Benchmarking Jordanian cities: A report on urban transportation and accessibility
Jordan’s cities face rapid growth, and this study finds lower accessibility than comparable MENAT cities, mainly due to longer travel distances. Policy should prioritise closer service provision and reducing congestion in Amman rather than expanding roads.
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Duranton-Storeygard-Couture-Prottoy-Riberio-Policy-Brief-March-2026.pdf
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- More than 85% of Jordanians live in the country’s four largest cities, which are expected to continue expanding over the next decade.
- The policy challenge is clear: how to manage a growing population in already busy cities while designing urban spaces that work for all.
- This study compares accessibility, measured as the time needed to reach destinations, in Jordanian cities and peer cities in low- and middle-income countries in the MENAT region across destinations and transport modes.
- Using Google data on simulated trips and venue locations, we find that accessibility in Jordanian cities is generally lower than in peer cities.
- This gap is driven mainly by longer distances to destinations, not unusually slow travel speeds.
- Policy should focus on bringing key services closer to residents, while targeting congestion in Amman rather than prioritising road expansion.