Growing figures

The National Population Council has predicted that Amman’s current population of 2.5 million will rise to 5 million by 2050 if the current 3.2 fertility rate is maintained.

Now, Jordan has a population of 6.5 million Jordanians and some 3.5 million non-Jordanians, most of whom refugees from neighbouring countries.

The steep population growth forecast by the council will no doubt tax infrastructure — in Amman and the country as a whole — and stretch the country’s means beyond capacity.

For quite a few summers now, we have had a taste of what it means to have the number of inhabitants swell due to expatriates and tourists.

We know what it does at least to the traffic situation in Amman, and can only begin to guess what it does to some resources, water mainly.

So what will happen in 2050 when the capital’s population will double?

How is the infrastructure going to cope unless a grand master plan is envisaged, and where will water come from to satisfy the demands of such a huge number of people?

Not to mention the equally scarce energy resources and the services sector that would need to grow accordingly?

Besides the natural growth, what compounds the population crisis is the steady migration of people from rural to urban areas, in search for work and better living conditions.

Officials must start preparing for the future, and start now.

Internally, strict zoning, improved water and electricity networks, a decent transportation system and a meaningful development of the governorates’ economy could work well. 

Outside, hopefully peace will settle in the region and refugees will be able to return to their countries. That could ease the burden of regional tourists, who thus would have other choices, but even if they continue coming to Jordan, where they feel welcome and secure, the “crisis” would be only temporary and solutions to the traffic problems could be devised in due time.

At the same time, there should be an educating campaign regarding birth spacing, which should reduce the natality rate to a manageable proportion.

There is no need to sound the alarm, but the dramatic increase in population predicted should not catch us unawares.

The country needs to be prepared to deal with its inhabitants, but for that to happen, action has to be taken immediately.