Jordan is progressing with planning and preparation for the new city project (Omra) aimed at accommodating part of the rapid urban expansion of the capital Amman and the city of Zarqa, providing citizens with better quality housing and living at affordable prices, and finding alternative solutions to face the challenges of providing public services.

The idea of the new city was first proposed during the government of Hani Al-Mulki (2016-2018), then excluded by the government of Omar Razzaz, before being revived by the previous government headed by Bisher Al-Khasawneh, ultimately becoming a royal directive to the current government led by Jafar Hassan.

56% of Jordan’s population lives in Amman and Zarqa, a percentage that official sources say is expected to increase significantly over the next three decades, necessitating a future vision to reduce population pressure, sustain infrastructure, and improve citizens’ quality of life.

The new city’s project site is located on two international roads linking Jordan with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, covering an estimated total area of about 277,000 dunams. Actual work on the city’s infrastructure projects is scheduled to begin this year, with approximately $623 million allocated from the budget to finance infrastructure construction, while the total project cost is estimated between $8 and $12 billion.

“Implementation Is Not Easy”

From the perspective of regional planner and smart cities researcher Lina Khalil Atiyat, “The new city is viewed as an urban extension and expansion, directly connected to the mother capital Amman. The goal of this city is to alleviate the population and service burdens on the current administrative, political, and economic capital, and to develop original solutions for transportation and service problems and facilitate access.”

She adds to ‘An-Nahar’ that “the matter faces many challenges at legislative, technical, administrative, and financial levels, but the state and its institutions take on the responsibility of finding solutions to these challenges and overcoming all difficulties to reach a consensus in establishing the city. The work will be based on real estate development to achieve the highest levels of integration and inclusiveness, so planning is not one-sided focusing on one sector while neglecting another, but proceeds in parallel across service institutions, logistical support, transportation, and communications, which will make it a smart city as described in many sessions and statements.”

Regarding the extent to which the Jordanian step is influenced by the Egyptian counterpart, especially after a Jordanian delegation recently visited to review Egypt’s administrative capital experience, Atiyat confirms that “it cannot be said that it is a copy of the Egyptian experience, because urban planning takes into account the relative characteristics and features of the place, along with the demographic and geographic details specific to Jordan. What we will witness is modeling the Egyptian and global experience and applying best practices in line with our national identity, needs, and priorities.”

She continues, “The matter is not easy in terms of implementation, but the official authority’s determination and seriousness in taking this step will play a major role in overcoming obstacles, benefiting from opportunities, reducing weaknesses, and harnessing strengths to serve the project and push it forward. The work will be cumulative between official, private, and civil sectors, with a wide open door for investments.”

She points out that “the city will be built according to smart city specifications, both in terms of its services and even its architectural style, which will consider the use of clean energy, water recycling, building insulation systems, and green building requirements.”

Securing Necessary Funding

Economic expert Fahmi Al-Kattout sees “that the idea of establishing the new city was driven by a set of challenges facing the capital, foremost among them the large population increase, as the population of the capital governorate is estimated at about five million, equivalent to 42% of Jordan’s population, which clearly reflected on the pressure on public services and caused severe traffic congestion amid the absence of an integrated public transport system.”

He adds to ‘An-Nahar’ that “the rise in housing prices in Amman due to increased demand for land raised living costs for low and middle-income groups, making it difficult for a wide segment of citizens to obtain suitable housing.”

Regarding the main challenges facing the project, Al-Kattout sees them in securing the necessary funding for infrastructure, explaining that land sales may cover part of the costs but do not eliminate the need to allocate large budgets for basic construction, while warning against resorting to external borrowing to finance the project, as it may impose additional burdens on the public treasury.

He also points to potential risks related to lack of transparency and oversight, which may open the door to public money waste or misuse of contracts and deals, as well as questions about external pressures that may seek to exploit the project in political contexts, such as forced displacement projects.

Boosting the Economic Wheel

Furthermore, expert and economic analyst Hussam Ayesh considers that the large cost of the project could stimulate the economic wheel by injecting funds into infrastructure, energy, and artificial intelligence projects, but at the same time, much of it may be financed through loans, which adds an additional burden on Jordan’s economy.

Ayesh confirms to ‘An-Nahar’ that Jordan’s actual need for such a city is not large, as part of these allocations could have been directed towards developing existing cities and transforming them into smart cities at a lower cost and faster effort, as modern technologies are now available at reasonable costs. Investing this money in productive projects in industry, agriculture, energy, and technology would have yielded greater economic returns than freezing it in costly stone infrastructure.

He adds: “I don’t think we need to showcase our integration into the digital world only by building a new city, as this can be achieved by establishing large data centers, advanced artificial intelligence projects, or even by reforming the education system. What is happening aligns with the prevailing trend in the region, where some countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia are launching smart city projects to boost the economy through the real estate gateway.”

He also points out the need to consider that the real cost of the project may be much higher than announced, whether due to time factor or opportunity cost. This city will be more of an “elite” city than a solution to Jordan’s housing problem and may turn into an architectural or technological masterpiece consuming state resources at the expense of other cities.

Regarding population distribution, Ayesh does not expect more than 3-5% of Jordan’s population to move to it in its first phase, perhaps less, noting that its completion may require at least two and a half decades. Meanwhile, cities like Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa have become cities within a city, suffering from severe congestion, high living and rental costs, and declining service levels, sometimes driving residents away.

He emphasizes that he is not against building these cities but stresses the need for a clear balance between spending on building a new city and reforming the administrative, service, and urban reality in existing cities, so that progress is made on two parallel tracks serving the majority’s interest, not a limited few.