New Urban Regeneration for the City of Amman Using Sustainable Urban Design Principles: Al-Abdali Area As a Case Study

Abstract

This research tries to define and explore the application of LEED-ND approach as a tool to evaluate the extent of sustainable urban design principles (SUDP) application for regenerating new urban developments in the Amman Master Plan, Jordan. Sustainability; the use of resource and materials as well as the delivery of resource efficient spaces, products and services, are an increasingly important factor in the evolution of urban environments. Urban regeneration is an urban development comprising a small to medium-sized district with a broad range of housing and planned commercial, and recreational facilities. This is to address community demands due to increasing population and migratory trends into cities. The need to undertake this research in Amman is that Amman remains a little studied city in spite of a growing body of work on Arab urbanism. It has therefore become necessary to address the issues taking advantage of the opportunity to integrate sustainable development solutions to guide future development. The primary research aim is to explore the applicability of defined SUDP in the Amman context, to investigate criteria to regenerate sustainable urban development centers in Amman. Using existing literature, this paper will review global SUDP as it applies to the Amman context and highlight the extent of SUDP application for regenerating new urban developments in the selected case study area. Context-derived data and statistics analysed together with the Amman Master Plan will then be used to explore the guidelines for the application of sustainable urban design principles using LEED-ND approach, by exploring the indicators affecting the effective delivery of the new urban developments in the specified area. The paper concludes with a series of multi-faceted recommendations based on lessons learnt from Al-Abdali area as a case study, therefore it contributes to develop the Amman master plan through regenerating new urban developed areas.