Vol :37 Issue No.1 2012 - Open House International

Ahmed Abu Al Haija
open house international Vol.37 No.1, March 2012 Alienation Of Traditional Habitats And Shelters In Jordanian Villages
Figure 7. Al Qadisiyya new town. Source: Author 2010
three kilometres away from the original site of the
village of Dana has encouraged people to leave
the original village and now also accommodate
other people from the area. The number of residents
in this new quarter, called Al-Qadisia, was
2,392 in 1979. In 2009, the number of residents
increased to 7,712 (figure 7). Consequently, the
village of Dana was severely reduced to 410 persons
in 1979 and in 2009 there were 91 residents
in Dana (Statistical Department of Jordan, 2010).
In 1982, the Municipality of Al-Qadisiyya
was established on 8 square kilometres in order to
better manage urban development and social services.
As of a recent survey, there were four elementary
schools, two high schools, one civic centre,
one clinic with only three doctors in charge and a
dental clinic. The local government offers free modest
health services for low-income families, but the
public services in terms of quantity or quality are
drastically below an acceptable standard (see
Steiner and Butler, 2007). In fact, in the approved
Structural Urban Plan of Al-Qadisiyya (2009), the
area allotted per resident is less than 2 m
square/person, without also taking into consideration
the lack of green and sport areas for children
and adults. Problems of poverty and shortage of
funds or capital for investments are the main causes
of this severely depressed urban condition
(Mayor of Al-Qadisiyya, personal communication
on April 2010).
Naa’na is a researcher born in Al-
Qadisiyya and interested in the environmental
problems of the area. He states: “The development
of social services in Al-Qadisiyya has concentrated
the population in this new quarter, leaving Dana
historical village, but I’m very worried about this
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development in which people have abandoned
some of their traditional habits and cultivation
searching to be governmental employees. The
increasing number of population and the urban
growth created diminution of agricultural lands
abandoning the traditional activities, which negatively
affect the environment” (Naa’na, 2001: 59).
The Mayor of Al-Qadisiyya highlighted the alteration
of social attitudes regarding the community’s
sense of solidarity in the case of death or marriage.
For example, these social events had become more
restricted to the family in comparison to the past situation
in Dana village, where these events had
been practiced with the involvement of the entire
community.
The architectural and urban typologies of
the new Al-Qadisiyya quarter are completely different
from those of the village of Dana. Buildings are
detached from each other, using similar forms
involving steel and cement materials. The setbacks
of buildings, volumes, and heights are totally regulated
by the municipality; the process of development
of the neighbourhoods depends mainly on
the local authority’s decision, reducing to a minimum
level the possibilities of local community
involvement. Citizens don’t live in community anymore
but are isolated in individual monotonous
buildings (see figure 8). They don’t interact as
before, lacking their traditional open spaces such
as squares, paths, and patios, all of which were
previously organised for social events and meetings.
The new houses provide more interior living
space in comparison with the traditional shelters, a
greater number of rooms per nuclear family, and
indoor kitchen and bathrooms. Some are multistory
urban houses which open out in most cases