May 10, 1984 - Another thesis, Ajaj (2007), indicated that there is an ...... working towards ideological, rather than financial, ends (Werker and Ahmed, 2007).
The Conflicts between Sustainable Tourism and Urban Development in the Jerash Archaeological Site (Gerasa), Jordan
Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Mathematisch-Geographischen Fakultät der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
vorgelegt von Saad Al-Saad
aus Abu Dhabi, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate
Eichstätt, 2014
Eingereicht am: 23/10/2013 Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans Hopfinger Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Harald Pechlaner Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Andreas Kagermeier Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 03/02/2014
Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes
List of Contents Abstract Zusammenfassung Acknowledgments Dedication
ix xii xv xvii
Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Research Problem 1.3 Research Objectives 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Previous Research 1.6 Research Limitations 1.7 Thesis Structure
1 1 4 7 8 10 16 18
Chapter 2 – Conceptual Background of the Research Topic 2.1 Tourism Impacts and Sustainable Tourism Development 2.1.1 Tourism Impacts 2.1.2 Sustainable Development 2.1.3 Sustainable Tourism 2.1.3.1 Is Tourism Sustainable? 2.1.3.2 Definitions of Sustainable Tourism 2.1.3.3 Sustainable Tourism Principles for Cultural Heritage 2.1.4 Sustainable Tourism Development 2.2 The World Cultural Heritage Inscription: Stages and Requirements 2.2.1 Cultural Heritage 2.2.2 The Stages of World Heritage Inscription 2.2.2.1 The Nomination Process 2.2.2.2 The Tentative List 2.2.2.3 Preparation of the Nomination Dossier 2.2.2.4 Evaluation Process 2.2.2.5 The Decision of the World Heritage Committee 2.2.2.6 The Selection Criteria of World Cultural Heritage 2.2.3 Requirements of Authenticity and Integrity 2.2.3.1 Authenticity 2.2.3.2 Integrity 2.3 Conflict and Cultural Heritage Tourism
21 21 21 23 24 24 26 27 28 30 30 31 31 31 32 32 33 33 33 34 34 35
i
2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.5.1 2.3.5.2 2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.5
Brief History of the Conflict Concept Understanding Conflicts Definitions of a Conflict Causes and Levels of a Conflict Conflict of Cultural Heritage Tourism: Advantages and Disadvantages Conflict Advantages of Cultural Heritage Tourism Conflict Disadvantages of Cultural Heritage Tourism Conflict, Sustainable Tourism and Urban Development in Cultural Heritage Sites Conflict and Sustainable Tourism Dimensions Conflict and Urban Development Conflict Management and Resolution
35 36 36 37 38 39 39 40 40 41 42
Chapter 3 – Jerash Archaeological Site as a Case Study and in a Broader Framework 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Tourism in Jordan and Jerash 3.3 Urban and Tourism Development in Jordan and Jerash 3.4 Case Study Overview 3.4.1 Population of Jerash 3.4.2 Geographical Features 3.4.3 Climate of Jerash 3.4.4 History of Jerash 3.4.5 Jerash Tourist Attractions 3.5 Overview of Stakeholders 3.5.1 Governmental Bodies 3.5.2 Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) 3.5.3 Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) 3.5.4 Tourism Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners 3.5.5 Local Community
46
Chapter 4 – Methodology 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Methodological Triangulation 4.3 Differentiating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods 4.4 Research Design 4.5 Data Collection: Sources and Methods
74 74 74 76 78 82
ii
46 48 50 53 53 55 56 58 59 61 63 67 69 70 72
4.5.1 4.5.1.1 4.5.1.2 4.5.1.3 4.5.1.3.1 4.5.1.3.2 4.5.1.3.3 4.5.1.3.4 4.5.1.3.5 4.5.1.4 4.5.2 4.5.3 4.6 4.6.1 4.6.2
Primary Data and Fieldwork Techniques for Conducting Fieldwork Group Discussions The Interview Process Stakeholder Interviewee Sampling Identification and Coding of Stakeholders Pre-testing of the Interviews and Group Discussions Conducting the Interviews and Group Discussions: Phase 1 Conducting the Interviews and Group Discussions: Phase 2 Observation Secondary Sources Participatory GIS Mapping Data Analysis Content Analysis Organization of the Results Chapters
Chapter 5 – Conflict Analysis 5.1 The History of Conflict 5.2 Sustainable Tourism in Jerash 5.3 Stakeholders Analysis and Level of Authority 5.4 Framing the Conflict 5.4.1 Archaeological and Environmental Aspects 5.4.1.1 The Current Situation of Jerash as a Potential World Heritage Site 5.4.1.2 The Government’s Conflict with the Local Community, Tourism Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners 5.4.1.3 Power Conflict and Overlap of Authorities: A Challenge for Sustainable Tourism Management 5.4.2 Economic Aspects 5.4.2.1 The Economic Conflict between the Local Stakeholders (Local Community, Small Business Owners and Tourism Entrepreneurs) and the Stakeholders of the Urban and Tourism Development Projects 5.4.2.2 The Economic Benefits of Local Stakeholders and Unfair Distribution of Tourism Income 5.4.2.3 Deportation of Shops, Expropriation of Lands and Compensation 5.4.3 Socio-cultural Aspects 5.4.3.1 The Local Community’s Understanding of the Tourism Industry: Tourism versus the Culture of the Local Community 5.4.3.2 The Relationship between the Local Community and the Jerash iii
82 84 86 87 88 91 98 98 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
107 109 111 114 119 122 125 134 138 145 146
152 160 163 164 166
5.4.3.3 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.3.1
5.5.3.2
Archaeological Site The Relationship between the Local Community and Tourists Investigation of the Conflict Causes The Short Tourists’ Stay in Jerash The Ineffectiveness of Legislation for the Sustainable Tourism Management of Cultural Heritage The Lack of a Comprehensive Vision for Urban and Tourism Development in the Cultural Heritage Areas The Low Level of Collaboration, Coordination and Participation among the Governmental, Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organizations The Lack of Local Community Participation and Involvement in the Decision Making Process
168 170 171 173 176 178
180
Chapter 6 – Conflict Management 6.1 Conflict Management Techniques 6.1.1 Rapidly Implementing a Sustainable Urban Tourism Framework 6.1.2 Creating a Harmonious Balance between Cultural Heritage Protection and Urban Development 6.1.3 Comprehensive Planning of Urban and Tourism Development 6.1.4 Ensuring Full Involvement, Real Collaboration and Active Participation of all the Stakeholders 6.1.5 Financing the Expropriation of Lands Around the Jerash Archaeological Site 6.1.6 Fostering Touristic and Archaeological Awareness among all the Stakeholders 6.1.7 Utilizing the Points of Agreement between the Stakeholders 6.1.7.1 Successful World Heritage Inscription and Cultural Heritage Protection 6.1.7.2 The Economic Satisfaction of the Local Stakeholders
184 186 188 191
Chapter 7 – Conclusion
218
References
225
iv
193 198 202 204 207 208 212
Appendices Appendix 1: Appendix 2: Appendix 3: Appendix 4: Appendix 5: Appendix 6: Appendix 7: Appendix 8:
Consent Letter Tour Itinerary in Jordan Example of Interview Questions Codes of the Governmental Bodies Codes of the Nongovernmental Organizations Codes of the Tourism Entrepreneurs Codes of the Small Business Owners Example of Personal Information Questionnaire
v
247 247 248 251 253 253 254 254 255
List of Tables Table 2.1: Table 2.2: Table 2.3: Table 2.4: Table 3.1: Table 3.2: Table 3.3: Table 3.4: Table 4.1: Table 4.2: Table 4.3: Table 4.4: Table 4.5: Table 4.6: Table 5.1: Table 5.2: Table 5.3: Table 5.4: Table 5.5: Table 5.6: Table 5.7: Table 6.1:
Tourism Impacts Definitions of “Sustainable Tourism” World Heritage Criteria in 2002 and 2005 Conflict Definitions of Different Authors Estimated Population of Jerash Governorate Jerash throughout History Classified Restaurants in Jerash Distribution and Number of Classified and Unclassified Hotels and Apartments According to Major Tourism Sites (2012) Governmental Bodies Local Experts at Nongovernmental Organizations International Experts at Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organizations Tourism Entrepreneurs Small Business Owners Local Community Primary Stakeholders and Their Level of Authority Secondary Stakeholders and Their Level of Authority External Stakeholders and Their Level of Authority Number of Establishments in Economic Sectors in 2009 Numbers of Employees in Tourism-associated Activities in the Most Common Tourist Locations Tourism-related Income Sources Based on Location of Residence General Economic Statistics of the Local Stakeholders The Main Conflict Management Techniques
vi
22 27 33 37 54 58 71 72 92 94 95 96 96 97 116 117 117 145 153 154 154 187
List of Figures Figure 1.1: Figure 1.2: Figure 3.1: Figure 3.2: Figure 3.3: Figure 3.4: Figure 4.1: Figure 4.2: Figure 4.3: Figure 5.1: Figure 5.2: Figure 5.3: Figure 5.4:
Figure 5.5: Figure 5.6: Figure 6.1:
Political Map of Jordan Map Shows the Jerash Archaeological Site within the Study Area Middle East Political Map Visitors of Jerash (Jordanian and Foreign) from 2008 to 2012 Population Density by Governorate in 2011 The Organizational Structure of MoTA Stages of the Research Design The Geographical Distribution of the Local Stakeholder Interviewees in the Jerash Archaeological Site and its Surrounding Area Aerial Photograph of the Case Study Area used as a Base Map for Interviews and Group Discussions The Main Stages of Conflict Analysis Relationships between the Major Stakeholders The Historical Centre of Rome Huge Concrete Walls Distort the Integrity and Authenticity of the Connection Area between the Archaeological Site and the Modern City of Jerash The Popular Market Building and the Hawker Stalls City Revitalization Program of the Third Tourism Project The Areas of Land Use Conflicts around the Jerash Archaeological Site
vii
2 3 47 50 55 65 80 90 104 108 118 128 132
142 146 194
List of Abbreviations Jordan Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Urban Development Project Conservation International Central Intelligence Agency Caribbean Tourism Organization Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service) Department of Antiquities, Jordan DoA Department of Statistics, Jordan DoS Friends of Archaeology and Heritage, Jordan FOAH Gross Domestic Product GDP Geographic Information System GIS Global Positioning System GPS ICCROM International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property ICOMOS International Council on Monuments and Sites International Centre for Sustainable Cities ICSC International Institute for Sustainable Development IISD International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Jordan Dinar JD Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association JITOA Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy JNTS Jordan Tourism Board JTB MENAFN Middle East North Africa Financial Network Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Jordan MoTA Nongovernmental Organization NGO New World Hope Organization NWHO Outstanding Universal Value OUV Participatory Geographic Information System PGIS United Nations Development Programme UNDP United Nations Environment Programme UNEP UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organization United States Agency for International Development USAID World Heritage Site WHS World Travel and Tourism Council WTTC World Wide Fund for Nature WWF CHTUD CI CIA CTO DAAD
viii
Abstract Cultural heritage sites and historical centres are major tourism attractions. Urban and tourism development combined with poor tourism management can distort their authenticity, integrity and significance as well as contradict with the dimensions of sustainable tourism (archaeological, and environmental, economic and socio-cultural). Conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development are becoming increasingly apparent in most of Jordan’s cultural heritage sites, especially those located in urban settings such as the Jerash Archaeological Site. The Jerash Archaeological Site is part of a “give and take” relationship with its local residents, small business owners, tourism entrepreneurs, governmental bodies and nongovernmental organizations; in other words, it has many stakeholders with various and often conflicting interests. In the context of tourism, it is very important to understand the needs, expectations, relationships, conflicts, commonalities and alliances articulated by the stakeholders and the experts in respect to conflict management. In particular, the main goals of this thesis are (1) to do a profound analysis of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development and how to manage them and (2) to present the results to all the stakeholders to start a public discussion process that will contribute in solving the conflicts and ensure effective decision-making. The research methods included triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative methods, though the latter proved to be more useful. In order to explore the attitudes and perceptions of all the stakeholders, semi-structured interviews, group discussions and participant observations were conducted. Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were the most-used tools. 64 stakeholders were interviewed, and data and information were collected through two field trips to Jordan. Data collected from both qualitative and quantitative methods were analysed. Analysis comprised coding transcripts that were transcribed from tape recordings of interviews and group discussions with participants. Browsing, categorizing and coding of the transcripts were conducted using MAXQDA software. Based on its findings, this thesis argues that stakeholders’ attitudes are important in understanding the stakeholders’ satisfaction about tourism and the conflict between sustainable ix
tourism and urban development in Jerash. The findings indicate that there are diverse economic aspects of conflict. The local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs are generally dissatisfied with the urban and tourism development projects which were conducted in Jerash since the implementation of these projects negatively influenced their life and businesses, causing large financial losses for them. In Jerash, the economic benefits from the tourism industry are not fairly distributed among tourism entrepreneurs, and this causes conflicts between them. Few tourist restaurants benefit financially from tourism since the owners of these restaurants arrange kickbacks to give tour operators and guides—tour guides receive money from restaurants owners and souvenirs shopkeepers if they bring busloads of tourists to their restaurants and shops. The archaeological and environmental aspects include conflicts between the protection of the cultural and natural heritage resources and the various impacts of urban development like the distortion of the integrity and authenticity of Jerash site. The pressure of the urban and tourism development projects around the Jerash Archaeological Site contradicts the protection principles of the World Heritage Convention. Such activities cause destruction of monuments and distortion to the visual appearance of the site. For these reasons, the site is not inscribed yet on the World Heritage List. Concerning the socio-cultural aspects, the analysis focused on how urban development has contributed to separating the local community from the tourists and the site. Urban development activities have divided the Ancient Roman City (within the boundaries of the ancient city wall) into two parts: the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site. Therefore, the local residents who live in the modern city are somewhat remote from their guests and the site. To manage these conflict aspects effectively there is, therefore, a need to identify the root causes responsible for these conflicts. This thesis suggests that the main causes of conflict were the following: (1) the short tourists’ stay in Jerash, (2) the ineffectiveness of legislation for sustainable tourism management of cultural heritage, and (3) the lack of a comprehensive vision for urban and tourism development. Since there is no “silver bullet” solution to any conflict, there should be multiple procedures and techniques to manage conflicts that appear during the implementation of these projects. In order to prepare a comfortable atmosphere for the conflict management process, a sustainable urban tourism framework must be rapidly implemented that addresses the shortcomings of the urban and tourism development projects and identifies the x
boundaries of the archaeological site clearly. Other multidisciplinary techniques for conflict management are described. This includes fostering with full involvement and collaboration of all stakeholders at the planning and implementation stages of the urban and tourism development projects, fostering touristic and archaeological awareness among all the stakeholders, financing the expropriation of lands around the Jerash Archaeological Site and taking advantage of the points of agreement between the stakeholders. There was an overwhelming consensus among most of the interviewed experts that multi-stakeholder participation is an innovative technique for promoting and implementing sustainable urban and tourism development projects in Jerash.
xi
Zusammenfassung Kulturerbestätten sowie historische Sehenswürdigkeiten im Allgemeinen stellen bedeutende touristische Attraktionen dar. Die Kombination aus urbaner und touristischer Entwicklung mit einem schlechten Tourismusmanagement kann die Authentizität, Integrität und Bedeutung der Stätten mindern sowie den Dimensionen von nachhaltigem Tourismus (Archäologie und Umwelt, Wirtschaft und Sozio-Kulturelles) widersprechen. An den meisten Kulturerbestätten in Jordanien werden Konflikte zwischen nachhaltigem Tourismus und Stadtentwicklung immer offensichtlicher, vor allem bei denjenigen, die sich im städtischen Umfeld befinden wie der archäologischen Stätte Jerash. Die archäologische Stätte Jerash ist Teil einer wechselseitigen Beziehung mit Anwohnern vor Ort,
lokalen
Ladenbesitzern,
Tourismusunternehmern,
staatlichen
Stellen
und
Nichtregierungsorganisationen. In anderen Worten: Die vielen verschiedenen Akteure verfolgen unterschiedliche und oft gegensätzliche Interessen. Zur Lösung von Konflikten ist es im touristischen Kontext sehr wichtig, die Bedürfnisse, Erwartungen, Beziehungen, Konflikte, Gemeinsamkeiten und Verknüpfungen, die von den verschiedenen Akteuren und Experten artikuliert werden, zu verstehen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, den Konflikt zwischen nachhaltigem Tourismus und Stadtentwicklung aus der Sicht der verschiedenen Akteure zu analysieren. Eines der wichtigsten Ziele ist es, die Ergebnisse der Arbeit allen Akteuren zu präsentieren und dadurch eine öffentliche Diskussion in Gang zu setzen, die zur Lösung der Konflikte beiträgt und folglich eine effiziente Entscheidungsfindung sicherstellt. Das verwendete Forschungsdesign umfasst eine Triangulation quantitativer und qualitativer Methoden, von denen sich letztere als nützlicher erwiesen. Um die Einstellungen und Wahrnehmungen
aller
Akteure
zu
erforschen,
wurden
halbstrukturierte
Interviews,
Gruppendiskussionen und teilnehmende Beobachtungen durchgeführt. Dabei wurden die Methoden halbstrukturierte Interviews und Gruppendiskussionen am meisten benutzt. Es wurden insgesamt 46 Akteure interviewt sowie Daten und Informationen während zweier längerer xii
Feldaufenthalte in Jordanien gesammelt. Das mit quantitativen und qualitativen Methoden gewonnene Datenmaterial wurde im Anschluss analysiert. Die Analyse beinhaltete eine Kodierung der Mitschriften, die von den aufgezeichneten Interviews und Gruppendiskussionen erstellt worden waren. Die Kategorisierung und Kodierung der Transkripte wurde unter Verwendung der Software MAXQDA durchgeführt. Basierend auf diesen Ergebnissen kann festgehalten werden, dass die Kenntnis der Einstellungen von Akteuren wichtig ist, um die Zufriedenheit der Akteure mit dem Tourismus sowie den Konflikt zwischen nachhaltigem Tourismus und Stadtentwicklung in Jerash zu verstehen. Die Resultate deuten darauf hin, dass im Konflikt verschiedene wirtschaftliche Aspekte existieren. Die Einwohner vor Ort, die lokalen Ladenbesitzer und die Tourismusunternehmer sind im Allgemeinen mit den bisher in Jerash realisierten Stadt- und Tourismusentwicklungsprojekten unzufrieden, da sich ihre Umsetzung durch große finanzielle Verluste negativ auf ihr Leben und ihre Unternehmen auswirkte. In Jerash verteilt sich der wirtschaftliche Nutzen der Tourismusindustrie nicht angemessen auf die Tourismusunternehmen. Diese Tatsache führt zu Konflikten zwischen den Unternehmern. So profitieren wenige Restaurants finanziell vom Tourismus, da ihre Inhaber Reiseveranstaltern und Fremdenführern Schmiergelder zahlen – Fremdenführer erhalten Geld von den Eigentümern von Restaurants und Souvenirläden, wenn sie Busladungen von Touristen zu diesen bringen. Die archäologischen und ökologischen Aspekte des Konflikts umfassen Spannungen zwischen dem Schutz von kulturellem und natürlichem Erbe und den vielfältigen Folgen der Stadtentwicklung wie der Verfälschung von Authentizität und Integrität der Stätte in Jerash. Der Druck durch Stadt- und Tourismusentwicklungsprojekte im Umfeld der archäologischen Stätte Jerash widerspricht den Schutzprinzipien der Welterbekonvention. Derartige Aktivitäten haben die Zerstörung von Monumenten und die Verfälschung des optischen Erscheinungsbilds der Stätte zur Folge. Deswegen wurde die Stätte noch nicht zum Weltkulturerbe erklärt. Bezüglich der sozio-kulturellen Aspekte konzentriert sich die Analyse auf die Frage, wie Stadtentwicklung dazu beigetragen hat, die örtliche Gemeinschaft von den Touristen und der Stätte zu trennen. Die Stadtentwicklungsaktivitäten haben die historische römische Stadt (innerhalb der Grenzen einer alten Stadtmauer) in zwei Teile geteilt: die moderne Stadt und die xiii
archäologische Stätte Jerash. Dadurch leben die Einwohner, die in der modernern Stadt wohnen, etwas abseits der Stätte und ihrer Besucher. Um die Aspekte dieser Konflikte effektiv zu behandeln, ist es notwendig die Ursachen, die für diese Konflikte verantwortlich sind, zu identifizieren. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit legen nahe, dass die zentralen Ursachen die folgenden waren: (1) die kurze Aufenthaltsdauer der Touristen in Jerash, (2) die Ineffizienz der Gesetzgebung in Bezug auf nachhaltiges Tourismusmanagement bei Stätten des kulturellen Erbes und (3) das Fehlen einer umfassenden Vision für die Stadt- und Tourismusentwicklung. Da kein universal einsetzbarer Lösungsweg für jeden möglicherweise auftretenden Konflikt existiert, sollte es vielfältige Vorgehensweisen und Techniken zum Umgang mit Konflikten geben. Um eine positive Atmosphäre für den Konfliktmanagementprozess zu etablieren, muss schnell eine Rahmenvereinbarung für nachhaltigen Städtetourismus implementiert werden, die auf die Schwächen der Stadt- und Tourismusprojekte eingeht und die Grenzen der archäologischen Stätte klar definiert. Außerdem sollten andere multidisziplinäre Techniken für das Konfliktmanagement benutzt werden. Dies beinhaltet die Förderung der Einbindung aller Akteure und ihrer Zusammenarbeit bei den Planungs- und Umsetzungsphasen von Stadt- und Tourismusentwicklungsprojekten, die Stärkung des Bewusstseins aller Akteure hinsichtlich Tourismus und Archäologie, die Finanzierung der notwendigen Landenteignungsmaßnahmen um die archäologische Stätte Jerash und die Nutzung der übereinstimmenden Punkte unter den Akteuren. Die meisten interviewten Experten stimmen eindeutig darin überein, dass MultiStakeholder-Beteiligung
eine
innovative
Technik
ist,
um
nachhaltige
Tourismusentwicklungsprojekte in Jerash voranzutreiben und zu realisieren.
