By Sandra Hiari*
The fencing of one of Amman’s major roundabouts, the 4th circle, over the course of several hours marks an anti-urban attitude that the city – via its security apparatus, has indulged in. The move, which came in the aftermath of an open sit-in that a group of orphans and individuals born out of wedlock had organized, speaks to a reconfigured relationship between the city’s spaces and its citizens. It’s a story of a neglected population that was silenced through urban design.
Looming over 4th Circle, the Prime Ministry has proven that it keeps a watchful eye over the roundabout and that its tolerance of all those who think of it as a public space has begun to wane.
By fencing the roundabout, it resorted to a mentality of deprivation. The false notion of “public” has been overruled by a preference to civic non-representation. By closing down such a space, it narrows down its chances to allow citizens to voice their aspirations and grievances. It comes in total thematic consistency with the new elections law: selective misrepresentation.
Amman is a city with scant public space. If public spaces are to be social vestibules wherein citizens meet, greet or solely acknowledge each others’ presence, then closing down these spaces means a lower social pulse. Thecontrol of the 4th circle is problematic; it speaks to the whims of one interest group with a security mindset. Armed with a heap of iron painted in black and gold, it ignores all other interest groups as if they have no collective right to the roundabout**.
The history of how Zahran Street (the artery that houses 4th Circle) evolved renders its newly-created symbolism sarcastic. Over the past decades, the artery had witnessed an increasing volume of traffic. In order to retain a seamless car flow, a sequence of tunnels were created underneath the roundabouts. All traffic signs were removed. The idea was that you don’t stop citizens, you help them move on.
*An urban planner working for the Government of Jordan.
**A Jordanian variation on Lefebvre’s slogan: Right to the City.