Managing urban growth in the city of Amman, Jordan

• This paper aims to examine the practices used to manage urban growth in Jordan.
• There have been several positive transformations in the management of urban growth.
• These transformations have worked to achieve relatively sustainable development.
• Nevertheless, several gaps should be taken into account in managing urban growth.

The aim of this paper is to examine the practices used to manage urban growth, based on Amman, the capital city of Jordan. A qualitative method, employing in-depth face to face interviews with experts from the urban management sector was adopted to meet the research objectives. This study also utilizes extensive national and international literature to present the evolution of urban growth from 1918 to the present time, and the challenges which were faced. Findings reveal that there have been several positive transformations in the management of urban growth, by means of institutions, laws, regulations, plans and actions which have been instituted during this period. Taken together, these transformations have worked to achieve relatively sustainable development, and constituted an important framework for managing urban growth and development. Nevertheless, several gaps must be taken into account, such as the lack of policies for urban design, the lack of evaluation of the policies that do exist, the extent of appropriateness of these policies in terms of local income, the lack of public participation, and finally, institutional challenges in the fields of human, financial and technological resources. Recommendations for future action which would improve the performance of growth management, are proposed at the end of the paper.