xiv
Stadt-
und
Acknowledgments Composing this thesis has been a special academic journey in which I gained new knowledge and skills while facing no shortage of significant challenges. This journey would not have been successful without the help of Almighty Allah. All the praise and thanks be to Allah. This thesis required field studies, relationship building, interviews and group discussions, massive data processing and generating recommendations. These efforts would not have been possible without the contributions from scientists, colleagues, friends, family members and many others who have provided me support, encouragement and assistance. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my thesis committee members, Prof. Dr. Harald Pechlaner and Prof. Dr. Andreas Kagermeier, for all of their support with this thesis. I also would like to express my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks to my thesis supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hans Hopfinger, for always encouraging me to think deeply both while I was writing this thesis and during my study at the Catholic University of Eichstätt - Ingolstadt. I am also very grateful for his constructive and insightful comments and for the time he took to counsel me as I wrote this thesis. He doubtlessly ensured that the research process was going in the right direction without unduly influencing its course of action and outcome. I thank all the participants (governmental stakeholders, nongovernmental stakeholders, tourism entrepreneurs, small business owners and local residents) who willingly agreed to be interviewed for taking the time to discuss different issues related to the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site. They shared their stories, feelings and experiences which shed light on subjects that have not been well researched. Without their participation I could not have achieved the purpose of the thesis. I am indebted to the entire staff of the Chair of Cultural Geography who has provided administrative and academic support, especially Mr. Reinhard Geißler and the secretaries, Mrs. Sandra Sigl and Mrs. Theresia Neubauer. Special thanks also to all my colleagues at the chair, to Markus Pillmayer, Julia Walla, Judith Gilsdorf, Florian Kohnle, Anke Breitung, Rainer Fugmann, Florian Bauhuber, Sebastian Hillebrand and many others for their collegiality, assistance and support throughout my study. I am also grateful to Mr. Brian Tracz for xv
proofreading the penultimate draft, thereby significantly improving my work. Very special thanks here to my friends, Reda Selim, Malek Bader, Sami Al-Hasanat, Muna Slehat and others who I cannot mention one by one for their friendship and support in all sort of ways in both good and hard times. I also feel sincere appreciation and gratitude to my good friend Dr. Ali AlManaseer who was always there to advise and encourage me during my stay in Germany. My family support was an important catalyst in achieving my PhD degree. My special gratitude is due to my beloved mother and father, my brothers (Samer, Naser, Ma’moon and Yousef), my sister (Enas) and their families, for believing in me beyond reason, encouraging me during this time and providing me with coffee, green almonds, nuts and candy. I give special thanks to my great mother for her many long distance phone calls giving me courage, confidence and hope to keep going. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the DAAD in Germany. My appreciation also goes to Yarmouk University in Jordan for the support during my study.
Thanks everyone. Saad Al-Saad
Eichstätt, February 2014
xvi
Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family: my mother, father, brothers and sister.
xvii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1
Background
In the last decade, tourism in Jordan focused mainly on archaeological sites as the main tourist attractions. The government concentrated on the development of the Petra Archaeological Park and the Jerash Archaeological Site. During the previous ten years, several projects have been launched to develop cultural tourism in Jordan, such as the First, Second and Third Tourism Projects, which aimed to revitalize the historical centres of Madaba, Salt, Jerash, Ajloun and Karak. Jerash was the most targeted city in these projects due to its archaeological and historical significance: the Jerash Archaeological Site (Gerasa) is one of the oldest and most preserved Roman cities outside of Rome itself. The Jerash Archaeological Site is a close second to Petra on the list of the most visited tourist destinations in Jordan. Tourists are attracted to Jerash because of its stunning historical and archaeological monuments. Jerash offers particular concentration of cultural sites in the antiquities area and its surroundings. For these reasons, it is considered one of the three great archaeological city sites (along with Petra and Palmyra). Gerasa was one of the Roman “Decapolis” cities. Decapolis is a name given to the confederation of ten different cities. The Roman city of Jerash is a significant archaeological city because of its impressive collection of monuments. Jerash also possesses a diverse natural geography, at the centre of which is the Chrysorhoas River (Golden River), connecting the north and south parts of the city. The relatively pleasant weather of Jerash is also an additional advantage for the region. During the summer season, while the usual weather in Jordan and the neighbouring countries is very hot, Jerash’s weather remains cooler and attracts many visitors during this season. Jerash is one of the governorates of Jordan; the governorate of Jerash is situated in the north of the capital Amman (Figure 1.1). The capital of the governorate is the city of Jerash.
1
Figure 1.1: Political Map of Jordan (Maps of World, 2013). The total area of the Jerash Archaeological Site is approximately 2.5km². The study area includes the archaeological site, the modern city of Jerash and the two-kilometre radius surrounding it, most of which is occupied by urban development (Figure 1.2). Topographically, the modern part rises to the east of the main street (Wasfi At-Tal Street) within the ancient city wall and stands in front of the archaeological site to the west. The commercial centre of the city includes a network of streets bounded by King Abdullah Street to the west and King Hussein Street to the east. This area hosts different economic and governmental activities, evidenced by the fact that the ground floor of most buildings includes a number of private offices, shops, banks, restaurants, governmental departments and administrative authorities. 2
Figure 1.2: Map Shows the Jerash Archaeological Site within the Study Area (own source). Jerash has a variety of archaeological monuments and antiquities dating back to many different pre-historical and historical periods, such as the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods, so the site symbolizes an evolution of human civilization. Thus, the natural setting, the moderate climate, and the presence of archaeological monuments form the outstandingly scenic view of Jerash that testifies to the cultural and natural heritage of the city, be it scientific, aesthetic, educational or religious.
3
1.2
Research Problem
Despite these significant values, the Jerash Archaeological Site is not inscribed yet on the World Heritage List. Jordan’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) has nominated the Jerash Archaeological Site to be on the World Heritage List twice, but these attempts have failed. Any given cultural or natural heritage site has only three nomination chances to be on the World Heritage List, so the Jerash Archaeological Site only has a final chance to be nominated. Otherwise, it will never be inscribed. To be included on the World Heritage List, a site must be of Outstanding Universal Value “OUV”, it must meet at least one out of ten World Heritage Selection Criteria, and it must be well-managed, well-conserved, and properly safeguarded (Feilden & Jokilehto, 1998: 6-7). The main reasons why the Jerash Archaeological Site was not selected as a World Heritage Site were poor management of the site, the urban expansion of the modern city, the unidentified boundaries of the site and improper conservation work. The urban expansion and the pressure of the touristic and commercial activities around the archaeological site contradict the principles of the World Heritage Convention, which stated that World Heritage Sites (WHSs) should retain a function in current community life while being conserved for transmission to future generations (UNESCO, 1972). Thus, managing urban and tourism development sustainably is necessary for maintaining the OUV, which would in turn allow the site to gain World Heritage status. The Jerash Archaeological Site is indeed of OUV: it meets not only one but three out of ten World Heritage Selection Criteria (i, ii and iii). However, the World Heritage Committee stated that the Jerash site does not meet the conditions of integrity and authenticity and lacks an adequate protection and management system to safeguard it from the impacts of urban development. Haphazard urban development in the modern city of Jerash has formed a significant rift in the continuous balance created by various civilizations during different eras in the history of Jerash. As the modern city of Jerash expanded beyond the line of the ancient city wall, through the twentieth century and up to the present day, the eastern part of the ancient Roman city assumed the typical urban role of the historical core, with the area around the junction of Bab Amman Street and King Abdullah Street being the focus of commercial activities (MoTA, 2005a). Because the Jerash Archaeological Site is surrounded by residential and 4
commercial activity, the protection of its cultural heritage is somewhat complicated. Timur and Getz (2008) note further complications stemming from protection of the environment, conservation of heritage, preservation of social fabric and cultural values, and maintenance of a desired quality of life for residents. The managerial backgrounds of Jerash stakeholders are not well-matched with the World Heritage conventions and other international conventions and charters that discuss the issues of sustainable tourism and cultural heritage protection. This poor management appears to cause many land use changes in the site and its surrounding area. With these changes, Jerash city has seen enormous housing and economic activity over the past 30 years, especially in the modern city of Jerash (Al-Saad, 2008). Such activity has caused destruction and visual distortion of several monuments. This activity also alters the surroundings of the traditional buildings and ancient monuments with high-rise buildings. Therefore, the future public infrastructure and tourism infrastructure must be compatible with the various dimensions of sustainable tourism— economic, socio-cultural, archaeological and environmental—if the government wants to inscribe the Jerash site successfully on the World Heritage List. Sustainable tourism planning and development seeks to achieve three basic strategic objectives: (1) conserving the tourism sites values; (2) satisfying the expectations of the tourists who visit the sites; and (3) maximizing the economic, social and environmental returns to stakeholders in the host community (Hall, 2000). The existence of these dimensions together has tremendous significance in developing countries by protecting the cultural and natural resources of the touristic sites while enhancing the economic and socio-cultural benefits of tourism in the life of the local communities. There is a lack of governmental policies and legislation that provide a solid base for the sustainable tourism process in Jordan. Such policies are necessary for protecting the cultural and natural heritage sites located in developing urban settings. The report of the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 suggested that environmental quality and economic opportunity are closely linked and that governmental policies should emphasize actions which ensure the effectiveness of the sustainability process (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Sustainable tourism legislation would help in jointly achieving the three purposes (economic, socio-cultural, archaeological and environmental) of sustainable tourism in 5
the cultural heritage sites. Such legislation should be compatible with the World Heritage Requirements, particularly those that ensure that the integrity and authenticity of the sites are protected from the encroachment of the urban development. On the one hand and according to Jordan’s Antiquities Law, landowners do not have the right to own or sell the antiquities within the property. On the other hand landowners do not need permission to access the sensitive heritage areas since they own the land. Additionally, they are not well restricted from demolishing the ancient and traditional buildings on their properties, or even from excavating within their properties. Therefore, the conduct of landowners is still one of the most severe problems facing the implementation of sustainable tourism in Jerash. Landownership issues around the Jerash Archaeological Site are complicated because the ownership of the land plots around the site is diverse, including both public and private owners. About 1.4% of the total area is unused space, 9.2% is agricultural land, 3.6% is commercial space, 23% is antiquities area, 4.4% is public space, and 58.4% is residential space (Al-Saad, 2008), so property owners are playing the main role in the land use decisions. This complicated division of the ownership has caused difficulties for governmental bodies in balancing cultural heritage protection with urban development around the archaeological site. The Brundtland Report (the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) provided one of the earliest definitions of sustainable development: “development which meets the needs of the future without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 8). There should be no conflict between the idea of sustainable tourism on one side and the idea of development on the other. Current urban and tourism development in Jerash should not conflict with the dimensions of sustainable tourism. Therefore, in the present research work, the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site have been analysed comprehensively from all the stakeholders’ perspectives. Emergent tourism settings have particular characteristics including, first, a combination of both ecological and social systems that are complex, uncertain and unpredictable (Reed, 1999, p. 333) and, second, a governance system that consists of numerous organizations and a “lack of a welldefined inter-organizational processes” (Jamal & Getz, 1995, p. 196). The local community and several intergovernmental organizations have interests in the site. The interested governmental 6
authorities and organizations at the Jerash Archaeological Site are diverse, and all of them have some jurisdiction regarding the site. However, those stakeholders do not distinguish who the general “boss” overseeing the site as a whole is. Therefore, their responsibilities and authorities are sometimes overlapping and conflicting. The authority overlap of the governmental stakeholders is an obstacle in the way of the planning and implementing of sustainable tourism. This study focuses on the relationships between different stakeholders. Their perspectives are investigated in interviews and group discussions to produce a relational description of the conflict caused by the urban and tourism development. It is convoluted by the fact that urban and tourism development projects include a multifaceted structure of long-term interests. Consequently, the nature of stakeholder relationships must be considered over time. Aided by this understanding, managing the overlap of authority can protect and manage the cultural significance of the site by creating a long-term balance between conflicting interests in urban and tourism development. It could also aid the site managers in assessing how the site is significant and how to achieve sustainable tourism. Conflict-free achievement of sustainable tourism with urban development hinges on the on-going participation of all the stakeholders, involving the full engagement of the nongovernmental organizations and local stakeholders to reach agreement on how to satisfy their interests. Such participation requires bringing together the many stakeholders of the tourism sites through a collaborative and participative processes with the objective of establishing directives for urban and tourism development in the longer term (Ritchie, 1999). This could be achieved through an open and interactive discussion based on stakeholders’ needs and interests.
1.3
Research Objectives
The above considerations necessitate an understanding of all the needs, expectations, relationships, conflicts, commonalities and alliances articulated by the stakeholders and the experts in respect to conflict management. In this respect, the main goals of this thesis are (1) to do a profound analysis of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development and how to manage them and (2) to present the results to all the stakeholders to start a public discussion process that will contribute in solving the conflicts and ensure effective decision7
making. It is hoped that this will make them able to control urban development activities and to guide the curative management of the cultural significance of the Jerash site. In addition, it may help further to maintain the OUV of the Jerash Archaeological Site by maintaining the authenticity of the site (in design, in materials, in workmanship, and in setting) and protecting the integrity of the site. The following are key objectives of the present study: 1. To determine the extent to which the principles of sustainable tourism, sustainable urban planning and stakeholder participation have been integrated into the urban and tourism development in the modern city of Jerash and the surrounding areas of the Jerash Archaeological Site. 2. To identify the interests and needs of all the stakeholders involved directly or indirectly in the management of the Jerash Archaeological Site by examining their perspectives. 3. To analyse the conflict aspects that hampered the implementation of sustainable tourism in the Jerash Archaeological Site. 4. To investigate the essential causes of conflicts and lack of collaboration among stakeholders. 5. To suggest conflict management techniques for limiting conflicts between all the stakeholders by building trust between them, and to critically reflect on the applicability of the various expert recommendations provided as practical conflict management approaches for meshing sustainable tourism with urban development in Jerash.
1.4
Research Questions
The main research questions addressed here are as follows: 1. Are the local community, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs satisfied about the current situation of tourism in Jerash in general, and especially in regard to the urban and tourism development projects in the modern city of Jerash? 8
2. How do urban development activities hinder the implementation of sustainable tourism in a variety of dimensions—economic, socio-cultural, archaeological and environmental— in the Jerash Archaeological site? 3. What are the causes of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site? 4. How can one manage the conflicts between the stakeholders of sustainable tourism and the continuing urban development around the Jerash Archaeological Site? How can conflict management contribute to mitigating these conflicts? 5. How can one make tourism in Jerash sustainable and increase the economic and sociocultural benefits for the local stakeholders? Likewise, three secondary research questions will also be addressed: 1. Are current urban and tourism development activities in line with the World Heritage requirements of integrity and authenticity? 2. Is weak enforcement of laws and legislation related to tourism, antiquities and the environment a major reason that the Jerash Archaeological Site has not yet been added to the World Heritage List? 3. To what extent are local stakeholders aware of the benefits of inscribing the Jerash Archaeological Site on the World Heritage List and the importance of the List in protecting and managing the site? Conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash are concerned with many important issues, such as World Heritage Inscription, cultural heritage protection, distribution of economic benefits from tourism, and relationships between the local residents on one side and both the archaeological site and tourists on the other. The impacts of these conflicts on the site and local stakeholders in Jerash, especially in the modern city of Jerash, are mainly generated from urban and tourism development. Therefore, this study concentrated on the development projects and activities launched in Jerash. As reviewed in the next section, previous research 9
conducted on Jerash provides some indication of the urban development impacts on the archaeological site and its surroundings. What is lacking is an analysis of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash that is not merely focus on distortion of the integrity and authenticity of the site and its setting; other direct and indirect socio-cultural and economic aspects, such as economic benefits and job opportunities, are also of great importance. Analysing these aspects of the conflict will provide a more comprehensive picture of how urban development impacts the site and the livelihood of the local community, as well as uncovering the factors triggering conflict.
