Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn 13 Mohamed Baseem Al-Khammash St., Sweifieh P.O. Box 92 62 38, Amman 11190, Jordan T +962 6 5868090 F +962 6 5819863 E [email protected] I www.giz.com Improving Living Conditions in disadvantaged areas in Amman Green Infrastructure (ILCA) Author and designer Rebekka Keuss, Amman Photo credits List of photographers in alphabetical order AlBulbul, Rawand; Moadi, Sara; AlMasri, Rami; Shraideh, Zainah: p. 158/159 Ayesh, Mahabba: p. 208/209, 216 Sabbagh, Ruba; Al Suwaity, Dalia; Abusara, Bara‘ah; Gida‘a Adnan: p. 193 (top & middle), 195 Coman, Ruth: p. 167 (bottom) Gehl, Jan: p. 138 Istiklal Mall: p. 181, 183 Keuss, Rebekka: p. 6, 34, 87, 92, 93, 110/111, 118, 119, 134/135, 141, 143 (bottom), 157, 167 (top), 184, 192, 193 (bottom), 197, 208/209, 216 (top & bottom), 218/219 Madi, Riham: p. 134/135, 142, 143 (top & middle), 147, 184 Lamb, Franklin: p. 205 Suhwail, Haneen: p. 46, 162, 166, 167 (middle), 168, 169, 173 Tibah Consultants: p. 139 On behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) GIZ is responsible for the content of this publication. Amman December 2020 2 3 2 3 Table of Contents 07 NAVIGATING THIS REPORT 08 FOREWORDS 10 INTRODUCTION 12 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EXECUTIVE 1 SUMMARY THE STATE OF PUBLIC SPACE IN AMMAN Knowledge Base 226 PUBLIC SPACE IN... PLANNING 30 PUBLIC SPACE IN... RESEARCH 36 PUBLIC SPACE IN... THEORY PUBLIC SPACE & GENDER IN AMMAN Research & Findings 346 EXPERIENCING THE CITY AS A WO/MAN 50 RESEARCH DESIGN 56 THEMES & FINDINGS 58 Entertainment 60 Safety 62 Reputation 64 Accessibility 66 Mobility 68 Comfort & Discomfort 70 Privacy 72 Facilities 74 Gender Separation 76 Young Single Men TOWARDS MORE [GENDER] INCLUSIVE PUBLIC SPACES IN AMMAN Recommendations & Food for Thought 480 DESIGNING GENDER-INCLUSIVE PUBLIC SPACES IN AMMAN 88 TO THE FUTURE PLANNERS OF AMMAN‘S PUBLIC SPACES 90 ETHNOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO MORE [GENDER] INCLUSIVE PUBLIC SPACES 94 REFLECTION & OUTLOOK 96 CASE STUDIES 100 Habibah Square 124 Abu Darwish Square 148 Al Mahatta Raghadan 174 Istiklal Mall 5 198 Matal Abu Nseir 222 6 REFERENCES ANNEX 228 ANNEX A: TEMPLATES FOR ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD RESEARCH 7 232 ANNEX B: SURVEY & QUESTIONNAIRE 6 NAVIGATING THIS REPORT This study report begins with an introduction into the state of public space planning in Amman, an overview of the current knowledge landscape of Amman‘s public spaces that can be used for further reading and research, and a theoretical framework illustrating concepts on gender and critical urban theory. The main body outlines the research de- sign and key findings of the study to illustrate how men and women experience the city differently. The themes address public urban life in relation to entertainment, safety, reputation, accessibility, mobility, comfort and discomfort, privacy, facili- ties, gender separation, and young single men. Af- ter, more practical guidelines are presented as food for thought for the design of more gender-inclu- sive public spaces in Amman. These come with a question pool as well as an ethnographic guide for further independent research. Combined, they are directed to urban practitioners and urban scholars to ensure that a gender lens can be applied to a va- riety of public space projects. Finally, this report is accompanied by a fairly extensive analysis of five case studies, presented as urban ethnographies. Glossary of Arabic Terms abaya full-body cover except for hands, face, and feet knafeh traditional sweet dish Al Mahatta station mash‘rou project argileh shisha, waterpipe matal viewpoint basta street vending stall mokam’kameh covered up, suffocated, feeling the chador large (black) veil need to cover up the hair and entire body dabke traditional dance niqab veil only revealing eyes dishdash long tunic for men saha square dukkan small shop in residential area sha‘bi popular, conservative, poor Fairuz famous Lebanese singer shebab young men harra neighborhood (street) sooq market, shopping area hawooz water tank tawjihi high school diploma hijab head covering, veil thob traditional Palestinian dress jabal hill wadi valley jilbab full-body cover except for hands, face, and feet waqar al makan sacredness of the place Jumma Friday waqf Islamic ownership model for land or property ka‘ak sesame bread Wast Al Balad Downtown karabij halabi sweet dough sticks zo‘ran derogative term for male troublemakers khimar longer version of hijab 7 FOREWORD BY DR. LEEN FAKHOURY Dr. Leen Fakhoury is a professor A discourse on what is public space or what is a at the Department of Architec- ture at the German Jordanian successful public space in Amman from a gender University (GJU) and has worked perspective still needs a deeper social and cultu- extensively on the nature of public space in the context of Amman ral interpretation to