Peer review of the 2025 Draft Planning and Zoning By-law for the City of Amman, Jordan

Miscellaneous Cities, Inclusive Growth, development, Land registry, Urban planning and Cities that Work

This peer review assesses the Draft Planning and Zoning By-law for the City of Amman, focusing on six key areas including municipal powers, legal clarity, procedural design, and public engagement. The report finds the Draft a positive step toward modernising urban planning but highlights concerns around implementation capacity, limited public and council involvement.

This peer review is available in both English and Arabic - download below.

This report is a peer review for the Draft Planning and Zoning By-law for the City of Amman. 

The Draft By-law outlines the powers of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) over planning and zoning matters in the city of Amman. The peer review is organised around six main discussion points: 

  • The functions and powers outlined in the regulation pertinent to the executive municipal body (including key individuals) and the electorate.
  • The extent to which the suggested regulation provides legal replacement for articles in the currently active by-law.
  • The nature of procedures for preparing plans.
  • The extent to which definitions included in the by-law are covering all key terms.
  • The organisation and sequencing of articles to ensure similar topics are clustered together.
  • Specific recommendations regarding the six main discussion points are outlined in detail in the following report.