1.5
Previous Research
Although the concept of sustainable tourism arose nearly a quarter century ago through the Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987), the sustainable tourism process is still problematic, and its implementation tends to conflict with different activities. Indeed, there is apparently no perfect sustainable tourism implementation process because it seems unrealistic that the different interests of all the stakeholders will be satisfied. To address the diversity of the subjects related to the sustainable tourism process, various pertinent studies have been reviewed. This thesis will thus present a thorough overview of previous studies, conducted in international countries, Arab countries, Jordan and Jerash, about local stakeholders’ attitudes toward tourism and tourism development, the perspectives of all the stakeholders regarding the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site and the perceptions of experts about the most appropriate conflict management techniques. A starting point in previous studies has centred on a question: What should the tourism and recreation industry sustain? This is one of the main questions which McCool (2002) asked the members of Montana’s tourism and recreation industry, including governmental and intergovernmental stakeholders, as well as local residents. The results of the study revealed that the highest priorities of the members were to sustain Montana’s natural and cultural heritage, stable community economy, quality of life, and a unique natural environment. 10
Identifying the attitudes and opinions of the local stakeholders towards tourism, tourism development and tourism management is essential in sustainable tourism planning. Sheldon and Abenoja (2001) examined these issues and analysed residents’ opinions concerning revitalization in the highly developed destination of Waikiki (Hawaii, USA). A study of Andriotis and Vaughan (2003) showed that the urban residents of Crete (Greece) are quite strong in their support for tourism, though this is not a unanimous view. Different perspectives have been revealed in two additional studies. The first study was conducted at the Luangprabang World Cultural Heritage Site in Laos by Keomanivong (2009), finding that all stakeholders, local residents, local government and local tourism businesses support tourism development of the local World Cultural Heritage Site. The second study was conducted in Yazd, Iran, by Rastegar (2010), showing the positive attitude of local residents towards tourism development, although they are not totally satisfied with tourism management in the area. Identifying the attitudes and opinions of the local stakeholders helps also to obtain in-depth information about the problems, difficulties, constraints, and challenges that face sustainable tourism development. Mbaiwa (2005) assessed the problems and prospects of sustainable tourism development in developing countries with special reference to the Okavango Delta in Botswana, while Trott (2008) focused on the challenges to decrease the disparity between global advice and local practice facing UNESCO and the operational constraints that hinder sustainable management of the historical urban landscape in Quedlinburg, Germany. As examined by Duc (2009), other difficulties constrained the Hue tourism industry in Vietnam from adopting more sustainable tourism practices, such as limited financial and human resources, combined with external constraints like increasing cost-based competition, weak enforcement of government policies, and limited awareness of sustainable tourism practices. Chheang (2009) identified the main challenges for sustainable heritage tourism in Angkor, Cambodia, from the perspective not only of the local people but also of tourists and experts. Stakeholders are usually the trigger of conflicts in cultural and natural heritage sites. Generally, UNEP (2009) identified two types of the conflicts: “vertical” conflicts occur between the authorities and interests at various levels (e.g., international, national, regional, and local), while others are “horizontal” conflicts between the stakeholders’ interests in one site or of adjacent 11
sites. Four studies in four different countries (France, Indonesia, South Korea and Germany) were conducted about how to analyse the conflicts between different stakeholders and how to manage them. Due to a recent study in two archaeological sites on the shoreline of Lac de Chalain, France, a conflict arose about the local use of the protected shoreline. Wallace and Russell (2004) pointed out that this conflict in Lac de Chalain arose when tourism development contradicts archaeological and environmental protection objectives. In Indonesia, Reichel et al. (2009) analysed the conflicts between different stakeholder groups affecting the ecology and economy of the Segara Anakan region. Analysing the political involvement and relationships between the stakeholders involved in the Baekje History Reproduction Complex (BHRC) project in a heritage site in South Korea, Lee et al. (2009) illustrated that a structure dominated by power relations lead to tension and inertia caused by governmental alienation from the rests of the stakeholders, therefore the rest emphasized the need for collaborative structures in cultural heritage tourism development. Ruschkowski (2010) identified and analysed existing and potential conflicts between park management and the local population in the Harz National Park, Germany. The results of his field work revealed that one of the main causes of such a conflict is the lack of local involvement and participation in the decision-making process. Indeed, the satisfaction rate concerning local community’s involvement was only 17.1% among participants. He therefore indicated that holding informal public hearings and presentations to inform the local population about the park management might be a tool to mitigate conflicts between the local population and park management. Though completely solving the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban and tourism development is unlikely, the conflicts could be managed more effectively by identifying the relationships and interests of all the stakeholders. Nasser (2003) examined the potential relationship between tourism, conservation, and urban and tourism planning within the sustainability discourse. Her article suggested four aspects to be identified in order to achieve an optimum level of sustainable tourism in urban heritage sites: (1) the need for long-term planning, (2) the need to protect cultural heritage as a natural resource that if overexploited will be
12
degraded, (3) the acceptance of change and development to ensure continuity, and (4) the need to consider equitable access to heritage resources by the local community and visitors. By using new analysis methods (e.g., Network Analysis and Complex System), two studies determined and examined the inter-relationships of stakeholders. The first study, conducted by Timur and Getz (2008), used the Network Analysis to examine the current network of interrelationships of stakeholders representing government, the community and the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as each group’s perspective on critical stakeholders in destination development. It is found that there is a lack of “bridges” between the three sectors of industry, government and the community. The second study, carried out by McDonald (2009), applied a complex systems science perspective to determine the interrelationships between stakeholders with political, environmental, economic, and socio-cultural interests in the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. It was also used to achieve an understanding of the stakeholder issues and attitudes influencing sustainable tourism development outcomes and management of the river. Managing the conflicts requires following the sustainability principles during the planning and implementation of urban and tourism development, the most important being comprehensive planning and stakeholder participation. Ruhanen (2006) investigated the current planning practices of local tourism destinations in Queensland, Australia, to determine the extent to which the principles of sustainable development, strategic planning and stakeholder participation underpin the tourism planning process. Nearly the same principles of sustainable practices were also adopted by Landorf (2009), including a long term and comprehensive planning process and comprehensive stakeholder participation in the planning process. The subject of stakeholder participation has attracted scholars due to its vital role in sustainable tourism and conflict management processes, and the amount of research on it is high because the overall awareness of participation and collaboration has a long history. Pointing out the importance of stakeholder participation, Simmons (1994) developed and evaluated an initial public participation programme for tourism planning. Additionally, Sautter and Leisen (1999) confirmed that stakeholder participation can be used to promote collaboration among key stakeholders in the tourism planning process, and Ricardo (2004) found that a partnership between tourism entrepreneurs, native islanders, government and conservationists could serve as a new paradigm 13
for sustainable tourism development in Bazaruto Island, Mozambique. Arthur and Mensah (2006) aimed at creating social, economic and environmental sustainability, and protecting cultural heritage through the “Elmina 2015 Strategy” in Ghana, which covers the principles of stakeholder participation, private sector initiative, public-private partnership and effective urban management. Another study identified the stakeholders involved in developing partnerships among those involved in sustainable tourism associated with 21 protected areas in Australia (Moore et al., 2009). Although tourism interests were extraordinarily diverse in this area, this study determined how these features contributed to the outcome of these partnerships. One thesis (Al-Hanbali, 2005) written about related issues in Nablus, Palestine, noted three causes of conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the historical centre of Nablus: (1) absence of a legislative authority and heritage protection laws leading to historical building destruction, (2) landownership and rent problems obstructing heritage protection works, and (3) absence of the required collaboration among the stakeholders responsible for the protection of environmental resources. Another thesis, Ajaj (2007), indicated that there is an urban development problem in the historical centre of Nablus represented by a lack of adequate infrastructure for heritage tourism, and Nablus could witness great development and improvement and could retain its previous prosperity if the managerial and financial resources are sustained. This thesis recommended the collaboration and coordination among all the governmental, nongovernmental and local stakeholders in the planning and implementation of the urban and tourism development. In Jordan, there are very few studies conducted about the conflicts between the stakeholders, especially between governmental bodies and local communities. The protection of a cultural heritage site surrounded by an urban setting effectively requires land expropriation and displacement of local residents to facilitate the missions of tourism managers, archaeologists and contractors. On the other hand, land expropriators must consult with the local community in order to mitigate its potential negative impacts. Brand (2001) confirmed this through his study of how the Jordanian government sequestered a total of 450 dunums (45 hectares) near the Umm Qais Archaeological Site and how it moved the Bdul tribe out of the Petra Archaeological Park to carry out tourism development projects. This study compared the two case studies and found 14
some similarities, namely: insufficient consultations with the local communities about the type of housing needed, as well as bureaucratic inefficiency in planning and carrying out the housing construction; little indication that information regarding earlier displacements or resettlements had been taken into consideration; and little concern on the part of the government or the development agencies for new or alternative employment after the displacement. In the southern region of Jordan, Al-Karak, Khaleel (2009) discussed the problems and obstacles facing the sustainable development of the urban heritage sites in the city of Al-Karak, including financial limitations, land ownership within the sites and the laws and regulations which relate to investment and heritage protection. In the north of Jordan, despite the importance of sustainable urban and tourism planning around the Jerash Archaeological Site, there are few studies conducted about it, and even fewer about the conflicts between cultural heritage protection and urban development in the site. The following review cites four studies that concentrated on the conflicts resulting from the urban and tourism development in Jerash. The first one was conducted by El-Khalili (2005), who identified the current threats facing natural and cultural heritage in Jerash. He made a proposal for comprehensive treatment and curative management for the natural and cultural settings in Jerash. In the hope of achieving sustainable tourism in Jerash and its urban setting, Al-Kheder and Khrisat (2007) stated that a careful consideration of the urban planning system in the modern city of Jerash is needed. They claimed that the challenges to sustainable tourism in Jerash are related to the urban planning system. The unplanned urban expansion of the modern city toward the archaeological site represents another challenge. Al-Saad (2008) subsequently analysed the land use changes and the urban impacts of the modern city and the surrounding areas on the cultural landscape of the archaeological site during the period from 1953 to 2008. In order to maintain the integrity of the archaeological site from the impacts of modern urbanization, AlSaad used the Geographic Information System (GIS) to produce an archaeological zoning plan around the ancient city wall and the antiquities areas. The implementation of an archaeological zoning plan in Jerash requires educating the stakeholders about the significance of the Jerash Archaeological Site and how to protect its authenticity and integrity from urban encroachment. To this end, Myers, Smith and Shaer (2010) intended to serve as an educational resource for 15
heritage educators that will help decision makers to identify, understand, and respond to a wide range of considerations for the sustainable management of the Jerash Archaeological Site. It also focuses on how to account for and deal with the stakeholders in relation to a site’s significance, in part by using the concepts and methods of consensus building and conflict resolution. A review of the literature shows that previous studies were focused on issues and threats which surround sustainable tourism in the cultural and natural heritage sites, especially those located in urban settings. Some others recommend integrating heritage protection into contemporary urban planning. The importance of this thesis is that it is the first study in Jordan conducted about the conflicts between sustainable tourism and continuing urban development around a cultural heritage site. It also intends to analyse the causes of conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development and how to manage them. All the previous Jordanian studies about conflict were conducted by using quantitative method and GIS but this study used a mixed method of quantitative, qualitative and GIS. In addition this thesis is the first study in Jordan that analysed the relationships, overlap of authorities and conflict of interests between the governmental stakeholders especially the MoTA and DoA.
1.6
Research Limitations
Every researcher is confronted by difficulties and limitations during the study. The fieldwork of this study experienced a number of limitations, which have been dealt with in a way not to reduce the quality and worth of the study. The most considerable limitation of this type of field work is the low response rate of different types of stakeholders. Another significant difficulty in conducting interviews with local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs was that they were intimidated that the researchers (the author of the present study and the local research assistant) were tax collectors or officials from the MoTA, DoA or Department of Lands and Survey, particularly since the field work took place during the implementation of the Third Tourism Project, which was accompanied by expropriation court cases. For example, during the field visits to some houses adjacent to the archaeological site and shops in the modern city of Jerash, some of the residents and tenants, especially the elderly, refused to cooperate with the researcher in being interviewed since they thought that the study could displace them from their 16
houses, shops and restaurants, transferring ownerships to the Jerash Municipality and DoA. A small business owner was asked about the lack of cooperation, and he answered that in the case of displacement, the tenants will face a dilemma because there are no suitable residential and commercial alternatives. In addition, the poor economic conditions make them unable to pay wages higher than current ones. In interviews or group discussions, the researcher had to explain to them firstly that the present field study on sustainable tourism and urban development was only for academic purposes, not for expropriation or displacement purposes. After convincing those about the real purpose and showing them the consent letter from the supervisor (Appendix 1), most of them agreed to be interviewed. From another point of view, interviewing the government officials was the most difficult piece of fieldwork. They were not very cooperative. While some of them did not agree to be interviewed, claiming that they did not have time, others were hesitant to release information and were not fully honest in discussing some issues. When the subjects were sensitive, such as those involving corruption and the conflicts between the MoTA and DoA, it was somewhat difficult to obtain an official’s clear response. The structure of the public administration in Jordan still has high levels of centralization, like other countries in the Arab world. When the researcher asked a lower-level official about a particular issue, even though he was supposed to be specialized in it, he tried to evade the question and advised the researcher to ask a higher official. The likely reason for this is that he was frightened that his answers would anger higher officials or would be contrary to the policies of the governmental body. As a consequence of the low response rate, the findings of the fieldwork had to be analysed with utmost prudence. Another limitation of this study is that it is only conducted at one regional tourist destination— Jerash Archaeological Site and its surrounding area. Accordingly, the results of the study can be generalised only for Jordanian cultural heritage sites surrounded by urban development activities. A further limitation is that after the second phase of the fieldwork in Jerash conducted from August 15, 2012 to September 15, 2012, it is possible that other new urban tourism planning documents have become available unknown to the researcher.
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1.7
Thesis Structure
Chapter 1: Introduction The thesis consists of seven chapters. In this first chapter, the main issues and concepts essential to the study have been briefly introduced. The study begins with a succinct introduction concerning Jordan and Jerash. The geographical scope of the case study area is defined. In addition, this chapter offers a review of the intellectual and empirical background underlying sustainable tourism. This has been done because it is important to know what has already been done in this subject and to build on the latest scientific knowledge. Research problems, research objectives and research questions are discussed. Finally, it addresses the limitations that confronted the researcher during the research process. The remaining chapters of this thesis were built upon the issues and concepts outlined in this chapter. Chapter 2: Conceptual Background of the Research Topic This chapter introduces the philosophy that underpins the thesis. In the case of Jordan, few researches have been conducted on the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash. Therefore, this chapter provides a review of available international and local literature which helped in analyzing the aspects of conflicts and managing them. It offers a review of the existing research on some subjects, such as: world cultural heritage nomination, sustainable tourism, conflicts in the cultural heritage tourism, and constraints on the participation of the stakeholders. The stages and requirements of the World Heritage Inscription are discussed. Conflict management and resolution that are required to achieve the principles of sustainable tourism and create a harmonious balance between the interests of all the stakeholders are also discussed. Chapter 3: Jerash Archaeological Site as a Case Study and in a Broader Framework In chapter 3, the researcher introduces the conceptual background about Jerash as a tourist destination. This case study focuses on the Jerash Archaeological Site and its urban setting—a complex system consisting of intertwined archaeological, economic and socio-cultural interests. This chapter provides the context for the case study, reviewing the Jerash Archaeological Site’s 18
history, monuments, antiquities, culture, geography, climate, and existing tourist attractions. Moreover, the chapter provides background information on the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. The primary stakeholders pertinent to the case study are described. The importance of tourism to the Jordan’s economy is discussed, particularly analysing the distribution of economic benefits among Jordanian tourism cities. Although it has a wealth of cultural points of interest, the city of Jerash has only two hotels, so most of the tourists that visit Jerash stay in Amman. The urban and tourism development projects implemented in Jerash are also described. Chapter 4: Methodology Chapter 4 outlines the research methodology used to achieve the research objectives, providing a discussion of methodological triangulation included qualitative and quantitative methods. The two-phase research process is also outlined. The first and second phases of the study involved indepth, semi-structured interviews and group discussions with 64 stakeholders. This chapter provides the methods, research design, fieldwork techniques, and details for the phases of the study that were used to collect and analyse the data. The case study used snowball sampling to select main stakeholders interested in the site. Five stakeholders sectors have been selected as the target population, including governmental bodies, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, tourism entrepreneurs, small business owners and local community members. Data collected from both qualitative and quantitative methods are analysed. The main role of the analysis is to represent issues explored in the interviews and group discussions. These issues are mostly related to the participants’ experiences, awareness, and attitudes towards the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development. The data analysis helped in understanding the interests of the stakeholders. Chapter 5: Conflict Analysis The data analysis and results from the two phases of the research process are presented in chapters 5 and 6, focusing on the context and nature of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development. Several stages have been conducted to analyse the environmental, archaeological, economic and socio-cultural aspects of conflict in the Jerash Archaeological Site and its setting comprehensively. Due to the specificity of each case study, the researcher 19
preferred to adopt a particular analysis method to be more suitable for the case study of Jerash site, including: (1) The history of conflict, (2) Analysis of stakeholders’ relationships and their level of authority, (3) Framing the conflict, and (4) Investigation of the conflict causes. The most important stage of the analysis is to investigate how urban and tourism development contradicts the principles of sustainable tourism in Jerash and how the economic, legislative and planning causes trigger these conflicts. Chapter 6: Conflict Management Chapter 6 concludes with a reflection and assessment of the findings, makes recommendations and develops suggestions for conflict management techniques for achieving a balance between sustainable tourism and urban development. This chapter discusses the perspectives of local and international experts on conflict management of the issues pertaining to sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site. Seven conflict management techniques are developed particularly to resolve or manage the aspects of conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash: (1) Implementing a sustainable urban tourism framework quickly, (2) creating a harmonious balance between cultural heritage protection and urban development, (3) comprehensive planning of urban and tourism development, (4) ensuring full involvement, real collaboration and active participation of all the stakeholders, (5) financing the expropriation of lands around the Jerash Archaeological Site, (6) fostering touristic and archaeological awareness among all the stakeholders, and (7) utilizing the points of agreement between the stakeholders. Chapter 7: Conclusion This chapter outlines a concluding overview of the thesis, focusing on the main contributions of the research work to the body of knowledge. Based on the research findings, the contributions of the study to the ongoing debate on the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development, as well as conflict management techniques are presented. The chapter suggests implications for further research to improve the quality of the comprehensive planning of urban and tourism development in the future.
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Chapter 2: Conceptual Background of the Research Topic Literature reviews provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the necessary theoretical background which focused on the relationships between tourism and sustainable development. Reviewing the academic literature was undertaken with the following six related topics: (1) tourism impacts and sustainable tourism, (2) the World Cultural Heritage Inscription: stages and requirements, (3) conflicts and cultural heritage tourism, (4) conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in cultural heritage sites, and (5) conflict management and resolution. The first part of this literature review concentrate on the concepts, principles, international standards and important requirements for the sustainable tourism development process. The second part of this review discusses stakeholders who usually are in favour of sustainable tourism and how it could solve or manage conflicts between their various interests.
2.1
Tourism Impacts and Sustainable Tourism Development
2.1.1 Tourism Impacts Tourism is a dynamic and important industry for many countries in the world because of its positive role in encouraging different types of development (physical, social and cultural, economic and environmental) in many countries (Gunce, 2003). This growing industry makes a significant and increasing contribution to the national income in many countries. The multiplier effects of the tourism industry fuel an economic chain reaction that begins with purchases from other industries and extends to the spending of profits, employee compensations and even dividends (Apostolopoulos, 1996). Tourism generates foreign exchange, increases employment rates, and attracts new investments (Brohman, 1996, and Walpole and Goodwin, 2000), in addition to its capability to directly touch the economic situation of the local communities in tourist areas. Kreag (2001) sorts the impacts of tourism into seven general categories as illustrated in table (2.1):
21
Positive
Negative Economic 1. Contributions to the national and local incomes. 1. General increases of prices and cost of living. 2. Enhancement of local economy. 2. Increases potential for imported labour. 3. Provides new businesses and investments. 3. Cost for additional infrastructure (water, sewer and fuel). 4. Increases employment opportunities. 4. Increases road maintenance and transportation systems costs. 5. Improves the urban development (public utilities and 5. Seasonal tourism creates high-risk, or unemployment issues. transport infrastructures). 6. Competition for land with other economic uses. 6. Increases tax revenues. 7. Profits may be exported by non-local owners. 7. Increases opportunities for shopping. 8. Jobs may pay low wages. 8. Economic impact (direct, indirect, induced spending). Environmental 1. Protection of selected natural environments or 1. Destruction of natural environment (wildlife, flora and prevention of further ecological decline. fauna). 2. Preservation of historical buildings, traditional cultures 2. Pollution (air, water, noise and solid waste). and archaeological monuments. 3. Urban expansion distorts the visual appearance of landscape, 3. Improvement of the area’s appearance (visual and historical sites and archaeological monuments. aesthetic). 4. Loss of natural landscape and agricultural lands. 4. A "clean" industry (no smokestacks). 5. Loss of open space. 6. Water shortages. Social and Cultural 1. Improves quality of life. 1. New bad habits and behaviours (underage drinking, 2. Facilitates interacting with visitors and getting new alcoholism, gambling, crime, drugs and prostitution). experiences. 2. Increased smuggling. 3. Provides knowledge of new attitudes and customs. 3. Language and cultural effects. 4. Promotes cultural and educational exchange. 4. Unwanted lifestyle transformations. 5. Improves understanding of different communities. 5. Negative changes in values and customs. 6. Enhances cultural identity. 6. Family disruption. 7. Increases demand for historical and cultural exhibits. 7. Exclusion of locals from natural and cultural resources. 8. Greater tolerance of social differences. 8. New cliques modify social structure. 9. Satisfaction of psychological needs. 9. Natural, political and public relations calamities. Crowding and Congestion 1. Minimizes sprawl. 1. Overlap and interference with other businesses. 2. Concentrates touristic facilities. 2. Overcrowding, congestion and traffic problems. 3. Old buildings reused for tourism. 3. Overpowering building size and style. Services 1. New fire extinguishing services. 1. Challenges carrying capacity on infrastructure and services. 2. Providing new recreation facilities 2. Neglect of non-tourist recreation facilities. 3. Better standard of services by shops and restaurants. 3. Effects of competition. 4. Improves quality of police protection. 4. Monopoly. Taxes 1. Additional state and local sales tax revenue. 1. Increases property taxes. 2. Lodging tax revenue to city (or state). COMMUNITY Community Attitude 1. Heightens pride in community. 1. Heightens community divisiveness. 2. Involvement of local resources. 2. Increasingly hectic community and personal life. 3. More facilities and range of choices available. 3. Creates a phony folk culture. 4. More interesting and exciting place to live. 4. Negative perspectives of residents due to exclusion and alienation over planning and development concerns. 5. Feeling of loss of control over community future (caused by outsider development).
