More on [NOT] Walking in Amman

The Jordan Times reports here on the ongoing issue of poor pedestrian conditions in Amman.  As I have mentioned previously in this blog, Amman is not a "walking city." Sidewalks, when they do exist, are often uneven, in disrepair, and covered with impediments, such as trees. People just don't walk much in Amman, and those who do often end up walking in the street, subjecting themselves to the constant annoyance of being honked at by passing cars.

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan ranks second in the top five most "unwalkable" cities in the world. The article highlights the serious dangers of walking in Amman, such as being hit by a passing car or by falling debris from construction sites or the upper floors of buildings. The article suggests that the problem has many cuases, including a lack of enforcement of traffic laws regarding the safety of pedestrians, placing responsibility for sidewalk construction and maintenance with property owners rather than with the government, and urban expansion that has emphasized more room for automobile traffic and paid little attention to making space for pedestrians.

Oddly, even merchants in some areas of Amman resent pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk in front of their businesses; they view the sidewalks as private property and passersby as trespassers. Needless to say, there aren't a lot of "window shoppers" in Amman. The shopping culture here is completely different from the American shopping culture of walking along a shop-lined street, deciding whether to enter a shop based on what the shopkeeper displays in the window or near the front of the store.  Often, when my family and I go to an area with a lot of shops, we find ourselves to be the only pedestrians walking along the sidewalk (or in the street).

According to the Jordan Times article, Jordan has spent 15 million JDs (over $20 million) on sidewalk repair and construction in the last four years. Thousands of trees have been removed in order to make the sidewalks more passable. Yet, many people remain skeptical about whether there will be any significant progress in making Amman a more pedestrian-friendly city anytime soon.  There is simply too much working against the pedestrian: culture, history, and other economic priorities and challenges.

Nobody Walks in Amman

It's quite a coincidence that just as I was preparing this blog post about how no one walks in Amman, the New York Times posted an article--"Sidewalks, and an Identity, Sprout in Jordan's Capital"--about how Amman's urban planners are adding and improving sidewalks, benches, and parks in order to encourage more walking and outdoor recreational activity and achieve a lifestyle consistent with its motto: "A livable city is an organized city--with a soul."

My observation has been that very few people walk outside any distance farther than from their car to the building they want to enter. There are probably many reasons for the lack of walkers in Amman--ranging from cultural and habit to the absence of "walkable" sidewalks and the availability of inexpensive transportation.

The sidewalks seem to be more like obstacle courses than walkways. They are bumpy and torn up in many places. Trees adorn and sometimes fill the sidewalk (as is shown in the photo above). The roots from the trees have caused the pavement to buckle in many places. Sidewalks dip deeply for driveways, requiring a pedestrian to go up and down inclines or even actual steps frequently. Sidewalks are covered with other impediments to free travel, such as trash cans, guard houses, parked cars, and other things. Sidewalks often end, sometimes mid-block, for no apparent reason; perhaps the builders just ran out of stone bricks or concrete. People who do walk often end up walking in the street, between the traffic lanes and the parked cars.

Add to the problem of the sidewalks that don't invite pedestrian traffic this: taxis are cheap here. Really cheap. Really, really cheap. A taxi ride that might cost $20 or more in New York City might cost about the equivalent of $1.50 or less here. Really cheap. Why walk when you can ride for next to nothing?

Nevertheless, I really like to walk. I walk to and from work every day, and home and back for lunch. My walk is a series of turns and veers designed to avoid running into trees, guard houses, holes in the sidewalk, parked cars, moving cars, trash cans, wires mysteriously strung across the sidewalk at about neck level (this is the strangest of all of the obstacles I encounter on my walk to work), low hanging branches, and any other surprise that might have popped up since the last time I walked my route.

I hope that walkable sidewalks will pop up all over Amman. I imagine that it will still take a serious cultural shift to change Amman from a driving-city to a walking-city.  Los Angeles has plenty of fine sidewalks and yet no one walks there. People are, after all, creatures of habit.