A Gis Analysis of the Impact of Modern Practices and Polices on the Urban Heritage of Irbid, Jordan

Cities 26 (2009) 81–92

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A GIS analysis of the impact of modern practices and polices on the urban heritage of Irbid, Jordan
Sharaf Al-kheder a,*, Naif Haddad a, Leen Fakhoury b, Suha Baqaen c a The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan The University of Jordan, Jordan c Consolidated Consultants Engineering and Environment, P.O. Box 830746, Amman 11183, Jordan b a r t i c l e

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This paper shows the results of a study carried out on the central area of Irbid, Jordan in order to assess the effect of the modern urbanization process on the degradation and loss of the city’s heritage. This type of work comes as a result of the need to study the interaction between modern and heritage landscapes, which are in a direct physical contact with each other, and thus to address the problems facing sustainable development. This paper investigates a number of urban planning concerns that include: assessment of heritage/modern landscape compatibility, heritage building degradation, urban land use change and its role in the fragmentation and lack of connectivity between historic sites, visual pollution and the effectiveness of the existing urban system infrastructure. For each problem, a complete scientific analysis supported by a detailed mapping system is performed, resulting in recommendations for the necessary engineering solutions. Spatial analysis through GIS, e.g. 3D modeling, focuses on evaluating the current condition of the urban system near the heritage landscape. The paper presents important findings, such as identifying the impact of urban and infrastructural expansion, detected from historical aerial images at different epochs, on the historic center of Irbid. The study emphasizes the urgent need to solve the current problems related to the urban system, to achieve the vision of sustainability, which

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(For interpretation of the references in colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Concluding remarks The work presented in this paper falls mainly in two directions: first, identifying the different aspects of the currently adapted urban practices and policies and their impact on the existing urban heritage; and second, proposing a number of solutions to rectify the current situation. Unplanned urban growth, associated with mixed-use problems, is a primary factor in the destruction and degradation of the exiting heritage. The absence of a comprehensive Master Plan organizing the land use in the city causes excessive urbanization processes at different places where some important heritage is removed to establish a modern structure in its place. Furthermore, the heritage buildings start suffering from multiple use activities that do not match unique cultural values. The fast urban process consumes as well most of the green and open spaces in the historic part of the city, further deteriorating the overall urban heritage environment. Another problematic aspect is that the study area road system, in terms of the geometric design and traffic planning, is ineffective in being able to accommodate the large traffic demand. Lack of parking lots is added to these problems that force car drivers to park their cars on the street, which results in reducing the road traffic capacity. Another issue is the absence of adequate system services to organize the pedestrian movement in the area causing a dangerous level of traffic-pedestrian interaction. The paper proposes as well a number of engineering solutions to enhance the existing urban system. Among these are: developing a compre-