Table 2.1: Tourism Impacts (original information from Kreag, 2001, and modified by the author) Most of the tourism impacts are generally related to economic and socio-cultural issues because they pertain to the life of local communities. In contrast to the economic impact, which is mostly 22
measured monetarily, social impacts are usually measured according to the effect of tourism on the social fabric of the community and on the well-being of individuals and families (Krisnandhi, 2010). In tourism planning, it is a matter of fact that socio-cultural and environmental impacts are less considered than economic impacts, so the former often affect tourism sites and local communities negatively. Lindberg and Johnson (1997) confirm that economic impacts are generally perceived as positive, while social and environmental impacts of tourism are generally perceived as negative. Negative can be seen too the expansion of urban development activities over and around the fragile natural and archaeological sites because they distort the visual appearance of the sites. Urban development tends to expand because it is driven by the investments of the tourist economy (hotels, restaurants, etc.). Economic benefits highly influence decisions related to tourism planning and urban development. In order to achieve a sense of equitability, public tourism organizations should balance their economic and marketing responsibilities with social and environmental concerns (Choy, 1991). Therefore, considering the non-economic impacts of tourism is important and can be incorporated into policymaking processes related to tourism (Lindberg and Johnson 1997).
2.1.2
Sustainable Development
Mass tourism is often said to be the cause for negative impacts of tourism in general. In order to better mitigate these impacts on both tourist sites and local communities, this type has to follow sustainable development principles and to promote awareness and ethical behaviour among its consumers. The concept of sustainable development as a policy consideration was introduced in order to combat environmental problems as a part of the World Conventions Strategy of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN, 1980). The concept of sustainable development (known as sustainability) is a complex and contentious concept (Dumbrâveanu, 2004). In the 1960s, the magic words in tourism development literature were ‘‘foreign exchange earnings’’ followed by ‘‘employment and promotion’’ in the 1970s (Allart, 2001). In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development, in its Bruntland Report, issued a famous definition for sustainable development. It defined sustainable 23
development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Basiago (1999) pointed out that this definition remains most widely circulated. Sustainability can be of many sorts, including economic, socio-cultural and environmental. Due to the diverse forms of sustainable development, there is a hint of conflict between the two words comprising the concept (sustainable and development); ‘‘sustainable’’ implies “a state which can be maintained, is ongoing, perhaps even unchanging” (Wall, 1997: 43), and ‘‘development’’ implies modification and transformation.
2.1.3
Sustainable Tourism
As mentioned earlier, sustainable development of tourism resources should conform to environmental criteria, achieve economic benefits, satisfy the desires of tourists, and maintain the social and cultural integrity of hosts and guests. The concept of sustainable tourism has been derived from the concept of sustainable development, which has been defined in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). In particular, sustainable tourism applies the same rules of sustainable development to areas affected by unbalanced tourism development. As with sustainable development, definitions of sustainable tourism are plagued by the challenge of operationalization (the application of the concepts to specific situations), and it is often operationalized by listing several criteria, such as tourism involving minimal environmental impact, enhanced local benefits and participation, and education of visitors (NWHO, 1999).
2.1.3.1 Is Tourism Sustainable? The main challenge facing tourism industry is how to plan and manage the cultural and natural heritage sites sustainably in order to prolong the life of resources required for the tourism industry. As McKercher (2003) explains, the reasons revolve around two conflicted questions. First, why is tourism suitable for adopting sustainability as a guiding philosophy? The reasons are as follows: 24
a) A community’s resources, its culture, traditions, shops, leisure facilities, etc. represent the core resources base for tourism. b) The use of resources, both natural and cultural, for tourism should make them renewable. c) Tourism represents one of the few economic opportunities available to communities in remote or peripheral regions. d) Tourism can provide an opportunity to reduce poverty, create employment for disadvantaged people and stimulate regional development. e) Tourism can revitalize cultures and traditions. f) Tourism can provide an economic incentive to conserve natural and cultural assets. g) Tourism may be able to foster better understanding between peoples and a higher degree of global consciousness. Second, what are the main factors that make tourism unsustainable? a) Tourism is a fierce competitor for resources - the provision of opportunities for tourists may mean that local residents are displaced. b) The needs of tourists are different from those of local residents. Thus, serving tourists may not suit the needs of local residents. c) It is difficult to develop successful sustainable tourism products, and therefore countries may have made unwise investments in tourism. d) Tourism is often imposed on local communities, especially rural and minority communities, at a level and speed that causes great social disruption. The tourism industry must be profitable and sustainable in order to provide continuing economic benefits, but this will not be achieved without effective collaboration. So, applying the formula of sustainable tourism requires stakeholder participation at all levels to overcome unsustainability. The notion of ‘sustainable tourism’ arose in recognition of the inherent tensions and frictions created by the interactions between host communities, the tourism industry, visitors and the environment (Ruhanen (2006). Stakeholder participation can enhance the quality of tourism products. A tourism product may consist of a combination of components, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas (Marafa, 2009). The main challenge for the managers and planners of 25
tourism sites is to decide on the relative priority of each of these components (European Association of Historic Towns and Regions, 2009), a priority hierarchy which differs from site to site.
2.1.3.2 Definitions of Sustainable Tourism As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of sustainable tourism is to mitigate the negative impacts on the environment and local communities, while contributing to increase the economic benefits. When combining the term ‘sustainable’ with tourism, the latter must be considered in the light of environmental, economic and social considerations and principles that are inherent within the former (White et al., 2006). Sustainable tourism has attracted a great deal of attention as a concept (MacLellan, 1997). Though there has been progress towards a better conceptual understanding of sustainable tourism, a number of researchers have argued that the term is ambiguous, vague, parochial, or imaginary (Mowforth & Munt, 1998; Butler, 1993; Orams, 1995; Hunter, 1995; Muller, 1994; Swarbrooke, 2002 and Robinson, 1999). If we had a clearer definition, then it would be easier that research can progress. In addition, developing a practical definition—one that was not merely conceptual—would allow researchers to avoid these conceptual critiques. Though there are many definitions of sustainable tourism, standardized, internationally recognized definitions would enable researchers with diverse backgrounds to freely share a large amount of data and research (Table 2.2).
26
Year 1991 1992
1993 1995 1996 1996
2002 2002
2002
2004 2005
Definition Providing satisfying jobs without dominating the local economy or abusing the natural environment (Lane, 1991, 2). Tourism and associated infrastructures that (1) operate within their natural capacities for the regeneration and future productivity of natural resources; (2) recognize the contribution that people and communities, customs and lifestyles, make to the tourism experience; and (3) accept that these people must have an equitable share in the economic benefits of local communities (Eber 1992: 3). Tourism which is in a form which can maintain its viability in an area for an infinite period of time (Butler, 1993, 29). Tourism which can sustain local economies without damaging the environment (Countryside Commission 1995, 2) Tourism that develops as quickly as possible, taking into account current accommodation capacity, the local population and the environment (Bramwell et al., 1996a, 10). Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems (UNWTO, 1996). Tourism at any scale with practical and proactive design, engineering and management to reduce environmental impacts (Buckley, 2002). Managing tourism’s impacts on the environment, communities, and the future economy to make sure that the effects are positive rather than negative for the benefit of future generations (English Tourism Council, 2002). Tourism that is developed so that the nature, scale, location, and manner of development are appropriate and sustainable over time and where the environment’s ability to support other activities and processes is not impaired (Wight, 2002, 223). Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities (UNWTO, 2004). Alternative tourism form that improves the quality of life of the host community and provides a high quality of experience for the visitors while maintains the quality of the environment on which both the host community and visitors depend (Choi & Sirakaya, 2005).
Table 2.2: Definitions of “Sustainable Tourism” (various sources) Summing up the definitions in table 2.2, tourism can be considered to be sustainable if and only if the three dimensions of sustainability remain constant or rise over time. Thus, the rate of natural and cultural protection can be used to measure sustainability. If protection is positive, we will leave our legacy for future generations; a low rate of natural and cultural protection indicates unsustainability.
2.1.3.3 Sustainable Tourism Principles for Cultural Heritage Cultural heritage sites should adopt effective tourism management guidelines based on comprehensive principles of sustainable tourism which can guide planners and mangers to identify the interactions between cultural heritage sites, tourism and stakeholders. The following principles of sustainable tourism are more suitable to cultural heritage sites: (1) Protecting 27
cultural heritage sites is an important priority in planning sustainable tourism, especially in urban settings, in order to maintain the authenticity and integrity of these sites; (2) The local community’s participation in the tourism investments, the implementation of strategies, as well as the operation of the tourism infrastructure, services and facilities will decrease their feeling of loss of control over the community’s future; (3) Minimizing the negative socio-cultural impacts of tourism (gambling, crime, drugs, prostitution, and unwanted lifestyle and cultural transformations) on local communities to obtain cultural sustainability; (4) Involving all stakeholders (governmental bodies, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, municipal authorities, local communities and other interested organizations) in the development and management of cultural heritage tourism; (5) Creating a harmonized balance between the various and different interests (economic, social, environmental and cultural) of all stakeholders is necessary to avoid conflicts and overlap jurisdiction of various authorities; (6) Tourism management should measure the carrying capacity of the cultural heritage sites taking into account the physical, natural, social and cultural restrictions, and any development should be well-matched with the needs of local communities and environmental criteria; and (7) Urban development should harmonize with sustainability requirements of cultural heritage tourism to provide more sustainable infrastructure and services both to and within the site (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 1999). In order to maximize the promising contribution of tourism within the boundaries of the goals of sustainable development, the various social, environmental and economic principles should be integrated and implemented together. The many principles underlying sustainable tourism must be enacted simultaneously in order to achieve its goal of cultural heritage protection and economic stimulus. Additionally, sustainable tourism can be a key methodology in raising awareness and encouraging positive behaviour for cultural heritage protection among visitors and local residents.
2.1.4
Sustainable Tourism Development
Sustainable tourism and sustainable tourism development are almost the same. Both concepts have similar dimensions (socio-cultural, economic and environmental), but the latter particularly 28
gives more emphasis to economic development than to the long-term sustainability of cultural and natural heritage resources. It is also closely associated with sustainable tourism but more specifically addresses the need to ensure that development in tourism is sustainable (McDonald, 2009). Sustainable tourism is intended to ensure the long-term viability and quality of both natural and cultural resources (Bramwell & Lane, 1993; Hughes, 1995 and Sharpley, 2000). Tourism development has tradeoffs between environmental and economic benefits, while sustainable tourism identifies possible constraints and limits for tourism development in order to receive all the benefits equitably. Butler (1998, p.26) states that “the primary concern is to maintain the long-term viability of the economy of the region, rather than the viability of the physical and social environments”. Due to the dominant role of the economic development, there is a need to make a balance between all the dimensions of sustainable tourism development. Economic development contributes to solve the conflicts and frictions between the complex interests of the tourism industry, the environment, and the local communities, satisfying economic needs while maintaining the cultural integrity, authenticity and environmental diversity (Garrod and Fyall, 1998, and Sharpley, 2000). Murphy (1998) provides a comprehensive definition of sustainable tourism development that respects its multidimensional qualities: The management of all resources upon which tourism depends in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems (p. 179). This definition has been discussed by Lars (2000), too, and he indicates that sustainable tourism development aims might be fulfilled if this development does not damage the environment, ecology, architecture and cultural heritage, and it must be based on the local community without exploiting it.
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2.2
The World Cultural Heritage Inscription: Stages and Requirements
2.2.1
Cultural Heritage
From the World Heritage point of view, heritage is classified into cultural, natural and mixed varieties. Many definitions of heritage have been proposed, but the most famous definition was adopted by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2011). This legacy was shaped by successive civilizations over different periods. The concept of heritage is not given, but created by a community, by people who attach values to some objects, rites, oral traditions, rituals, languages, contexts, lifestyles, monuments, archaeological sites and historical buildings (Riganti and Nijkamp, 2004). UNESCO’s definition of heritage covers both cultural and natural heritage. Cultural heritage includes both tangible and intangible heritage. The World Heritage Convention identifies cultural heritage with the following:
Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological character, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of OUV from the point of view of history, art or science;
Groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of OUV from the point of view of history, art or science;
Sites: human works or the combined works of nature and humans, and areas including archaeological sites which are of OUV from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view (UNESCO, 1972).
Cultural heritage is more than a legacy from the past; it is a physical reflection of past lives and can be seen as an interactive relationship between archaeology, environment and indigenous people since ancient times. Human and natural factors cause damage and distortion directly and indirectly to property and cultural heritage (Stovel, 1998). Benhamou (2003) indicated that when 30
a cultural heritage site, such as archaeological monuments, historical buildings and ancient artefacts were destroyed or distorted, it cannot be recreated or restored in its original shape. Therefore, it must be protected and managed preventively to ensure its permanency for future generations.
2.2.2
The Stages of World Heritage Inscription
If a site is inducted into the World Heritage List, it will not be owned only by its country (or government) but also by all the population of the world. So the permanent protection of this heritage is of a very high importance to the international community as a whole. Therefore, UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972 to ensure the identification, protection, presentation and transmission of cultural and natural heritage of OUV to future generations (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2011). “OUV” implies exceptional heritage significance for a site’s past contribution and common importance for present and future generations of mankind in general. In order to successfully nominate cultural and natural heritage sites which have OUVs, the World Heritage Committee recommends that the governments should follow the following procedures of the World Heritage nomination process: 2.2.2.1 The Nomination Process Only the countries which have signed the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage can nominate their properties to be considered for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The purpose of the World Heritage inscription is to encourage protection of cultural and natural resources within designated sites and surrounding buffer zones and, additionally, to share the preservation responsibility of cultural heritage with the international community (Leask, 2006). 2.2.2.2 The Tentative List First of all, governments must prepare an inventory (Tentative List) of their important natural and cultural heritage properties that a country may then decide to submit for World Heritage 31
inscription over a period of five to ten years. Without this list, the World Heritage Committee will not accept a nomination for inscription on the World Heritage List. It is preferable to prepare the Tentative List with the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders, including site managers, local and regional governments, local communities, NGOs and other interested parties (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008). 2.2.2.3 Preparation of the Nomination Dossier After submitting the Tentative List, a government can present a nomination dossier. This file, which needs to be as exhaustive as possible, must include all the following information, as per Section III of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008): Maps of the Property: topographic maps, boundaries maps and buffer zone maps. Detailed Description of the Property: description of the heritage resources, history, development, and its significant values. Management Plan: includes accurate information on threats to the property, the management and protection system, as well as a list of the legislative, regulatory, contractual, planning and institutional procedures. Monitoring: evaluative revision to assess the progress of protection measures, the periodicity of their examination, and the identity of each stakeholder (governmental, nongovernmental, and local community). 2.2.2.4 Evaluation Process Once a nomination dossier is complete the World Heritage Centre sends it to the appropriate Advisory Bodies for evaluation, according to the nature of the nominated property. ICOMOS is the advisory body for cultural properties and IUCN for natural properties, and both of them for mixed properties. Nomination dossiers are evaluated by experts according to a set of world heritage criteria (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008).
32
2.2.2.5 The Decision of the World Heritage Committee The final decision concerning the inscription on the World Heritage List is up to the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee. Once a year, the Committee meets to decide which properties will be added to the list. It can also defer its decision and request further information on sites from nominating governments. The decision of the committee depends on the carefully prepared descriptive maps (e.g. buffer zone map) and documents, as well as on the field reports of its experienced referees (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008). 2.2.2.6 The Selection Criteria of World Cultural Heritage The World Heritage Committee considers a property as having OUV if the cultural property meets at least one or more of the ten World Heritage Selection Criteria listed in the Operational Guidelines (art. 77). These criteria from the World Heritage Convention are the most important in the inscription process. At the beginning of 2005, the World Heritage Selection criteria were amended according to the revised Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (see Table 2.3). A set of ten criteria currently exists.
Operational Guidelines 2002
(i)
(ii)
Operational Guidelines 2005
(i)
(ii)
Cultural criteria (iii) (iv) (v) (iii)
(iv)
(v)
Natural criteria (ii) (iii) (iv)
(vi)
(i)
(vi)
(viii)
(ix)
(vii)
(x)
Table 2.3: World Heritage Criteria in 2002 and 2005 (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2011). The first six cultural criteria were not amended and they have been set to measure the uniqueness of the nominated cultural properties, which represent: i) Masterpiece, ii) Values/Influences, iii) Testimony, iv) Typology, v) Traditional human settlement, land-use or sea-use, and vi) Association with events, traditions, ideas, or beliefs. The remaining four criteria related to natural heritage were amended (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008).
2.2.3
Requirements of Authenticity and Integrity
The protection of the authenticity and integrity of properties is also a very important consideration. In order to consider a property as OUV, a property “must also meet the conditions 33
of integrity and/or authenticity and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding” (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008). Thus, authenticity and integrity are crucial qualities for sites added to the World Heritage List. There are two possible cases influence the integrity and authenticity negatively: one case if there is a problem in the control of development and site management, which requires attention, and another if the OUV of a property is at risk (threats and encroachments on the authenticity and integrity of the property) (Jokilehto, 2006).
2.2.3.1 Authenticity The concept of authenticity appeared in the first set of World Heritage evaluative criteria from 1978 (Stovel, 2007). The Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) discussed further this concept and offered four tangible parameters for the ‘test of authenticity’: design, material, workmanship and setting. The revised Operational Guidelines, published in 2005, provide a new definition for the ‘conditions of authenticity’ by adding more intangible parameters: traditions, techniques, language and other forms of intangible heritage, as well as spirit and feeling (Jokilehto, 2006). The previous authenticity parameters are the sole criteria for the “OUV” designation. Though these parameters are important for the nomination process, they are also useful in the preservation of the genuine identity of the cultural heritage properties and in maintaining the authentic values of the cultural tourism product. Hargrove (2003) notes that when authenticity is compromised, cultural heritage tourism loses credibility: the differentiation between authentic heritage sites and sanitized, recreated theme parks becomes blurred.
2.2.3.2 Integrity Another important requirement in evaluating the OUV of the nominated properties to be on the World Heritage List is their integrity. The Operational Guidelines (2005) define the conditions of integrity in its paragraph no. 88:
34
Integrity is a measure of the wholeness and intactness of the natural and/or cultural heritage and its attributes. Examining the conditions of integrity, therefore requires assessing the extent to which the property: a) includes all elements necessary to express its OUV; b) is of adequate size to ensure the complete representation of the features and processes which convey the property’s significance; c) suffers from adverse effects of development and/or neglect. The conditions of integrity are important in the assessment of different aspects of the nominated property including its setting, the core and buffer zones, and the broader landscape context, as well as the social and cultural integrity within a particular area, such as a cultural landscape or a historical urban area (Jokilehto et al., 2008). There are two basic notions from the integrity concept that are mentioned in the Operational Guidelines (2005):
Wholeness: including all the necessary elements to fully tell the story of the site and all features and processes necessary to convey its significance.
Intactness: the current condition of the site and the adverse effects and risks of development and/or neglect that threaten the site and its surrounding environment.
It is vital that the assessment of “Wholeness” and “Intactness” be effectively integrated as one identifies significant aspects of the site and also focuses on “the physical fabric of the property and/or its significant features” (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008). Therefore, the governments should maintain the integrity of their nominated or listed properties. The governments ensure their sustainability by protecting them from the physical expansion of the urban development over the cultural and natural heritage sites.
2.3 2.3.1
Conflict and Cultural Heritage Tourism Brief History of the Conflict Concept
The concept of “conflict” was first applied in describing special political situations. In this context, modern theory is indebted to the German sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883), who pointed out that conflict of individuals and groups is a developing producer of new ideas and solutions. Another scientist who constituted a lot to modern conflict theory is Mills (1956). This focus is on the conflict between individuals and groups of people with diverse interests and 35
attitudes that trigger conflict, suggesting that common dialogue between various stakeholders lessens the gap in understanding underlying the conflict. The most important step to mitigate the negative impacts of conflict on all the stakeholders comes through establishing a collaborative, multiparty dialogue in order to discover points of agreement. Then, consensual suggestions could be extracted from their discussion.
2.3.2
Understanding Conflicts
Understanding conflicts has become more necessary in the nineteenth century because new multidimensional social problems appeared that required wide-ranging collaboration between governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and local communities. Additionally, social theorists identify and analyze the different interests underlying these problems. Understanding social conflicts unquestionably comes up with general bases for achieving profitable and fruitful dialogues. Since people have different fields and experiences, people have conflicts of interests. Consequently, it is normal that people may have various conflicts of interests concerning management, planning and development. This perspective leads to a complex view of the relationship between the interests of different stakeholders. Learning more about conflict will motivate managers, planners and local communities to develop conflict management techniques (mediation, reconciling, arbitration and conciliation) to deal with the various types of conflict professionally.
