As 2013 arrived, so too did a new "austerity budget" that continues to subsidize Jordan's elite. It contained an increase in government spending on capital projects from 10 to 17 percent of expenditures in 2013. Ahmed al-Tarawneh, head of the Jordan Contractors Association, praised the budget for energizing the construction sector, which, he claimed would in turn invigorate other sectors of the economy and "create jobs" (Al-Rawashdeh, 2013). Given that the majority of construction workers in Jordan are, in fact, imported from Egypt and South Asia, such an outcome is extremely unlikely. More likely is that Jordanian cities will experience yet another wave of speculative infrastructure-driven expansion outward even as residents and suq traders continue to be moved out of urban cores slated for tourism development and into poorer, underserviced districts. In Amman, this will mean increasing segregation within the city, between the wealthy western suburbs, those of the the impoverished eastern districts, and an urban core that, like the Abdali Project, will cater to global tourists and business elites.
展开▼
