Tunnel-bypasses and minarets of capitalism: Amman as neoliberal assemblage

Parker, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2008.12.004

Cited by 97 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Amman; see Parker, 2009). Paradoxically, its spirit of urban entrepreneurialism has given rise to a 'post'-industrial city-state in an emirate which lacks any substantial industrial history, and, as irony would have it, this model of urban development was soon copied by cities throughout the wider Middle Eastern region.…”

Section: If You Like -Throughout the Middle East (For Instance Inmentioning

confidence: 98%

‘The World City Concept Travels East’: On Excessive Imagination and Limited Urban Sustainability in UAE World Cities

Bassens¹

2011

International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities

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Section: If You Like -Throughout the Middle East (For Instance Inmentioning

confidence: 98%

‘The World City Concept Travels East’: On Excessive Imagination and Limited Urban Sustainability in UAE World Cities

Bassens¹

2011

International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities

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“…Beyond Amman ' s downtown core, another major urban design intervention was the conversion of a main street in the affl uent Shmeisani neighborhood into a ' Cultural Street ' , which comprised several art galleries and artists ' kiosks ( ArchNet, 2011a ). These major civic projects also paralleled several mega-infrastructure projects mostly, road infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels that Christopher Parker ( Parker, 2009 ) dubs ' tunnel bypasses ' . Concurrently, cultural events were also organized, including arts competitions hosted in restored houses dating back to early in the twentieth century (interview with Deputy Mayor Abdul Rahim Boucai, 2002;Freij, 2009 Khirfan, 2004 ).…”

Section: Amman ' S 2002 Brandmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Re)branding Amman: A ‘lived’ city's values, image and identity

Khirfan

Momani²

2013

Place Brand Public Dipl

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is Assistant Professor at the School of Planning, the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada. Her research focuses on urban planning and urban design in Middle Eastern cities where she investigates the cross-national transfer of planning knowledge from Toronto to Amman and from Vancouver to Abu Dhabi. She also investigates urban governance and participatory planning and World Heritage cities in the Middle East. ABSTRACT By addressing two separate branding exercises for Amman, Jordan, we investigate the links between the city ' s image and the visual image of its brand.We build on previous research by proposing a theoretical framework that combines city branding, Canter ' s theory of place and Kevin Lynch ' s Image of the City . We test this theoretical framework by contrasting the development of Amman ' s city brand in 2002 and its rebranding exercise in 2009. We address, fi rst, how Amman ' s brand(s) and image(s) are linked, and second, how the city brand and its image infl uence and are infl uenced by the values Ammanis ascribe to their city. We fi nd that while it incorporated intensive promotional campaigns and place-making interventions, the 2002 branding exercise excluded the residents of Amman; the ensuing brand image therefore failed to correspond to the residents ' perceived values of Amman. Conversely, Amman ' s 2009 branding exercise aspired for an inclusive process ( ' inward branding ' ), which allowed the new brand and its ensuing image to be ' lived ' by and to ' enliven ' Ammanis. We thus trace how Amman ' s 2009 branding effort achieved more success among residents than the multidimensional branding exercise of 2002 simply by capturing the intricacies between residents ' affective perceptions and the new brand image.Place Branding and Public Diplomacy (2013) 9, 49 -65.

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“…It has been carried out in a partnership between an independent state-owned corporation 'Mawared', the Hariri family 'Saudi Oger' and the Kuwaiti investment group (Kipco). The project includes diverse functions and relates itself to globalization through portraying images of liberal 'gated communities' and 'minarets of capitalism' that will attract global investment to Jordan and celebrate the integration of Amman in the global economy (Elsheshtawy, 2009;Paker, 2009). It is imitating Dubai and Beirut's Solidere's new downtown projects that stress an iconography and cosmopolitan appearance through the construction of megastructures and by providing hybrid and global representations (Daher, 2006).…”

Section: Amman New Downtown: Normalizing Oriental Urbanism In the Agementioning

confidence: 99%

‘Send in the clown’: Re-inventing Jordan’s downtowns in space and time, case of Amman

Rabady

Abu‐Khafajah

2013

Urban Des Int

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Identity representation in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) cities remains an arena of contestation, influenced by two factors: the ancient and recent history of western colonialism, which fostered orientalism and demarcated the dialectical relations that exist between eastern and western cultures until recently, and the evolving waves of economic-driven neo-liberalism and globalization. Focusing on the downtown areas in Amman (old downtown -the Saha and new downtown -the Abdali), the study argues that urban practices in these downtowns are rooted in the power structure of orientalism. The authors introduce the concept of 'oriental urbanism' on the basis of notions of colonialism, modernism and globalization. Orientalism in Amman's downtowns acts on two level: orchestration and normalization. Orchestration occurred in colonial and postcolonial periods where the language of oriental urbanism was framed, shaped and institutionalized. Normalization is empowered by the growing power of globalization to normalize orientalism in the minds of local and regional actors and make it the sole language for regenerating the identity of old and new Amman downtowns. This leaves Amman with a paradoxical identity: one is classical and the second is global. The two identities are denying the society any internal capacity for development and assuring that introduction of these societies into alternative modernity becomes the right and obligation of international powers. Continuous oriental urbanism triggers an East-West paradox with its implications of contested urbanism, social disparities and cultural denigration. The research stresses that urbanism in MENA should be liberated to allow politics of identity to be an essential part of urban design, thus allowing sovereignty of local populations, self-determination and the building of autonomous identity, that is, allow Liberal Urbanism.

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Tunnel-bypasses and minarets of capitalism: Amman as neoliberal assemblage

Cited by 97 publications

References 17 publications

‘The World City Concept Travels East’: On Excessive Imagination and Limited Urban Sustainability in UAE World Cities

‘The World City Concept Travels East’: On Excessive Imagination and Limited Urban Sustainability in UAE World Cities

(Re)branding Amman: A ‘lived’ city's values, image and identity

‘Send in the clown’: Re-inventing Jordan’s downtowns in space and time, case of Amman

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