2.3.3
Definitions of a Conflict
In order to understand a conflict comprehensively, a collection of interconnected relations should be analyzed, such as cause and effect, direct, indirect intervening causes, as well as payoff matrices (Bartos and Wehr, 2002). These relations identify the nature of the conflict, the factors responsible for triggering it and how the interests of stakeholders overlap and differ.
36
Based on the nature of the field and its interconnected relations, several academics and theorists have offered different definitions of a conflict. The following table (2.4) summarizes definitions of conflicts pertinent to sustainable tourism: Author Mack & Snyder Resolve Incorporated and International partners Bartos & Wehr Marongwe Matthew, Halle & Switzer Saunier & Meganck Guntoro & Udomsade Herrera & Passano
Conflict Definition A struggle not only for status but also for scarce resources and significant social change (Mack & Snyder, 1957). Interactions of interdependent people who see their goals as incompatible and who believe that their opponents are interfering with their efforts to satisfy their interests or values (Resolve Incorporated and International partners, 2000). A situation in which actors use conflict behaviour against each other to attain incompatible goals and/or to express their hostility (Bartos & Wehr, 2002). A process by which the aims of the opponents might be to neutralize, injure or eliminate rivals (Marongwe, 2002, 3). Any fundamental disagreement that prevents cooperation and collaboration and causes social tension and dispute (Matthew, Halle & Switzer, 2002, 14). A condition where two or more parties have differing interests or perspectives that require resolution to achieve an end (Saunier & Meganck, 2004, 79). A direct and open antagonistic struggle of persons or groups for the same objective or end (Guntoro & Udomsade, 2006). A situation in which specific individuals or collective interests are in a confrontation (Herrera & Passano, 2006).
Table 2.4: Conflict Definitions of Different Authors. Conflicts take place predominantly when people are dissatisfied or frustrated, producing anxiety and tension (McFarland, 1979). Conflicts also occur between individuals, groups or parties who disagree about particular issues, especially when their interests are ignored or damaged by someone who has different interests. As a result, such individuals try to implement their own goals as a first priority without consulting others.
2.3.4
Causes and Levels of a Conflict
It is essential to identify the nature, causes and levels of a conflict since it obstructs progress and prosperity. Knowing these factors can help in resolving conflicts and at the same time it can provide preventive solutions (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004). Therefore, comprehending the nature, causes and levels of a conflict is a prerequisite for conflict management.
37
According to Moore (2003), conflicts relate to data, interests, relationships, values and structure. He identified five societal causes of conflict: 1. Data conflicts are caused by a) lack of information, b) misinformation, c) different views on what is relevant, d) different interpretations of data, or e) different assessment procedures. 2. Interest conflicts are caused by a) perceived or actual competition over stakeholders’ substantive interests, b) procedural interests, and c) psychological interests. 3. Structural conflicts are caused by a) destructive patterns of behaviour or interaction, b) unequal control, ownership, or distribution of resources, c) unequal power and authority, d) geographical, physical, or environmental factors that hinder co-operation, and e) time constraints. 4. Relationship conflicts are caused by a) strong emotions, b) stereotyping or misperception, c) poor communication or miscommunication, and d) repetitive negative behaviour. 5. Value conflicts are caused by a) different criteria for evaluating ideas or behaviour, b) exclusive intrinsically valuable goals, and c) different ways of life, ideology and religion. Some of these causes overlap because of the communicative failures at base in practically all conflicts. The resulting effects depend on the level of the conflict. Sandole (1998) indicated that conflicts occur on four explanatory levels: interpersonal, intergroup, inter-organizational, or international. The most powerful causes are those generating disagreement among group members or individuals at many levels. Therefore, conflict management, which deals with multilevel conflicts, should be prepared in collaboration with various stakeholders at various levels to discuss the differences in viewpoints and opinions comprehensively.
2.3.5
Conflict of Cultural Heritage Tourism: Advantages and Disadvantages
Every new phenomenon in any society has advantages and disadvantages because it occurs in a setting consisted of proponents and opponents. Its suitability comes from the diversity and 38
changeability of the human beings. At first glance, the ordinary image of a heritage tourism conflict is negative and it is always an impediment of the progress and enhancement of the deficiencies. This image does not represent the total reality of a heritage tourism conflict because it has also constructive contributions to developing tourism as a leading industry.
2.3.5.1 Conflict Advantages of Cultural Heritage Tourism As stated earlier, conflict among participants does not mean that there are deficiencies in the planning or management of heritage sites. Conflicts between stakeholders of sites may become a dynamic trigger of change and an active generator of progress and growth. Depending on stakeholders’ response to conflicts, the outcome may bolster growth in an area and its local community (Kinard, 1988). Therefore, the response of the participants must be collaborative while compromising diverse opinions and interests. This diversity actually allows the parties to deal with external challenges by introducing ideas that promote the survival of development projects (Pasquale, 1990 and Stacey, 1996). Conflict is a way for positive change and a path to communicate with the physical, economic and socio-cultural environments which surround heritage tourism. Consequently, conflict may make planning and management of heritage tourism more able to respond to the challenges and changes in their surrounding environment. In addition, conflict can be profitable when there are beneficial opportunities for mutual learning and knowledge exchange (Lovelock, 2002; Reed, 2000 and Wolfenden, 2003). Accordingly conflict will make tourism planning of stakeholders more comprehensive and will enrich their experience on how to predict and solve any potential problems.
2.3.5.2 Conflict Disadvantages of Cultural Heritage Tourism Despite the positive contribution of conflict in managing and developing heritage tourism, its negative contribution still has substantial impact. Generally, implementation of sustainable development goals is problematic and causes conflicts between stakeholders, particularly stakeholders interested in sustainable tourism and urban development. Due to the commercialization of tourism, cultural heritage resources are endangered by the encroachment of 39
urban development activities which may lead to over exploitation and destruction of archaeological monuments and historical towns (Hassler, Algreen-Ussing & Kohler, 2002). The activities of urban development can have negative impacts on local communities, on cultural and natural heritage resources, and on economic benefits when these are not distributed fairly. This includes the loss of environmental and heritage areas (Quattrone, 2002), as well as the harmful expansion of modern buildings over archaeological monuments and traditional buildings. Paradoxically, property owners and local communities see the implementation of protected areas as a threat to human welfare (Talbot, 1984) as they think it decreases the benefits of economic resources (Garratt, 1984). On the other hand, conservationists and sustainable tourism specialists detect threats to natural and cultural resources by the increasing demands which usually are related to population growth and economic development (Miller, 1984).
2.4
Conflict, Sustainable Tourism and Urban Development in Cultural Heritage Sites
Although cultural heritage is one of the most important sources of tourism, tourism can adulterate cultural heritage. In order to provide a suitable resolution for conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development in the cultural heritage sites, conflict management should consider the causes, aspects and impacts of conflicts.
2.4.1
Conflict and Sustainable Tourism Dimensions
Conflicts in tourism arise from the many needs and interests of different national and international stakeholders (government, tourism industry and local community) (Milne & Ateljevic, 2001), especially during the processes towards a sustainable development of tourism. Conflicts usually arise when stakeholders try to satisfy all their needs and interests simultaneously. Nijkamp and Verdonkschot (1995, p. 127) indicate that problems occur when an attempt is made to meet the needs of the local community by improving the economic benefits while protecting the cultural and natural heritage resources. Hitchcock et al. (1993), however, assert that sustainable tourism is a utopian paradigm as it represents a conspicuous fissure 40
between theory and practice due to the difficulty of generating a balance between economics and protection of the cultural and natural heritage resources during the implementation. For this reason there are numerous difficulties when sustainability and protection principles are applied to urban and tourism development projects. The author of the present study, however, disagrees, claiming that economic benefits of these projects must not be considered as a major threat to sustainability and heritage protection but as a way to fight poverty and other socio-cultural and environmental problems. Therefore, fulfilling the economic, socio-cultural and environmental interests mutually is indispensable to achieve successful tourism development because tourism must be at the same time environmentally sustainable in order to be economically sustainable too.
2.4.2
Conflict and Urban Development
Cultural heritage sites can be presented to tourists only with a proper tourism infrastructure. Cities are not closed systems (Diamantini and Zanon, 2000). The forms of urban development in the cities evolve and expand in an accelerating way in cities and towns whose population is growing rapidly. Though indispensible as a tourist attraction, tourist city expansion has negative impacts on the sensitive heritage areas and the environment. Slowing and regulating the urban expansion can ensure environmental sustainability. Mitigating the impacts of urban development requires urban planners who are aware of the possible urban development encroachments. They should be aware of the importance of connecting urban planning with sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism in cultural heritage sites via sustainable urban development should be integrated into a national strategy. This is not meant to urge that sustainable tourism be used in a way to systematically prevent harmful activities of urban development, such as destruction of fragile monuments and ancient buildings. An integrated overall national strategy of sustainable tourism shall ensure the survival of the site and its setting by taking into consideration current conflicts between stakeholders, as well as their economic, ecological and social interests. The most popular conflict type between sustainable tourism and urban development is land use conflict. Land use often overlaps and has conflict points with cultural heritage sites because 41
landowners have different interests. Each land conflict may be considered as one unit with various characteristics and a particular development pattern. According to Mwasi (2001), there are two main types of land use conflicts: 1. Environmental conflicts arise from putting land into use in a way that is incompatible with its characteristics. 2. Competition and conflict between different land uses, such as industry, agriculture, construction works and protection. Urban expansion on adjacent land parcels due to the economic benefits of tourism can generate conflicts. These types of conflict occur frequently between local communities, tourism industry and the government. All sides try to use their dissimilar powers in order to exploit the same cultural and natural heritage resources. Uncontrolled land use expansion can destruct sensitive heritage areas. It also has a negative impact on the economic, social and ecological development (Hoffman, 2003). Land and expropriation legislations are important for identifying landownership and creating a balance between the heritage protection rights and landowner’s rights. However, stakeholders are not always aware of their legal rights and obligations (Herrera & Passano, 2006). This may neutralize or even deactivate the enforcement role of these laws. Therefore, it is essential that governmental bodies and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations foster awareness among all stakeholders about the importance of existing legislation especially legislation that is related to sustainability and heritage protection. This could facilitate the implementation of urban and tourism development projects without conflict.
2.5
Conflict Management and Resolution
Conflicts between governmental stakeholders and other stakeholders resulted from the multifaceted interaction of matters, including differing viewpoints, perceptions, interests and frameworks (Jamal and Getz, 2000 and Reed, 2000). These differences may cause unexpected conflicts when implementing sustainable tourism processes that aim to protect heritage sites from urban and economic development. Duc (2009) noted that there are conflicting opinions between sustainable tourism frameworks and the general national plans for economic development. Every 42
stakeholder tries to obtain his interests and to get most profits out of it, so conflicts between different interests of stakeholder groups is normal (International Centre for Development Oriented Research in Agriculture, 2002). Its normality refers to the fact that governmental stakeholders cannot satisfy all interests and needs at the same time. Although conflicts cannot be fully resolved, conflict management can mitigate the impacts of conflicts (Poolman et al., 2009). Conflict resolution is sensitive to the type of conflict involved. For example, a conflict can arise between local community members when some members support only the economic side of development projects and this at the expense of environmental, social or cultural issues (McDonald, 2009). This conflict occurs because the conflicting parties do not belong to homogeneous groups (Holland, 2000 and Verbole, 2000), but have different backgrounds and needs. Some of the local residents may not be aware of the importance of the cultural values of their heritage sites. For this reason, local communities are the most affected stakeholders in tourism development projects. Conflicts arise generally within local communities when tourism developments of heritage resources are proposed (McDonald, 2009). Heritage tourism may conflict with the demands of local communities when public services and infrastructures projects shall be built on private land (Texas Historical Commission, 2007). During tourism development projects, land conflicts arise usually between local communities and government when members of the community try to keep their own rights to land. Therefore during conflict management the government should take into consideration the necessity of providing job opportunities and businesses for local residents. This could be a valuable contribution to the improvement of the quality of life. Thibal (1996) emphasized that tourism development may resolve these various conflicts by transcending individual interests in order to achieve maximum sustainability. Also, establishing cooperation and collaboration between communities and tourism industry at the local, regional and national levels can smooth the implementation process of heritage tourism projects that protect cultural heritage resources (Texas Historical Commission, 2007). Conflict can be managed or resolved through a variety of techniques—compromise, consensusbuilding, negotiation, communication, consultation, collaboration work, arbitration and adjudication. These techniques are a means for all stakeholders to fight for their rights and their 43
justification to get a benefit from tourism. However, there is the necessity of creating a harmonious balance between all the stakeholders’ needs and interests. These techniques can be used as an incentive (either positively or negatively) to encourage disinclined stakeholders with high authority to discuss the conflicting issues in a more responsive way. These techniques, except the last two ones, are more suitable for managing the conflicts between the stakeholders of urban and tourism development projects and local stakeholders who are against the implementation of these projects. Compromise and consensus-building are the most commonly used, but most often misunderstood, techniques. To compromise in conciliation may seem positive, but it means that at least one of the stakeholders perceives that he has had to forgo something (Warner, 2000). During implementation of urban and tourism development projects, compromise promotes rational development of natural and cultural heritage resources while keeping the local community socio-economically satisfied as much as possible. The compromise process distinguishes where the interests of the different stakeholders are contradictory and where they are consistent. Consensus-building clearly sets out to avoid conflict as much as possible and manage conflict that occurs effectively seeking to achieve a balance between the different stakeholders’ interests of the urban and tourism development projects. According to Warner and Jones (1999), the fundamental principles of consensus building are to steer conflicting stakeholders away from negotiating over their instantaneous demands and antagonistic positions, and guide them towards discussing those fundamental needs which are the true motivating factors behind each side’s perception of the conflict. Warner and Jones (1999) indicated also that these principles may prevent stakeholders from working narrowly on only one solution and may take them to a more widely thinking about the possible and most creative range of options for satisfying all stakeholders’ underlying needs. In addition they may guide them in a direction how to avoid thinking about personalized and frequently exaggerated demands, and to set more clearness and exactitude in identifying the more important needs of stakeholders. The efficiency of conflict management techniques may depend on the attributes of the stakeholders (e.g. are the governmental bodies qualified? Do they have similar experience and 44
background?). For example, most stakeholders do not have enough experience with the World Heritage theme (especially the part that refers to authenticity and integrity of the site). Therefore, it is relatively difficult to discuss this theme and reach a consensus about it without fostering awareness among stakeholders in order to unify their bases of knowledge as much as possible.
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Chapter 3: Jerash Archaeological Site as a Case Study and in a Broader Framework
3.1
Introduction
Analysing and managing the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash requires a deep understanding and comprehensive information about Jordan and Jerash. This chapter begins by discussing the tourism in Jordan focusing on the urban and tourism development, its contribution and significance for Jordan in general and in particular for the city of Jerash as a case study. This chapter then deals with the various stakeholders concerning the case of Jerash detailing particularly the governmental stakeholders because they hold much of the decision-making authority. The urban and tourism development projects implemented in Jordan generally and in Jerash particularly are also discussed to provide a backdrop for the analyses in Chapters 5 and 6. This case study focuses on the Jerash Archaeological Site, an urban site which can be regarded as a complex setting consisting of diverse tourist attractions and different interconnecting stakeholders. The system of government in Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch is the head of the Jordanian State, and he exercises his executive authority through the Council of Ministers. The legislative authority of the government is the Bicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-'Umma, which consists of the House of Senators, also called the Majlis al Ayan (60 seats; members appointed by the monarch) and the Chamber of Deputies, also called the Majlis al-Nuwaab (150 seats; members elected using a mixed system) (CIA World Factbook, 2013). As illustrated in figure (3.1), Jordan has a strategic location in the heart of the Middle East that shares long borders with six neighbouring countries (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Israel and Palestine) 1. The population of Jordan has grown rapidly over the last fifty years. Today they are about 6.1 million people, one third of them (2.4 million) live in the capital Amman (JTB, 2011). Jordan is divided into 12 1
Most part of the empirical work of the thesis was finished before the civil war in Syria started and which swept over one million Syrian refugees into Jordan.
46
governorates (Ajloun, Aqaba, Balqa, Kerak, Mafraq, Amman, Tafilah, Zarqa, Irbid, Jerash, Ma'an and Madaba).
Figure 3.1: Middle East Political Map (Source: CIA-Central Intelligence Agency, 2008). Jerash governorate contains one of the famous ten Roman Decapolis Cities, which is called Gerasa in Latin and Jerash in Arabic. These cities represent a league of cities from the Hellenistic and Roman period that had commercial, political and cultural significance. The Decapolis cities were centres of Greek and Roman culture (Archeomed, 2012). Six of these cities
47
are located in Jordan (Gerasa, Gadara, Pella, Capitolias, Philadelphia and Raphana), two in Syria (Damascus and Canatha) and two in Israel (Scythopolis and Hippos).
3.2
Tourism in Jordan and Jerash
Tourism is one of the leading economic sectors in Jordan. 2010 witnessed a marked improvement in all the economic indicators of the tourism sector as the national economy recovered from the consequences of the global financial crisis. In 2010 the real added value of tourism increased by 14.3% compared to a decline of 1.5% in 2009.2 In addition, tourism income increased by 17.2% to 2.423 billion JD (accounting for 12.4% of GDP in 2010) compared with a decline of 1.0% in 2009. This was accompanied by a large rise concerning the number of tourists, which grew 16.4% to 8.25 million visitors in 2010 compared to a decrease of 0.2% in 2009. All these indicators decreased sharply in 2011 and 2012 due to the Arab Spring. As a consequence there were many cancelations of tourist groups and individual travellers. In spite of the Arab Spring, the number of employees in different tourism activities in 2012 increased by 4.6% to reach 43,942 people, compared to 41,900 in 2010. 77.1% of these employees were in the hotel and restaurant industry. Jordanian employees accounted for 80.4% of the total employees at 35,311 people, compared with 8,631 non-Jordanians. Women in the tourism sector accounted only for 10% of the total employees, a proportion that has not changed much over the last ten years. The development of the tourism sector has helped to create thousands of indirect job opportunities because tourism services and facilities require an assortment of diverse small- and medium-sized businesses. To ensure sustainable development of the tourism sector and its contribution to the Jordanian economy, the government of Jordan, represented by the MoTA, in cooperation with intergovernmental organizations, has focused profound efforts in the last ten years on developing two coherent strategies—Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy 2004-2010 and Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy 2011-2015. According to Darabseh (2010), developing such strategies is of great importance for the following three reasons: (1) to involve the local community in the 2
All statistics here taken from The Department of Statistics (Personal communication, July 10, 2011) and MoTA (2013).
48
decision making process of tourism development, generating new job opportunities which in turn create income for locals and simultaneously benefiting the national and regional economies, (2) to improve the local infrastructure and superstructure, facilities and services that are available for tourists’ consumption, and (3) to generate incentives and revenues to support and fund the conservation and protection of cultural heritage. The first strategy had been driven by financial aid from USAID and the private sector to improve the economic situation of the local communities and manage tourism sustainably. This strategy was based on the idea of underscoring the partnership between all the stakeholders of tourism in Jordan in order to improve the long-term economic and social well being of Jordanians by expanding employment, entrepreneurial opportunities, social benefits, industry profits, and state revenue (MoTA, 2003b). The Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy (JNTS) 2011-2015 is designed to build on what has been achieved since the launch of the first strategy (2004-2010) and to guide the stakeholders of tourism rationally to a bright future. The overall goal of the strategy is “to increase tourism receipts to JD 4.2 billion in 2015” (MoTA, 2010a). The 2011-2015 strategy retained the four-pillar framework of the first strategy with further amendments and measures to secure the achievements in Jordan’s tourism sector, raise the overall competitiveness of the industry and underpin long-term sustainability of tourism satisfying the interests of all the stakeholders (ibid.). Tourism in Jerash mainly depends on the Jerash Archaeological Site, the main tourist destination in northern Jordan. The existence of the archaeological site provides an opportunity for the tourism industry to grow in Jerash. Fostering this growth is the responsibility of the MoTA in cooperation with other governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Tourist groups—not individual tourists—are the dominant visitors to the Jerash Archaeological Site. Most of them come from abroad because for them Jerash contains most interesting ancient archaeological monuments and traditional buildings. Therefore, the MoTA and DoA provide services to the international tourists and encourage them to stay as long as possible. The number of local and Arab visitors, most of whom are families and school students, increases with the beginning of the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. The latest visitor statistics at the Jerash Archaeological Site indicate close to 412,649 Jordanian and foreign visitors in 2010 (Figure 3.2). 49
This figure illustrates the fluctuation of Jerash visitor numbers over the past five years. In 2012, the number of Jordanian and foreign visitors decreased sharply to 228,350 due to political instability in the Arab World. 400000 350000 300000 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000 0
Jordanian Foreign
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Figure 3.2: Visitors of Jerash (Jordanian and Foreign) from 2008 to 2012 (MoTA, 2013). During 2011 and 2012, the Arab World was not stable politically due to the Arab Spring, when revolutionary forces ousted four Arab presidents: the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Libyan President Mo’ammar Al-Qathafi and the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah As-Saleh. Tourism in Jordan in general and Jerash in particular are still suffering from the unstable political situation in Syria. The political instability discourages tourists and investors. So, in the future, the success of tourism in Jordan and Jerash requires more effort and carefulness to change the negative image highly influenced by Arab and Muslim extremists. This may be achieved by displaying the rich religious heritage, ethical standards and the generosity of the Jordanian society.
