REDEVELOPMENT SITE OF ABDALI : WILL IT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE AT AMMAN, JORDAN?

Abstract

Although the interest in “quality of life” studies appeared at the middle of the 20th century (around 1950) as part of the economic, social, and environmental studies, developing Middle Eastern countries did not start to examine it in detail until the beginning of the 21st century. The need to measure the quality of life of a city or a district is considered a vital part of the growth and urbanization process that is happening at an incredible rate without the ability to control or analyze it. Quality of life means measurement of people’s satisfaction and the quality of the environment in which they live. Jordan recently started an economic reform process that involves improving the climate for foreign investment to improve the economy. The redevelopment site of Abdali, near the city center, is one example of foreign investment projects that will be examined in this paper. The site was originally being used for administrative buildings for the army. The site area is around 350,000 square meters, with a developed area of over one million square meters. The project will cost over US$ one billion. The infrastructure for this project is nearly completed and the construction will start at the beginning of the year 2006 and will take several years. In this study a measure of expected future quality of life after the redevelopment project takes place will be examined, and a number of conclusions have been reached at end.