be clearly explored or under- and as a female architect. stood. As a female architect and heritage expert that grew up and studied in this city, I am cons- tantly reminded that the newly emerging city of Amman of the sixties managed rather successful- ly to accommodate the diverse groups of urban dwellers and members of a family including their females. My aunts’s accounts of the late sixties and early seventies reflect that they owned and shared their right in the streets of Amman. Pioneer donor-driven projects tackling open space in the heart of our cities and in Amman did not consider seriously the social construct, including gender, and proceeded to look at the need for pu- blic space primarily to accommodate tourists or visitors. Societies were summed up rather as a be- neficiary to an economical asset or lucky dwellers of a physically facelifted open network, with no clear accountability to their cultural, societal nor gender needs. I strongly believe that the topic of gender and space needs to be tackled within a holi- stic social construct that allows for the minorities, youth, and diverse groups to coexist, and any pro- posal needs to respond to their diverse, complex, common, and conflicting needs or rights. I hope that with more research and knowledge the term gender/planning/space does not adopt only a limited viewpoint but approaches space planning - creating or recreating of new or old open pub- lic spaces - with further acknowledgment to our local and cultural context so that it moves from a critique of gender to a more constructive contri- bution. 8 9 FOREWORD BY DR. DEYALA TARAWNEH As the concept of public space continues to unfold Dr. Deyala Tarawneh is the head of the architecture department with more literature discussions aiming to explore at Jordan University (JU). She has it on a multiplicity of levels, the social dimension worked on a variety of aspects related to public space and is cur- remains the most intricate. Social structures and rently exploring the dimensions of associated social norms have played a significant gender and transport in Amman. role on how space in general is experienced, howe- ver, and due to both the visual and physical perme- ability of public space, the manifestations of such social dimensions have been easier to observe and thus interpret in the public realm. Looking at public space in Amman - in every sense of the term - may entail a magnitude of effort in order to identify what may constitute as an open space and what may not in the first place accor- ding to the city’s context specifics, especially that the Middle Eastern city of Amman does not repre- sent the typical Western case often demonstrated in the majority of available published work. Thus, further research is constantly in demand to inves- tigate such contexts in order to inform the ‘univer- sal’ understanding for the concept of public space. Similarly, considering gender is a socially const- ructed phenomenon and as male and female users experience public spaces differently, it has been long discussed that the physical and non-physical attributes of public space may contribute to the creation of safer and more inclusive environments and making the shift from ‘gendered’ to ‘just’ spa- ces. In order to achieve such endeavours as part of the larger quest of achieving spatial justice and to bring gender equalities to our cities, however, more awareness is required and more attempts to unravel the public space from a gender lens are be- coming more urgent. 8 9 INTRODUCTION BY RAHEL HERMANN Rahel Hermann is the manager „Incidents of harassment that occur inside [public of the ILCA project. She has been working in municipal and urban transportation] vehicles are limited...Incidents of development with a focus on pro- harassment rise in bus depots where it is easier for poor service delivery and social 1 participation for GIZ and other the offender to escape and remain unidentified.” organizations in various countries The presentation of this study finding at a confe- over the past 18 years. She was a major driver in the realization of rence on Gender and Public Transport in Amman this study, without whom it would held in 2017 was followed by a discussion where have not been made possible. this statement was largely debated and further ex- Improving Living Conditions in plained; women report experiencing harassment disadvantaged Areas in Amman and unwanted attention not only at public transit (ILCA) ILCA is an urban rege- neration project set up to pilot stations and stops but also on their way there, or the improvement of existing rather in public space in general. The conversation green infrastructure elements in selected sites in East Amman. The went on to uncover this conclusion: In Amman, project aims to create ownership we lack data on harassment and gender in public and enhance quality of life of the residents through community spaces.