3.3
Urban and Tourism Development in Jordan and Jerash
After the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921, the newly established political situation was unstable. In general, tourism was limited to the travel of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. Infrastructure and superstructure were insufficient for developing Jordan tourism. The Turks implemented the first urban development project in 1903 when they built the Hejaz Railway to facilitate pilgrimage to Mecca (Daher, 2007). The Philadelphia Hotel is the first hotel 50
in Jordan. It was built in 1923 in downtown Amman, and Prince Abdullah took part of it as his office before the Royal Raghadan Palace was built (Harahsheh, 2009). During the period between the 1930s and 1970s, different urban and tourism development projects were launched to increase tourism receipts and total visitor arrivals. The government built main and minor streets, and the private sector established diverse hotel and lodging services. Since the 1980s, new projects appeared which have more comprehensive targets, with special attention paid to the historical cities and archaeological sites in Jordan. An urban and tourism development project engineered by the World Bank was implemented in Jordan—the Jordan Tourism and Historic Cities Development Project (1976–1981, $30 million) and the Second Tourism Project (1997–2005, $44 million) (Samuels, 2009). USAID, in partnership with the MoTA, launched the two most ambitious tourism development projects in Jordan between 2005 and 2012: (1) the First Jordan Tourism Development Project (2005-2008), which supported tourism development in Madaba, Wadi Rum and Amman, and (2) the Second Jordan Tourism Development Project (2008-2013), whose aim is to improve Jordan’s competitiveness as an international tourism destination and to develop tourist sites by upgrading archaeological site management and investment promotion at key sites, especially Petra and the Amman Citadel (USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project-Siyaha, 2011). The last two projects were accompanied by the Jordan Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Urban Development Project (CHTUD), also called the Third Tourism Project. It encompasses five Jordanian secondary cities: Jerash, Kerak, Ajloun, Madaba, and Salt. The project, launched in 2007, is financed through a loan agreement between the World Bank and the Jordanian Government, in addition to some minor financial and technical assistance by the involved municipalities and tourism entrepreneurs. The main goal of the project is to regenerate the historical centres of these cities, to improve urban management practices with a view to boosting the standard of living of the local communities in these five cities, and to establish collaboration and active participation of all stakeholders in urban and tourism development. King Abdullah II remarked in Dublin March 1, 2004: “I do not set the strategies. In Jordan, the economy is private sector led, so we challenge the private sector to propose the strategy for their sector, and we respond to and facilitate their requirements.” In light of this, the project worked to highlight 51
the economic underpinnings of tourism development (Samuels, 2009). The MoTA implemented this project in six years in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the concerned municipalities. Developing the infrastructure and superstructure in the historical centres of the old cities and around the cultural heritage sites is important for making them more accessible and comfortable for tourists and local residents. In the case of Jerash, as mentioned earlier, the modern city of Jerash has witnessed considerable urban development since the 1980s. Tourists and local residents benefit from the infrastructure that is available nearby the site, such as electricity, street, telecommunication and water networks. Wasfi At-Tal Street, also called Amman – Irbid Street, was constructed in the late 1960s to connect the city of Jerash with the neighbouring towns and cities like Irbid, Amman and Ajloun. In this context, several urban and tourism development projects were implemented in the city. Some of these projects were completed, while some of them are continuing. The most recent projects aimed to improve tourism in Jerash are the First, Second and Third Tourism Projects. Their general aim is to increase the contribution of the tourism sector to GDP, link urban cities with the archaeological sites, provide job opportunities to the local residents who live around the tourism sites, extend the tourists’ stay as long as possible, alleviate traffic congestion and protect the environment in the historical centres. The Third Tourism Project was complementary to what has been achieved in the First and Second Tourism Projects. The project focused on the modern city of Jerash. It analysed population growth, the provision of the services and facilities, traffic and transportation, land use, the environment and various social dimensions. Through this, the stakeholders of the project discussed many actions to develop tourism in Jerash: 1. Improving the infrastructure in the modern city of Jerash, including street, water, electricity, sewage and telecommunications networks. 2. Improving the main entrances of the city, as well as the Roman Bridge that links the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site in order to change the current site visit path. 3. Highlighting the aesthetic and historical value of the archaeological site by removing buildings that distort the integrity and authenticity of the site. 52
4. Building a multi-story parking complex to alleviate traffic congestion. 5. Decorating shop and restaurant fronts, especially those located along Wasfi At-Tal and King Abdullah Streets, so that they are compatible with the archaeological character of the city. These previous actions were supposed to link the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site to encourage tourists to stay as long as possible. However, as of the writing of this study, these objectives have not been achieved.
3.4
Case Study Overview
The case study focuses on the Jerash Archaeological Site and its urban setting. It is a complex system consisting of diverse archaeological, economic and socio-cultural interests. Therefore, to understand the complexity of the Jerash site and its urban setting and to place the site in context, this chapter describes the population of Jerash, the geographical features and the climate of Jerash, summarises the historical background of the case study area, and describes the main archaeological monuments and antiquities of the site, the natural landscape of the city and other tourist attractions linked to the city.
3.4.1
Population of Jerash
Presently, Jerash includes a combination of ethnically diverse groups with different cultures and lifestyles. Most of Jerash’s population traces its lineage back to the original tribes in Jordan. The Circassian and Syrian families that have inhabited the eastern part of the ancient Roman city during the last two centuries represent larger minorities when compared with other Jordanian cities. The Circassians migrated to Jordan in 1878 as refugees, and most of them (about 70 to 80 families) settled in Jerash, attracted by the natural advantages of the area—abundance of water, forest areas, and supplies of cut stone for building houses (MoTA, 2005b). Many of them built mud brick houses forming large Circassian neighbourhoods. They settled near the older parts of the city, rebuilt it after it was deserted, and inhabited it. Therefore, the Circassians in Jerash are the most centralized minority community in Jordan. During the same period, Jerash also received 53
Syrians immigrants called “Shwams”. Therefore and until 1968, the original social fabric of Jerash was composed of the Circassians and the Syrians (ibid.). The increase in the urban population in Jordan started as a result of the successive waves of refugees from neighbouring countries since 1948 until the present. Palestinian refugees fled to Jordan in 1948 and 1967. In addition, the wars from 1967 until 1990 in the whole area (from Lebanon to Iraq) added continuous floods of refugees to Jordan (El-ghul, 1999). Currently, the Arab Spring, too, increased the urban population in Jordanian cities, particularly in northern Jordanian cities including Jerash. Jordan received and is still receiving Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution in March 2011, when protesters and political activists first clashed with the military forces of President Bashar Al-Assad. During a meeting between King Abdullah II and the US Secretary of State John Kerry on 7 November 2013 in Amman, the king indicated that the number of the Syrian refugees in Jordan is about 600,000, as they represent seventh of the Jordan's population (Assawsana Daily Newspaper, 2013). Most of the refugees live in Mafraq city (Za’atri camp) because it is the closest city to the Syrian borders, and the rest live in other northern cities, such as Ramtha, Irbid and Jerash. According to the most recent Jordan national census of 2004 conducted by DoS, the population of the Jerash governorate is approximately 153,650, which represents 3.0% of Jordan's total population (DoS, 2009). 62.7% of the governorate is urban population (ibid.). According to the estimates of DoS, the estimated population of the Jerash governorate as of 2012 is around 191,700 (Table 3.1). Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Population 168000 171700 175500 179400 183400 187500 191700
Table 3.1: Estimated Population of Jerash Governorate (DoS, 2012a).
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Jerash governorate has the second highest population density in Jordan after the Irbid governorate. As illustrated in figure (3.3), the population density in the Jerash governorate is high, at around 457.5 persons per km². The population in Jerash is predominantly young, with around 41% below 15 years of age (DoS, 2009). The literacy rate in Jerash is around 91.0% as of 2009 (ibid.). 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
Population Density (P/km²)
Figure 3.3: Population Density by Governorate in 2011 (DoS, 2012b). As of 2009, the three largest localities of the Jerash governorate are Jerash city (36,963 inhabitants), Souf village (13,638 inhabitants) and Sakeb village (11,952 inhabitants) (DoS, 2009). The population of Jerash city increased noticeably in the 1950s and 1970s because of the successive waves of immigrants from neighbouring villages, especially Souf village, which is the main source of population influx for the modern city of Jerash.
3.4.2
Geographical Features
Jordan is a small country in the Levant region of the Middle East that currently encompasses Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Cyprus and some regions of Turkey and Iraq. Geographically, Jordan is located on the south-western side of Asia. The topography of Jordan consists generally of many plateaus with various heights, valleys, hills and mountains. Jordan can be divided into three main geographic areas: the Jordan Valley, the Mountain Heights Plateau, and the eastern desert, or Badia region, which comprises around 75% of Jordan (The
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Royal Hashemite Court, 2001). This large area of desert and desert steppe is part of what is known as the North Arab Desert (ibid.). This desert extends into Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The total area of Jordan is approximately 88,778 km². The Jerash governorate represents only 0.5% of the total area of the country, as it extends over an area of 410 km² (DoS, 2012c) at an elevation varying between 400 and 1,235 m above sea level, with Jerash itself being located at an elevation of about 550 m above sea level (MoTA, 2006). The climate of the Jerash governorate varies with its different geographical features, so the climate includes both cold climates around mountains like Al-Manarah Mountain and warmer climates around fertile plains suitable for growing a wide number of crops. Jerash is the largest city in the Jerash governorate since it has been recently expanded to include many of the neighbouring villages, such as Souf, Sakeb, Kufur Khal, Reemon, Asfoor, Al-Kitteh, Balila and Gafgafa. Jerash city is located about 45 km north of the capital Amman towards Syria.
3.4.3
Climate of Jerash
As mentioned in the previous section, Jordan can be divided into three main geographic areas with three different climates. The Mediterranean climate prevails in the northern and western highlands which host most of Jordan’s main population centres, including Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Kerak; a harsh desert climate prevails in the eastern desert, or Badia region, and a year-round agricultural climate exists in the Jordan Valley (The Royal Hashemite Court, 2001). The summer season (May to October) is warm and dry but hot in the south regions, reaching an average high of 33°C during the daytime, while the winter season (December to March) is moderately cold with temperatures dropping to an average between 10 to 12°C. Generally, it snows two or three times yearly at higher elevations (800 to 1500 m above sea level) of the north western highlands. January and February are usually the coldest months of the year. The average precipitation in these climates ranges from less than 70 mm in the eastern and southern desert areas arising, to 350 mm in the middle, and up to 600 mm per annum in the north-west part of the country (The Ministry of the Environment, 2009).
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The diversity of Jordan’s climate gives Jordan an extra tourism advantage when compared with other countries located in the Middle East. This distinguished climate represents a natural endowment of tourist attractions, such as the Aqaba Beach on the Red Sea, the Dead Sea shore, known as the lowest coast on earth, the hot springs in Ma’in and Hammah, Wadi Rum, Wadi Mujib, the Al-Azraq Oasis, the nature reserves in Dana, and evergreen forests in Jerash (Hejazeen, 2007). The Jerash governorate has a Mediterranean climate, which is cool to mild in winter and hot in summer, though its summer is milder than in other locales in Jordan. In Jerash and its surroundings, there are some of the highest areas in Jordan, such as the heights of Thaghret Asfoor, whose roads are closed in winter due to snow accumulation. The Jerash governorate is a major destination for domestic tourism during the summer because of its forests, lush vegetation and moderate weather compared with other areas of Jordan, since the annual average temperature ranges between 24 to 27°C. In Jerash, the coldest period of the year is between January and February, with a mean maximum temperature of about 14°C and a mean minimum of about 5°C (MoTA, 2005c). The hottest period of the year is between July and August with a mean maximum temperature of 34°C (ibid.). Jerash has various natural tourist attractions, such as valleys, like the Jerash Valley, and streams, like the Chrysorhoas River (Golden River), which passes through the mountains of Jerash and flows into the Jordan River or the Dead Sea. In addition, Jerash enjoys a pleasant natural environment with gentle winds, deer reserves, and the Dibeen Forest Reserve, which extends over 8.5 km² of mountainous terrain, covering an area of a pristine pine-oak habitat (The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, 2008). This picturesque environment attracts local visitors from different regions of Jordan, especially from Amman, as well as from other countries of the Gulf region, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This attractive green environment in the Jerash governorate is largely due to the relatively high amount of rainfall in the region. Most precipitation comes to Jerash in the winter period from December until March. The month of February usually has the most rain, with an average total amount of 113 mm (MoTA, 2005c). From time to time in winter snow falls at the higher elevations in Jerash.
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3.4.4
History of Jerash
The following table (3.2) summarises the main economic, political and cultural events that characterise the history of Jerash through the ages. Period Neolithic Period Pre-historic Period Greek Period Hellenistic Period Roman Period
Year 6 – 7th Century BC
Event or Occasion The town was settled.
2500-900 BC
Remains and artefacts from settlements and a small village referred to the Bronze and Early Iron Age. Alexander the Great conquered the region.
332 BC 2nd Century BC 64 BC 75- 76 AD 106 AD 112-114 AD 129 - 130 AD
Byzantine Period
150 AD 163 AD 191 AD 330 AD 464 - 611 AD
Islamic Period
614 - 630 AD 750 AD 8 – 9th Centuries AD 13th Century 14th Century 1806 AD 1878 AD 1931 AD
Hellenistic settlement certainly existed when the region was part of the Seleucid Empire. The legions of Rome conquered the area. During the Roman period, Jerash, then known as Gerasa, enjoyed its golden age. The city wall was completed. The Emperor Trajan annexed the wealthy Nabatean kingdom and formed the province of Arabia. Via Nova Triana (Trajan New Road) was built in the region for trade and communication. The Emperor Hadrian paid a personal visit to the city. To commemorate his visit, the citizens built a Triumphal Arch (Hadrian Gate). The Temple of Artemis was erected. The Temple of Zeus was erected. The Nymphaeum was erected. Jerash became part of the Byzantine Empire, adopting Christianity as its official religion. Christianity had become the major religion of the region and numerous churches were constructed in Jerash (including Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, St. Theodore's, Procopius, St. George, St. John the Baptist, SS. Synagogue, Mortuary, Propylaea, and Bishop Genesius). The Persians invaded the city. Jerash suddenly found itself well away from the region's political centres and main communication routes, and its economy quickly floundered. Due to a series of powerful earthquakes, Jerash reached the end of its long and proud history as an urban centre. Yaqut, an Arabic geographer, says that the place was described to him as a field of ruins, completely uninhabited. Few families made their homes in the Mamluke period. The German traveller Ulrich Jasper Seetzen was the first European to stumble upon Jerash. The Circassian colony was established. Circassians escaped from Russia and moved to Jerash. Under the supervision of Dr. Fisher, the University-American School sent an archaeological expedition to Jerash.
Table 3.2: Jerash throughout History (information drawn from Kraeling, 1938, Harding, 1973, Browning, 1982, Khouri, 1988 and Borgia, 2001). 58
3.4.5
Jerash Tourist Attractions
A tourist destination should offer tourists and visitors several types of attractions that enrich their tourist experiences. Jordan is a diversified destination consisting of various tourism venues, such as cultural heritage sites, natural heritage sites, religious sites, entertainment, leisure, adventure and business. Other distinguished activities include skydiving, desert skating, cruises, and social and cultural events. Indeed, Jordan is like an open-air museum: these diverse attractions, which beautify the image of Jordan, can be found in most of Jordan’s governorates. Generally, tourists are attracted to Jerash by the cultural attractions. However, the personal choices of tourists are varied. The majority of tourists, especially those who are European and American, come to Jerash to enjoy the archaeological sites, while the Arab tourists from the Gulf Region and local visitors come primarily to enjoy the events of the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. The archaeological monuments of Jerash include: Hadrian’s Arch, the North Gate, the Hippodrome, Zeus and Artemis temples, the Oval Plaza, the Colonnaded Street (Cardo), the South and North theatres, Nymphaeum, the ancient city wall, the Western Baths, the Eastern Baths, about thirteen churches and the Umayyad Mosque. Most of these monuments were built during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The idea of establishing the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts came after a meeting of Queen Noor Al-Hussein with a group of professors and doctors from Yarmouk University in 1980. The main objective is to work on the implementation of innovative activities to revitalise culture and arts in Jordan, taking into account the need for cooperation between the governmental institutions and local communities in Jordan to show the elements of local culture, especially to those interested in the field of heritage and culture. Another objective is to maintain and preserve what is a traditional and to develop the artistic and cultural creations of Jordanian citizens by giving them the opportunity to contact Arab and global culture (Khasawneh, 1998). For the festival, Jerash was chosen as one of the best-preserved Roman Decapolis cities. These cities were distinguished for hosting many festivals and celebrations, and Jerash’s Decapolis today provides an unforgettable backdrop to the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. The idea 59
that Jerash would host the festival emerged from the overall suitability of the site and the uses of the monuments from the past. The Oval Plaza is the centre for the festival audience, the Colonnaded Street is used as a handicrafts market, and the south theatre is used for the main activities. The first festival was held in 1981 with the participation of many specialized local bands and groups to present folkloric and cultural events. It has since provided an opportunity for the local community of Jerash to interact with and benefit financially from the festival by allowing them to sell souvenirs and handicrafts, as well as provide most of the services (especially food and drink) within the area of the festival. Most of these services are offered at restaurants next to the archaeological site. Thousands of visitors come to Jerash during end of July and beginning of August as the Jerash Festival converts the ancient archaeological site into one of the liveliest and most charming cultural events in the globe. The full grandeur and magnificence of its ancient archaeological legacy return to Jerash every summer in the form of the two-week Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, bringing with it a wide variety of singers, choral groups, folklore dancers, troupes, poetry readings, symphony orchestras, ballet companies, handicrafts, and art shows from all over the world (JTB, 2006). Visitors walk leisurely through the ancient Colonnaded Street and the monuments of the archaeological city, buying traditional handicrafts from skilled craftsmen who display Bedouin rugs, needlework, ornaments, jewellery, glass and glaze, and woodcarvings. The Jerash Festival has been able to refresh the tradition of cultural relations at the local, Arab and international levels. The global spread of the festival came in large part through its various relationships with many artistic bands and cultural institutions from different parts of the world. The festival has been affected by some political and external factors that have negatively impacted its activities, such as the Gulf War, the Iraq War and developments in the conflict between Palestine and Israel. All these factors have led to a decrease in the number of local and Arab audiences due to the continuation of these circumstances for more than ten years. Therefore, the festival during this period was not held every year, thereby causing a decrease in the economic benefits for the local community. Other negative circumstances made the Jerash Festival weaker when plays, concerts, and many poetry evenings of the Jerash Festival were transformed to Amman. After that, the festival began its downward trajectory and steadily lost the spotlight. 60
Due to successive financial losses and weaknesses of the festival in the recent years, the government decided in 2008 to cancel the 25-year-old Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts and to establish a new “Jordan Festival” instead of the Jerash Festival, which was to be held yearly in a number of the Jordanian archaeological heritage sites, including Jerash. But this new festival was boycotted by the Jordanian Artists Association and the Jordanian Writers Association, which subsequently caused the Jordan Festival to cancel the participation of Jordanian writers and artists in the festival. In 2011, Prime Minister Ma’rouf Al-Bakhit pledged to revitalize the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. This pledge appeared after the failure of the Jordan Festival and after the growing demand from the local community of Jerash to get back their festival in order to reverse the negative financial impacts of its absence. Therefore, the government convened with experts specialized in the administration of festivals, experts in cultural and artistic activities, the Jordanian Artists Association, and the Jordanian Writers Association. This meeting resulted in a national plan for the care of the Jerash Festival and its revitalization through the establishment of a separate committee coordinating with the Ministry of Culture and MoTA to overcome the previous setbacks of the festival. All the stakeholders mentioned previously have been described in detail in the following section.
