Researching the Jordanian city: toward an urban planning research agenda in Jordan
Abstract
Purpose
Research and Development (R&D) plays a significant role in promoting social and economic development in cities. In urban planning practice, a lack of evidence-informed policies and misguided research efforts can undermine national and local development efforts. This research aims to outline the state of academic research in urban planning and propose a tentative urban planning research agenda in Jordan. Specifically, the study identifies emerging research areas within postgraduate urban planning research in Jordan, examines the extent to which current research activities align with national research priorities, and determines research areas of top priority for Jordanian cities.
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs a mixed-method approach using content analysis to analyze academic urban planning research in Jordan and the Delphi method targeting Jordanian urban planning experts to identify research areas that should be prioritized in Jordan within the next five years.
Findings
The findings indicate that while urban design and housing, neighborhoods, and community development were the dominant fields of study in postgraduate urban planning research, planning experts identified transportation and land use planning as research areas of top priority for the next five years. The results also suggest that national research priorities lack specificity and offer little guidance for researchers in complex and multifaceted scientific disciplines, such as urban planning.
Originality/value
This research lays the foundations for developing a comprehensive and feasible urban planning research agenda that is responsive to the diverse needs of communities and cities across Jordan. It offers three propositions to guide future knowledge production in urban planning: emphasizing research activity in priority areas, decentralizing research activities, and fostering inter/transdisciplinary research linkages. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first to propose an urban planning research agenda in Jordan.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The first stage of this research was supported by Jordan University of Science and Technology (Faculty Member Research Grant (FMRG)/No. 513 – 2020). The authors would also like to thank Lara Daradkeh, Abdulrazzaq Shaamala, and Dr. Marwa Al Khalidi for their support in the initial stages of this research.
Citation
Okour, Y., Dalgamoni, N. and Al-Rqaibat, S. (2024), "Researching the Jordanian city: toward an urban planning research agenda in Jordan", Archnet-IJAR, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-03-2024-0084
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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