By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday was presented the Amman Master Plan, which seeks to provide clear direction for sustainable development of the capital until the year 2025.

Also yesterday, the Monarch laid the foundation stone of the multimillion-dinar King Abdullah Park, which is expected to serve one million residents of Muqablain and the surrounding areas, providing inhabitants of east Amman with breathing space.

Designed by the office of Danish landscape architect Jeppe Aagard Andersen, the project will include sports fields, IT and social services centres, in addition to pedestrian paths and restaurants.

Construction work on the 505-dunum park has already started, with the first phase of the project expected to be ready by mid-2009, and the rest scheduled for completion in 2011.

The park is part of the ambitious master plan, which focuses on upgrading infrastructure and services in areas recently added to the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).

Amman Mayor Omar Maani, who presented the Monarch with the master plan yesterday, said the scheme has applied principles of smart development.

The plan’s main goal is controlling construction expansion and building a liveable city which offers its residents various services, Maani said.

“GAM and the government are currently rehabilitating massive areas in east Amman as part of an integrated development project,” the mayor said, adding that work on the Amman Development Corridor has stared and is expected to be completed in two years.

Under the JD120 million project, a 43-kilometre transport corridor will be constructed in three phases to facilitate the expansion of Amman towards the east and southeast and help create new areas for investment within the development areas on the edge of the corridor.

Specialised and advanced healthcare centres will be established along the corridor, Maani noted.

With the current construction boom, the mayor said the master plan also ensures that the capital’s heritage and old neighbourhoods are preserved.

He added that the plan also protects agricultural areas, noting that GAM planted around 200,000 trees between 2006-2007 in various parts of the capital.

The master plan’s main goal is to provide Amman residents with neighbourhoods fully equipped with required services so they will not have to travel to other areas looking for such services, like health or education, according to Maani.

“Under the scheme, GAM formulated a new transport plan, which focuses on securing public transportation services while ensuring the streets are pedestrian-friendly,” he added.

The plan is expected to save GAM JD2 billion, which otherwise would have been spent only on constructing roads over the next 20 years, he pointed out.

The first three phases of the master plan - Tower, Corridor Intensification and Industrial Lands Policy -were announced in February, June and August of last year, respectively.

The first two phases concentrate on development within the urban centre, while the third provides needed direction for industrial growth in GAM’s expansion area.

The municipality launched the fourth phase, the Interim Rural Residential Policy and Airport Corridor Plan, in October last year.

The master plan was initiated in June 2006 as a response to the tremendous growth the capital has witnessed over the past several years.