, however, is the tendency of its use by practitioners who define it to fit their argument!"

Yeah I don't believe I bent it to fit my argument, but I agree with you. But then again data is a tool, and it's for people to use; If they can be logically fitted for someone's argument, then they are somehow related.