Sidewalk challenges in amman, jordan, and the urge for context-specific walkability measurement and evaluation tools

Abstract

Toward achieving urban sustainability, research argues that society’s dependence on automobiles must be reduced. In a city like Amman, Jordan where citizens heavily rely on private motorized vehicles in their everyday commute and to tend to their everyday needs, factors including safety, convenience, comfort in addition to pedestrian accessibility and sidewalk connectivity, among others, have gained less attention in city planning efforts, and as a result, walkability—which is increasingly becoming recognized as a fundamental right to people in their cities and an indicator to improved quality of life—has been compromised. Whether interrupted by poor planting choices or equally by misplaced litter bins, ambiguously transformed into extensions to adjacent businesses or private residents, or, suddenly interrupted, sidewalks in a large segment of the city of Amman are increasingly becoming less walkable. Through looking at a number of assessment and evaluation tools designed for the purpose of examining walkability and sidewalk designs in urban neighborhoods, this paper aims to shed the light on this urban complication in the case of Amman as part of the broader mobility and transportation theme toward achieving urban sustainability goals and suggests the development of new tools—or the appropriation of existing tools—in ways that take into account Middle Eastern context particularities and adhere to its specific walkability problems and key concerns. As a result, and in an attempt to further the understanding of the urban phenomenon and in order to develop the suggested tools, this paper preliminarily evaluates the status quo of sidewalks in Amman and identifies the key challenges to good sidewalk design practice that does not look at sidewalks as mere mediums for walking as a physical activity or for arriving to destinations, instead as catalysts for achieving better built environments and better health through promoting an active lifestyle among numerous other benefits. To conclude, this paper aims to contribute to the growing body of discussions on walkability and urban sustainability from a Middle Eastern perspective; it suggests framework interventions and policy recommendations and recognizes the need to develop context-specific walkability and sidewalk design assessment and evaluation tools that take into account Middle Eastern contextual considerations.