Rural policy in Jordan's 1986–1990 development plan

Abstract

Jordan is a highly centralized country, both in economic and political terms. Amman dominates the economy, the royal family the government. Rural transformation has settled the previously nomadic population and moved agriculture away from subsistence to a market orientation. Rural Jordan is well served with social facilities, e.g. clinics and schools, but lacking in economic growth. Most rural people have access to electricity and other elements of infrastructure; they simply lack economic opportunities. The 1986–1990 Plan is committed to more equitable development among the regions and to popular participation in decisions. The Plan establishes a regional planning system aimed in part at rural development. The system coordinates national, provincial, subregional and local planning. Territorial divisions stem from two chief organizing principles, division by type of physical environment and strength of spatial interaction. The subregional and local levels are the key ones for popular participation. The plan also includes economic incentives to get businesses started outside Amman. A question in rural areas is whether control by the central government will be replaced by exploitation by local elites.