3.5
Overview of Stakeholders
The success of sustainable tourism depends mainly on the extent to which stakeholders are involved and their interests are satisfied. Many different stakeholders have interests in the development of tourism (Ladkin and Bertramini, 2002). In light of the diversity of the stakeholders’ interests in cultural heritage sites, there is an international consensus for achieving sound socio-cultural, environmental and economic prosperity that fulfils needs of present and future generations. From this perspective, a stakeholder in the tourism industry is considered to be anyone who is affected or influenced by tourism development, either positively or negatively (Swarbrooke, 2002). Stakeholders may have a positive or negative influence on the sustainability in the cultural heritage sites. For example, property owners who economically benefit from tourism development may be negative stakeholders because their properties (modern buildings and houses) distort the cultural integrity of the sites and deform the visual appearance of the 61
archaeological monuments and traditional houses. On the contrary, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, which protect the environment and enhance the economic and socio-cultural benefits for the local community, may be taken as positive stakeholders. If the interests of the stakeholders are differing, it will lead to conflicts between the stakeholders as individuals or groups. Conflicts are based on different interests, needs and viewpoints on the expenses and benefits of development (Davis and Morais, 2004, Gursoy and Rutherford, 2004, Ioannides, 1995, Markwick, 2000, and Reid et al., 2004). Stakeholders of cultural heritage sites often have administrative difficulties and profit conflicts (Wen, 2007). Therefore, minimizing conflicts by means of fostering partnership and collaboration among these stakeholders is indispensable for the long-term sustainability of tourism. For planners it is vital to properly understand the different interests, needs, and viewpoints of conflicting stakeholders (Hajialikhani, 2008). The nature of the various stakeholder relationships is also critical for ensuring that the solutions to the conflicts are up to date (Lee et al., 2009). To analyse stakeholder relationships, it is useful to list all stakeholders and to categorize them using international sources. According to UNWTO (1993), such a list could be categorized into three major groups: government, tourism industry and community individuals and associations. The main stakeholders in regard to sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash include the government, the tourism industry, nongovernmental organizations and the local community. The government consists of bodies, such as the MoTA, DoA, Jerash Tourism Directorate, Jerash Antiquities Office, Jerash Municipality and Jerash Governorate. The tourism industry consists of several accommodation establishments and shops around the archaeological site and in the modern city of Jerash, as well as tour operators in other Jordanian cities. The nongovernmental organisations include the Jordan Investment Board, the UNESCO Office in Amman, the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association, the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage and tourism departments in some Jordanian universities. Finally, the local community sector includes community individuals and representatives of some civil society organizations as well as property owners. Categorization and identification of these stakeholders helps to avoid overlaps in their authority and to determine who should be involved in the management and planning
62
processes. All the stakeholders are important for sustainable tourism, but the ones most affected and influenced by urban and tourism development in Jerash are reviewed below.
3.5.1
Governmental Bodies
Governments are the common decision makers in most of the matters relating to sustainable tourism development. They play an important role in strategic planning, spatial planning (land use), infrastructure development (transportation services and facilities), marketing, funding and management. Governments establish legal frameworks that can provide tools for implementing sustainable tourism activities, especially those related to cultural heritage protection. There is a number of possible legislative actions that could support tourism sustainability: (1) Revising existing legislation in order to ensure that it promotes and supports sustainable tourism, (2) Enacting a national tourism law that provides a constitutional basis for tourism policy in the long term, and (3) Identifying links between tourism law and other relevant laws (such as those pertaining to heritage management) (UNEP and UNWTO, 2005). In order to protect cultural heritage resources from the invasive activities of urban and tourism development, governmental bodies must both enact and enforce all relevant laws and regulations. One of the main missions of these bodies is to develop implementation tools such that resources are managed in ways conducive to sustainable tourism, thereby protecting the integrity of the cultural heritage sites. Consequently, it is necessary that urban planning on a national and regional level equally considers the interests of sustainable tourism and the issues of the urban development, such as traffic congestion, pollution and water-saving. The urban and tourism development projects in Jerash are multi-sectoral in nature, involving central and local governmental bodies at various levels. The central and local governments have jurisdiction regarding urban and tourism development in the cultural heritage sites, but the local governments are, in a sense, “closer” to the current situation than the central governments due to their proximity to local planning, urban management and project implementation. Therefore, the local governments, such as the Jerash Tourism Directorate and Jerash Antiquities Office, are often aware of the urban impacts on the archaeological site and the interests of the local community. 63
Therefore, it is important that urban management of the local governments maintains a “living strategy” that is capable of adapting to changing conditions, local needs and events (Dredge et al., 2006, p. 3). The ones most influential in planning and implementation are presented.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is the central governmental body responsible for tourism in Jordan. It was founded as a bureau in 1953 in Jerusalem. In September 1953, as a consequence of the rapidly increasing number of tourists, the Bureau was upgraded to an independent department and was moved to Amman to report directly to the Prime Minister (MoTA, 2010b). In 1960, the first law for tourism was issued and then amended in 1965, when 20% of tourism revenues went to the Department of Tourism to help organise and manage the sector (Harahsheh, 2009). Between 1982 and 1988, tourism was attached to other ministries, but in 1988 the government instituted the separate Ministry of Tourism with the ratification of the new Tourism Law No. 20 of 1988. Since that time, the ministry was entrusted with the responsibility of developing important tourism sites in Jordan and regenerating their settings to attract more tourists, who in turn increase the annual gross domestic product (GDP). The MoTA recently articulated the ministry’s vision: “Sustainable Tourism Development towards Economic Prosperity”. According to the website of the ministry, the mission includes: “Activating the role of the tourism industry to highlight Jordan's attractions and to distinguish Jordan as a unique tourism destination, and in appreciation of the role of tourism to national income by generating foreign exchange earnings, and, in recognition of the important role of the private sector in investment and development, this Ministry will work towards developing tourism in a comprehensive and integrated approach to express the nation's legacy, culture, history, heritage, inheritance, successive civilizations and economic prosperity, as well as enhancing the noble human values based on peace and mutual respect among nations”. (MoTA, 2011a) The ministry has many different directorates and units to accomplish the vision and goals of the ministry. The following figure (3.4) illustrates the organizational structure of the ministry. 64
Domestic Tourism Directorate Researches & Statistics Directorate
Assistant of the General Secretary for Technical Affairs
The Unit of Media, Communication and International Cooperation
The Directorate of Projects and Technical Development The Directorate of Labor Market Development and Touristic Awareness
Strategic Planning Directorate
Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
The Directorate of Financial and Administrative Affairs Legislative Affairs Unit
Jordan Tourism Board
Inofrmation Technology Directorate
Assistant of the General Secretary for Financial and Administrative Affairs and Governorates The Minister's Office
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities
Human Resources Directorate
Tourism Directorates in Governorates
General Secretary of the Ministry
General Secretary Office
Consultants Consultants Internal Monitoring Directorate
The Department of Licensing the Lodging Establishments and Tourist Restaurants
The Department of Licensing the Tourism and Travel Agencies, Tour Guides and Eastern Antiques The Department of the Classification of Lodging Establishments and Tourist Restaurants
The Directorate of Tourist Professions and Quality Control The Department of Antiquities
The Department of Monitoring and Quality Control The Department of Following-up the Works of Tourism Committee The Department of Visitor Centres of the Desert Castles, Umm Al-Jimal and Amman Centre
The Directorate of Tourism Sites Management
The Department of the Tourism Product Development The Department of the Tourism Investments and Contracts
Figure 3.4: The Organizational Structure of MoTA (MoTA, 2011b). The Directorates of the Technical Affairs and Tourism Sites Management are the most connected to the stakeholders of the natural and cultural heritage sites. The Assistant of the General Secretary for Technical Affairs is responsible for five directorates that prepare plans and strategies to develop the tourism industry in Jordan. The Research and Statistics Directorate provides information and statistics on various items, such as tourism receipts and the nationality 65
and destination of tourists. In addition, this directorate publishes studies regarding investments. The Directorate of Tourism Sites Management supports investors and tourists with guiding information. For example, the Department of Tourism Investments and Contracts is designing a tourism investment map that provides economic and investment advice to investors through the website of the ministry. This map includes information about the projects that can be implemented around the Jordanian tourism sites in the future. This map also provides information about the nature of the investments around these sites, noting various opportunities, hazards, and feasibility studies for future projects. The information provided by the directorates and departments of the ministry helps tourists and tour guides, facilitates the work of researchers and decision makers and provides both local and international investors a clear image about tourism investment opportunities in Jordan.
The Department of Antiquities Established in 1928, the Department of Antiquities is one of the oldest departments in Jordan. At that time, the main job of the DoA was to supervise fieldwork in cooperation with foreign expeditions and archaeological missions, as well as to implement salvage excavations and limited consolidation and preservation works (DoA, n.d.). In 1936, the British archaeologist Lancaster Harding was appointed as the first Director-General of Antiquities of Jordan (ibid.). In 1956, Abdel Kareem Al-Gharaybeh was the first Jordanian to be appointed Director-General. The first Jordanian Antiquities Law was enacted in 1929, renewed in 1947, and updated several times in 1953, 1968, 1976 and 1988, with some further amendments in 2003 and 2005 (ibid.). The DoA is responsible for excavation projects, preventive and curative conservation projects, interpretation, management and presentation of movable and immovable antiquities and oversight of the cultural heritage sites in Jordan. The DoA performs its duties in the country through its central office in Amman and 11 antiquities offices in the rest of the kingdom’s governorates. As illustrated in figure (3.4), the DoA is currently part of the MoTA. This subordination caused a lack of clarity as they do not know sometimes their exact responsibilities regarding the site. As a result, there tends to be overlapping in their authorities, which occasionally turns into a complex 66
power conflict. However, this is limited to the higher administrative relationship between the director general of the DoA and the minister, since the DoA has its own buildings, budget, organizational structure, laws and instructions.
The Jerash Municipality The Jerash Municipality was established in 1910 and Shawkat Hameed was appointed at that time as the first mayor of the Municipality (Municipality of Greater Jerash, 2010). It is considered one of the oldest municipalities that were established before the creation of the Emirate of Transjordan (ibid.). Around 23 mayors, who represent different Jerashian clans (e.g., Al-Hawamdeh, Gawagzeh, Al-Kayed and Al-‘Otoom), were appointed or elected. The various mayors who administered the Jerash Municipality for more than 100 years represent the development of the urban, demographic and social composition of Jerash. The Municipality provides different urban services to the city of Jerash, such as: (1) provision of infrastructure, (2) land use planning and urban organization, (3) licensing houses, shops and industries, (4) supervising the implementation of urban development projects funded by donors, (5) collecting rubbish, and (6) encouraging investments and initiatives (Municipality of Greater Jerash, 2010). The Municipality generates its own income from licensing fees, building permits, construction licenses, solid waste collection and rent from municipally owned properties (MoTA, 2005b). The budget of the Jerash Municipality is, however, not enough to cover all its required expenditures to provide high quality services.
3.5.2
Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)
Shanks, Jacobson, & Kaplan (1996) defined intergovernmental organizations as “associations established by governments or their representatives that are sufficiently institutionalized to require regular meetings, rules governing decision making, a permanent staff, and headquarters”. They may be established on a global, regional, or functional basis for wide-ranging or narrowly defined purposes. Formed to protect and promote national interests shared by member states, 67
intergovernmental organizations are established by treaties that act as charters forming and legally supporting these organizations. Intergovernmental organizations have been founded to assist governments in various sectors, such as tourism, health, and education. Intergovernmental organizations relating to tourism are created to assist governments in encouraging all the stakeholders to be involved in the whole planning process and to develop applicable tourism strategies, policies and master plans. In addition they play a major role in enacting and enforcing the existing laws and regulations of sustainable tourism to avoid the encroachment of tourism development, as well as conducting carrying capacity studies and establishing buffer zones in the sensitive heritage areas to manage visitor circulation (CI, 2003). The most important intergovernmental organizations that promote sustainable tourism practice are the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). Based in Madrid, UNWTO is the most important intergovernmental organization in tourism. In 2011, the UNWTO’s membership constituted 154 countries, 7 territories and more than 400 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities (UNWTO, 2011). UNWTO plays a central and decisive role in promoting the development of sustainable tourism, with the primary objective of achieving prosperity, progress and economic welfare in a number of tourist destinations around the world, particularly in developing countries. ICCROM is a leading intergovernmental organization in the field of cultural heritage preservation as it plays a vital role in the protection of cultural heritage and fosters local community awareness about the importance of preserving both movable and immovable cultural heritage. ICCROM was established in Rome in 1965 based on the 9th UNESCO General Conference in New Delhi (ICCROM, 2010). Another organization that has established pioneering institutions and policies to help Jordan develop economy, infrastructure, water, health, education and tourism is USAID. USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State to support longterm and equitable economic growth while advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives (USAID/Kenya, 2012). 68
3.5.3
Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
Nongovernmental organizations are mainly concerned with international development and financial aid. They also assist governments in the formulation of strategies and policies. NGOs are largely staffed by altruistic employees and volunteers working towards ideological, rather than financial, ends (Werker and Ahmed, 2007). Many nongovernmental organizations have been established for sustainability issues, organizations that include the International Centre for Sustainable Cities (ICSC), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Sustainable Development Network, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). These organizations are considered the main stakeholders recently advocating sustainable tourism. Their main role is to translate the theory of sustainable tourism into workable practices at tourism sites. They provide strategies and diverse promotional materials pertaining to sustainable tourism and develop different pilot projects that demonstrate good practices in sustainable tourism (WWF, 2000). NGOs can move sustainable tourism into practice through the following: (1) encouraging the local community to participate in decision-making and consulting them when any conflict situations appear, (2) facilitating the goals of other stakeholders to guide processes, (3) encouraging all stakeholders to collaborate, (4) facilitating careful dialogue around controversial issues, (5) ensuring adequate training and education to committees and staff of the sites, and (6) promoting trust, transparency, honesty and compassion (Ndelu, 1998). The Jordanian nongovernmental organizations, which have specialists in the fields of cultural and natural heritage, archaeology and tourism management, include the tourism management departments in some Jordanian universities, the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association, the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage, the Jordanian Association for the Development of Cultural Heritage, the Centre for the Study of Natural and Cultural Heritage at the German Jordanian University, and the Tourist’s Friends Club in Aqaba. Some of these organisations are local charities while others are national NGOs. Such organizations play an important role in 69
developing local communities, increasing awareness, educating students and training the personnel of the governmental bodies.
3.5.4
Tourism Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners
The tourism industry depends on tourism investments and the businesses of tourism entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are considered one of the most significant elements in reflecting a positive image for tourists. Tourists travel to destinations for various purposes, but all of them need lodging services. Entrepreneurs lead the market and provide tourism superstructures and lodging services including hotels, tourist restaurants, cafes, tourist transportation companies, travel agencies and handicrafts associations (Harahsheh, 2009) for tourists to keep them satisfied and comfortable. Tourism entrepreneurs established accommodation venues and tour agencies/travel agencies based around the Jerash Archaeological Site. Accommodation establishments include eighteen tourist restaurants, one classified and one unclassified hotel. In addition, there are three travel and tourism agents, 27 tour guides, several small business owners and many handicraft booths that produce various traditional products like glass, wood and stone carvings and weaving looms. The small business owners sell various products, such as fruits and vegetables, groceries, and accessories. In Jerash, there are classified and unclassified tourist restaurants, but the classified ones benefit most from tourism illustrated in table (3.3). Their classification ranges between one and four stars.
70
No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Restaurant Al-Birkatain Al-Bait Al-Lebnany Qasr Lebnan Bawwabet Jerash Esterahet Jerash Tal Ar-Rumman Al-Karmah Yahala Gerasa Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar Zay Mohammed Al-Kurdi Al-Esra’ Lo’lo’at Ar-Rwada Al-Khayyam Al-Arabi Jannat Jerash Jerash Zaman Magharat Turath Al-alam Al-Arabi
Category / Stars 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Table 3.3: Classified Restaurants in Jerash (Jordan Restaurant Association, Personal communication, July 10, 2011). Most of these restaurants are located along Wasfi At-Tal Street. Their location near the archaeological site gives tourists sufficient time to explore the adjoining antiquities. For dining services, they are specialized in charcoal-roasted chicken and lamb with a wide variety of mezzes. Although there are 661 tourism and travel agencies in Jordan, there are only three licensed agencies in Jerash, which were established between 2007 and 2009 (Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents, 2012). These Category B agencies are (1) Rida Al-zaher Travel, Tourism, Haj and Umra, (2) Al-tawasol Haj, Umra, Travel and Tourism, and (3) Spot Light Travel and Tourism (ibid.). Hotels are considered one of the most essential elements of the Jordanian tourism industry because of their importance in accommodating tourists and providing various entertainment and leisure services. The tourist routes in Jordan are usually determined by the availability of tourism facilities like hotels and restaurants. Though Jerash offers a diverse tourism experience, it still possesses few hotels. As illustrated in a copy of the tour itinerary (Appendix 2), tourists can book an extended stay in only four Jordanian destinations—Petra, Amman, the Dead Sea and Aqaba. It should be noted that the two cities benefiting the most economically from tourism are Amman 71
and Petra. Although Amman has few cultural heritage sites in comparison to other tourism cities like Jerash, Kerak and Umm Qais, Amman has two thirds of the total number of the hotels in Jordan (Table 3.4). Jerash has only two hotels despite its many antiquities; therefore, most of the tourists that visit Jerash stay in Amman hotels.
Hotel Classification Classified Hotels Unclassified Hotels Apartments and Suites Total
Amman
Aqaba
Petra
Ajloun
Irbid
Kerak
Jerash
Madaba
26
Dead Sea 5
122
37
2
5
3
1
6
72
14
12
-
-
6
3
1
3
135
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
329
55
38
5
2
11
6
2
10
Table 3.4: Distribution and Number of Classified and Unclassified Hotels and Apartments According to Major Tourism Sites (2012) (MoTA, 2013). The first hotel in Jerash was the Olive Branch Hotel (two stars), which has about 35 rooms. The other hotel, Hadrian Hotel, is unclassified with only five rooms. The role of a tour guide has often been conceptualized as “The Uncrowned Ambassador”, since he or she is the only one who interacts directly with international tourists during their stay in most countries and directly reflects its culture, heritage and traditions. Therefore, the mission of tour guides is not simple because they should satisfy the needs and desires of the tourists and minimize their negative attitudes as much as they can. A field study conducted by Bazazo (2010) revealed that 52% of the international tour groups that come to Jordan are not satisfied with the services of the tour guides. Because most of the visitors of Jerash are international, the role of tour guides in Jerash requires more attention. They should adhere to the principles of tolerance and religious coexistence while applying advanced technological methods that are used in the tour-guiding profession.
3.5.5
Local Community
A community can be succinctly defined as “a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in geographical 72
locations or settings” (MacQueen et al., 2001). The links between those people vary economically, socially and culturally, so planning or management processes should be directed to strengthen these links. The most important benefits for communities are economic in nature, such as a higher employment and income rate. In addition to economic benefits, sustainable tourism can also help change the behaviours and attitudes of local communities to be more sustainable and positive by increasing their participation in decision making and taking into account all their roles, needs and interests. Every stakeholder has its own power in Jerash. For example, the MoTA and Jerash Municipality have the power to implement urban and tourism development plans and enforce laws and regulations. Intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations have financial powers, as well as strong international relationships. Both the local community and tourism entrepreneurs can communicate with tourists. The local community sector includes individuals and organizations. There are nine civil society organizations in the city of Jerash. The most active are the Circassian Society and the Ladies of Jerash Welfare Society (MoTA, 2005b). The main objectives of these societies are to support informal businesses, provide training, foster awareness among the local residents, enhance the participation of women in more central activities and increase the economic benefits of the local community members from tourism in Jerash (ibid.).
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Chapter 4: Methodology
4.1
Introduction
Conducting research about conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development means confronting difficulties in selecting appropriate research methods. In the present study, this difficulty is partially addressed by mixing quantitative and qualitative research methods, though the latter has been used more extensively for reasons discussed below. The aim of the present study is to examine the sustainability of cultural heritage tourism in Jerash against the background of the current encroachments of urban development into the archaeological site. To that end, qualitative methods were employed to interpret, discover, understand and explore the research phenomenon and the meanings and implications related to that phenomenon (see Ryan, 2000). Such methods preserve the complexity that exists among the diverse opinions and perspectives of the stakeholders. Noting the variety of behaviours governing human interaction with their environment, Hall (2000) recommends using interdisciplinary approaches in tourism studies to ensure a satisfactory understanding of the stakeholders’ behaviours. As a result of the multidimensional nature of the sustainable tourism concept, the stakeholders’ responses to sustainable tourism practices obtained in interviews can be analysed from different perspectives. Therefore, it is important to use methods that can cope with this complexity. The present study thus used a quadrilateral method combining the perspectives
of
the
governmental
stakeholders,
intergovernmental
stakeholders,
nongovernmental stakeholders, tourism entrepreneurs, as well as small business owners.
4.2
Methodological Triangulation
The amalgamation of research methods called triangulation started to appear in tourism research recently as a new method (Opperman, 2000). Triangulation means looking at the same phenomenon, or research question, from more than one source of data (Decrop, 1999). The triangulation method makes use of quantitative and qualitative methods in combination since 74
they are both necessary for obtaining comprehensive data and information about the research problem. The critical aspect in justifying a mixed methodology research design is that both qualitative and quantitative methods have strengths and weaknesses (Nau, 1995). Researchers should thus concentrate on benefitting from their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. Likewise, Rossman and Wilson (1994) stated that the reasons for integrating qualitative and quantitative data are:
To corroborate and support each other via triangulation.
To give explanation or develop analysis with details.
To open new lines of thinking through attention to fresh insights.
Employing multiple data collection techniques to investigate and examine the same phenomenon is called methodological triangulation, which is a method of corroboration of collected information and validation of results (Berg, 2001 Decrop, 1999). Rossman & Wilson (1994) find that triangulation also helps to simplify research since data can be used to confirm, explain or illuminate the research in question. Flick (2002, 265) affirmed that the triangulation method can overcome the limitations of using one single method and attain an inclusive understanding of the research issue. Denzin (1978) confirmed that the logic of the triangulation method is based on the basis that no single method can sufficiently elucidate the problem of rival causal factors. The advantage of the triangulation method is its capability to decrease methodological and systematic bias; this method can increase flexibility, data validation, theoretical relevance and confidence in the findings and results of research (Denzin, 1989). According to Duc (2009), the complex nature of sustainable tourism development means that diverse research methods necessitate a combined methodology, as opposed to a single research method. Particularly, a combined methodology enhances the quality of sustainable tourism research when supplemented by other methods or tools, such as the Geographic Information System. The use of one research method often harmfully restricts the scope of research, causing difficulties in publishing the results (Jones, 1997). Together, quantitative and qualitative methods play a significant role in understanding the phenomena of sustainable tourism because each dimension (economic, socio-cultural and environmental) of sustainable tourism corresponds to a different type of information. On the other hand, these researches may require one or more than 75
one method (quantitative and qualitative) to get the required information and data. For example, to understand economic factors like job opportunities, supply and demand, tourism income, tourist arrivals and hotels occupancy rate, one must combine quantitative and qualitative methods. Concerning socio-cultural sustainability, in-depth information about sustainable tourism is required (habits, attitudes, social perspectives, and cultural authenticity and integrity). Sustainable tourism is also concerned with environmental and heritage protection goals intended to preserve the natural integrity of ecosystems and the cultural integrity of antiquities in order to guarantee sustainable usage of cultural and natural resources. Some of these dimensions can be studied by quantitative methods while others require qualitative methods, but if the researcher wants to study and analyse a complex phenomenon related to all the stakeholders of the sustainable tourism dimensions, he would need to employ both qualitative and quantitative methods, especially if it is to be studied in a way that weighs the multidimensional interests of stakeholders in sustainable tourism. In this case it is necessary to identify the relationships between them and the conflict between their interests. To study such issues, researchers require in-depth information from interviews and/or group discussions with the stakeholders. Consequently, researchers now tend to use a mix of research methods to cope with the complex issues of sustainable tourism development and the multi-dimensional conflicts among various parties (urban development conflict, land use conflict and land expropriation conflict).
4.3
Differentiating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
In general, quantitative methods govern the structure and analysis of quantifiable information obtained in statistical and empirical studies (Holliday, 2002). On the other hand, qualitative methods govern the analysis of holistic phenomena and are more appropriate, for contextdependent data (Raffay, 2007). Qualitative methods situate a particular research problem or issue based on information about people’s habits, behaviours, attitudes and experiences. Marshall and Rossman (1999) state that as qualitative research methods became more widespread, they were steadily incorporated into the social sciences and applied fields, including education, regional planning, nursing, social work, community development and management. Qualitative methods are also useful in those research areas where quantitative methods fail, such as in detailed 76
interviews and discussions. According to Ospina (2004), there are additional reasons to use qualitative methods:
To add rich detail and nuance to existing knowledge of a phenomenon generated quantitatively.
To employ it in a triangulation methodology in which quantitative and qualitative methods are interchanged synergistically.
To advance a novel perspective of a phenomenon well studied quantitatively but not well understood because of the narrow perspectives used before.
To understand the first-person perspectives of the individuals surveyed.
To understand any phenomenon that has been dismissed by mainstream research because of its complexity or perceived irrelevance.
To study a phenomenon that has previously been researched biased from a single point of view.
Most of these reasons focus on two words: phenomenon and complex. Since qualitative research can obtain in-depth information about a particular issue from different viewpoints, it can cope with complex and sometimes conflicting human behaviours. There are other notable differences between these methods. Quantitative methods are used to test cause and effect relationships predicted by a given hypothesis (Silverman, 2006), whereas the importance of qualitative methods lies in describing contexts, meanings and processes rather than measurement, frequency and casual relationships between variables (Denzin & Lincolin, 2000). Qualitative methods make use of field notes, audio and video recordings, and transcripts and aim to achieve depth rather than breadth (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 1996). They are commonly used in the social and political sciences for elucidating the meaning of social and cultural interactions and situations (McLeod, 2003; Woodhouse, 2007). This involves understanding how context influences the way people act, identifying unanticipated phenomena and influences, and understanding the processes by which events and actions take place (Maxwell, 1996).
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Maykut and Morehouse (1994, in Hobson, 2003, p. 77) identify some characteristics of qualitative research design necessary to understand complex social interactions: 1. An exploratory and descriptive focus. 2. Emphasis on the ‘human-as-instrument’: the researcher not only collects data but also describes its meaning. 3. Using techniques such as participant observation, in-depth interviews, group interviews and collection of relevant documents. 4. Early and ongoing inductive analysis that begins when one has accumulated a subset of data from which salient aspects begin to emerge. One then follows up on the initial leads. 5. A case study approach for reporting research outcomes. Chan (2009) notes that various methods of qualitative research also assist in obtaining a holistic view of the issue being studied by enabling the researcher to gather respondent insights. Additionally, since such methods explore phenomena in their natural settings the researcher can simultaneously categorise his data according to dynamic, evolving concepts (Anderson, 1998, p. 119). Mack et al. (2005) itemise the strengths of qualitative research: 1. It is capable of providing descriptions of complex behaviours and standpoints. 2. It is effective in identifying social norms, socioeconomic status, gender roles, ethnicity and religious factors. 3. It can identify the implications of quantitative data.
4.4
Research Design
This study tries to analyse the conflict aspects between sustainable tourism and urban development from stakeholders’ perspectives and to investigate how these aspects guided or hindered the implementation of sustainable tourism in the Jerash Archaeological Site. This study attempts to discern the essential causes of the conflicts and the main hindrances facing collaboration and full involvement of all stakeholders in the decision making process. It places a 78
special focus on the local community of Jerash. The study identifies five groups of stakeholders as described in chapter 3: governmental bodies, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, tourism entrepreneurs, the local community of Jerash and the small business owners. The researcher thought carefully about the sources of information and research methods required to achieve the research objectives. The study applied triangulation of both qualitative and quantitative methods through analyses of transcripts, documents, maps and statistics. The quantitative methods used in this study are limited simply to descriptive statistics for evaluating the sustainability of tourism in Jerash. The research methods include diverse stages of fieldwork and analysis. Consequently, numerous techniques were employed to address the research questions and to describe and identify the basic conceptual framework of the present work illustrated in figure (4.1). This includes:
Document analysis (historical information, planning documents, reports, topographical charts, newspapers articles, statistics, magazines, electronic media and previous literature works).
Fieldwork (simple questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, group discussions, participant observation and GIS mapping which was conducted in two phases).
Analysis and discussion (qualitative and quantitative analysis and discussion of the results).
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Stage 1:
Investigation of research issue and objectives
Document Analysis
Literature review
Planning and implementation of urban and tourism development projects Content analysis of urban and tourism development documents
Stage 2:
General information about stakeholders Simple questionnaire
Fieldwork Stakeholders’ perspectives about the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development Semi-structured Interviews Group Discussions Participant Observation GIS Mapping
Data Analysis
Stage 3: Analysis and Discussion
The development of a framework for conflict management
Interpretation, conclusions, and recommendations
Figure 4.1: Stages of the Research Design. Based on an analysis of the previous literature on urban development projects and tourism in Jerash, a two-stage research process was implemented to achieve the given objectives (Figure 4.1). The first stage included a content analysis of urban and tourism development documents to determine the extent to which sustainability principles are applied in the local tourism and urban planning process. The plans and documents of the urban and tourism development projects (The First, Second and Third Tourism Projects) were assessed. On the other hand, issues regarding land use conflicts, managerial conflicts, overlap of authorities and ignorance of local communities were identified in articles of different local newspapers, such as Al-Sawsaneh 80
Newspaper, Al-Arab Alyoum Newspaper, Al-Rai Newspaper, Al-Ghad Newspaper and Ammon Newspaper. These articles, which cover the years between 2007 and 2012, were then subjected to content analysis. For the second stage of the study, the primary sources of data for this case study were group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the tourism development process of the Jerash Archaeological Site, who were identified through a snowball sampling method. The interviews and group discussions were conducted in Arabic, except the interviews with representatives of the UNESCO Office in Amman and some foreign experts. The interviews were conducted with the stakeholders in order (1) to determine their attitudes towards the principles of sustainable tourism development and the urban tourism planning process and (2) to determine the extent to which stakeholder participation, collaboration work, and the involvement of local community are integrated into the urban and tourism planning process in Jerash. The interviews and group discussions were used to identify the conflicts between the stakeholders’ interests in sustainable tourism and urban development on the one hand and the overlap between their respective authorities on the other. In addition, the researcher used Geographic Information System (GIS) to produce maps that illustrate the central problem of this study. The third stage primarily included analyses of the interview data. Firstly, all of the interviews and group discussions were audio recorded and then transcribed and translated from Arabic to English by the researcher in order to prepare them for further qualitative analysis. This type of analysis mainly involved content analysis using text coding, as explained by Crabtree and Miller (1992), with the purpose of arranging large amounts of text from the group discussions and interviews into meaningful categories. The analysis was based on categories developed from the conceptual framework of the research topic. Initially these included (1) conflict aspects between sustainable tourism dimensions and urban development and (2) the level of coordination, participation and collaboration work among the governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations. The study focused on how the opinions of the subjects revealed the structural reality behind the problems discussed. The results of the first two stages showed that there is a need for a framework to assist the stakeholders of the Jerash site in mitigating the 81
conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development, as well as in balancing the dimensions of sustainable tourism development during the implementation of the projects. Stakeholders’ perspectives about the conflict were analysed in order to identify and understand types of the conflict, characteristics of the conflict and relationships between the stakeholders involved in the conflict. For that reason, the research process included development and discussion of the practical framework for managing the conflict, the dispute, and the overlap between the interests of the different stakeholders. In addition to that, the implementation of sustainable tourism principles into urban and tourism planning in Jerash city had to be attempted (Chapter 6).
4.5
Data Collection: Sources and Methods
As noted above, triangulation involves a diverse combination of methods employed to overcome limitations in quantitative and qualitative methods. Todhunter (2009) pointed out that the collected data from multiple sources can increase the validity of the analytical conclusions. With this in mind, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, group discussions, participant observation, GIS mapping and simple questionnaires were used in a triangulated manner for data collection and analysis. The following details the use of these instruments.
4.5.1
Primary Data and Fieldwork
This section describes the qualitative methods that were employed to launch interactive conversations with stakeholders. Observation, semi-structured interviews and group discussions provided detailed information about the stakeholders’ personal experience and general understanding of the urban issues affecting the implementation of sustainable tourism in and around the Jerash Archaeological Site. The majority of the fieldwork was conducted using qualitative research methods that, as explained below, were the most efficient ways of procuring information about the issues related to sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash. According to Mack et al. (2005), the 82
three most common qualitative methods are particularly suited for obtaining a specific type of data. 1. Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on human behaviours occurring in their environments. 2. In-depth interviews are most favourable for collecting data on individuals’ personal feelings, perspectives and experiences, especially when sensitive topics are being discussed. 3. Focus groups (or Group Discussions) are effective for obtaining data on the cultural issues of concern to the groups or subgroups. While this study employed each of these methods, semi-structured interviews and group discussions were the most often used, and participant observation served largely to supplement field notes. 64 stakeholders were interviewed. Participant observation was added as a supplementary tool to record field notes, methodological notes, theoretical notes and personal notes related to the study. This included new conflict implications, indications of sustainable tourism, urban issues and tours for tourists. Five tours of Jerash designed for tourists were also observed. The data and information for this study were collected through two field trips to Jordan. The first one was conducted from 01/05/2011 to 01/08/2011 to analyse the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development from the stakeholders’ perspectives. The researcher paid special interest to the question of how these aspects guided or hampered the implementation of sustainable tourism in the Jerash Archaeological Site. Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were conducted with the target stakeholders. So as not to distract the interviewees, simple questionnaires were distributed after the interview. Each interview and group discussion was audio recorded (with permission from the participants) to facilitate transcription and analysis. The final data included typed transcripts and the researcher's field notes. The second field trip was conducted from 15/08/2012 to 15/09/2012 to analyse the conflict management. Special attention was paid to how the interviewed local and international experts 83
envisioned the ideal conflict resolution and how such a resolution could impact both themselves and the local stakeholders.
4.5.1.1 Techniques for Conducting Fieldwork Conducting fieldwork using qualitative research methods requires employing some techniques in order to understand the issues and problems of the research comprehensively. Choosing these techniques depends mainly on the nature of the stakeholders and the study area. Therefore, the researcher employed some particular techniques that suit the Jerash stakeholders, especially the local community of Jerash and the local governmental stakeholders. The following three subsections detail particular methodological considerations affecting the qualitative methodology outlined above.
Recruitment of Local Research Assistants Recruiting local research assistants is very helpful in conducting qualitative research because they understand the local culture and geography of the study area and can most effectively communicate with the local residents. Local assistants should be both interested in the research issues and deferential to the guidance and counselling of local experts and community leaders. Mack et al. (2005) indicated that the interaction of such assistants with residents, local personnel and leadership helps to avoid misunderstandings resulting from the behaviour of the researcher. They offer the researcher ideas about how to access the population and how best to deal with communication hurdles. Therefore, the researcher recruited two people from the local community of Jerash to assist him. The first one was a colleague and booth owner at the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, and the second one was a tourism expert. The latter served as a note-taker during group discussions.
Protection of Confidentiality Convincing the participants that their information will be kept confidential is based to a large extent on the style of conversation and not on the formal consent form. Essential to fostering the 84
proper style of conversation is the formation of relationships between the researcher and participants from the outset of the conversation. This establishes a positive, relaxed and mutually respectful interaction. All of the qualitative information obtained in this study was procured in conversations with participants, so the researcher prepared comfortable conversation atmospheres before and during the conversation to facilitate pleasant and frank discussion. Because conversation is a “give and take” relationship between participants and the researcher, the latter should not only take in information but also provide information in return (Mack et al., 2005). This technique stimulates participants to share more detailed information because they perceive that their information will be confidential. Accompanied by an attention to body language, an emphasis was placed on simplicity of discussion to accommodate the diverse backgrounds of the participants.
Probing the Interviews and Group Discussions A probing tactic is defined by Moerman (2010) as “an interviewer stance towards the responses of the respondent and the reaction following from this stance.” The stance and reaction of the interviewer take different forms, including accepting, wondering, commenting or asking. According to Mack et al. (2005), probes involve neutral questions, phrases, sounds, and gestures interviewers use during interviews or group discussions to encourage participants to answer more thoroughly. Most of the interviewees in this study were asked the same set of questions, though the organization of the questions differed. Spontaneous questions were occasionally posed. Probing is not easy to master because it requires a good listener with interpersonal skills enabling him to intervene gently as the participant speaks. Probing during interviewing different stakeholders of the Jerash site depended mainly on the researcher’s understanding of their interests and responses. Probes were used when participants began to hesitate, stammer, or trail off as they spoke. The researcher employed the probing technique sparingly to ensure that the participants gave complete, in-depth and comprehensive answers to the questions posed. When probing became too frequent or ineffective, the participant was asked the next question.
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4.5.1.2 Group Discussions The goal of group discussions is to allow discussion participants to express a variety of perspectives in a less stressful setting. The group setting of any informal, supportive group of people with similar backgrounds can often put people at ease, and encourage them to express their views freely and frankly (Khan et al., 1991). On the other hand, one of the main weaknesses of group discussions is that participants with the strongest personality tend to dominate the conversation. Another weakness, noted by Mackrell (2006), is that the interviewer can more easily lose control of the discussion. On the whole, the group discussions were typically composed of 2 to 5 persons. When there were 2 or 3 discussion participants, a local research assistant helped to moderate discussion and to take notes. In the cases when there were more than 3 participants, the researcher and research assistant occasionally alternated their facilitator capacities, with one acting as a moderator and one as a note taker. The moderator asked questions, probed participants and kept the discussion on topic. The note taker took specific supplementary notes about the reactions and responses of the participants during the discussion. A number of measures were also taken to address the intangible factors that affect participant responses. The participants were not corrected or reprimanded for their answers. The research objectives were introduced to participants before the beginning of the interview in order to avoid misunderstandings pertaining to the targeted information. Additionally, Mack et al. (2005) indicated that clothing, initial remarks, manner of speaking and body language of the researchers affect how participants approach the group discussion. Anecdotally, after wearing casual dress one day to a restaurant and formal dress—a suit—another day, the researcher can attest to the validity of this observation in Jerash. The manager of the restaurant welcomed the researcher in the second visit more respectfully than in the first visit. In addition, the moderator did not correct some mistakes and erroneous answers of the participants during the group discussion because he might embarrass them. Therefore, he discussed these answers individually after the discussion. Group discussions were conducted mainly with tourism entrepreneurs and small business owners in order to gauge their views on governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental 86
stakeholders. The group discussion participants for some locations in the modern city of Jerash were recruited and organized with the help of key contacts from local community organisations. There were a total of 21 participants across the five group discussions. They included managers and employers from various tourist restaurants and shops that were the most affected by urban and tourism development in Jerash. There were 4 participants in the Abu Sa'eed Restaurant group discussion, 5 in the Al-khayyam Restaurant group discussion, 5 in the crafts and souvenirs markets group discussion, 3 in the Yahala Restaurant group discussion, and 4 in the Olive Branch Hotel group discussion.
4.5.1.3 The Interview Process In addition, simple questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were carried out. Simple questionnaires were used for obtaining general information about the stakeholders involving demographics and personal characteristics (Appendix 8). This included the question of age, gender, marital status, acquired education level, location in Jerash, household monthly income, number of persons in the nuclear family, and years of residence in Jerash. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with a total of 43 people, subdivided as follows: Thirteen individual interviews were conducted with key governmental stakeholders from the MoTA, DoA, Jerash Municipality and Jerash Governorate. Eighteen people, comprising professors and experts in the field of tourism management, sustainable tourism, conflict management and archaeology were also interviewed. In addition, twelve local restaurant managers, small business owners and local residents from Jerash were interviewed. Interviews were “semi-structured” in order to decrease interpretation bias by obtaining various perspectives. Because they are to some extent open and unstructured, semi-structured interviews are characterized by their elasticity, allowing the researcher to guide a given discussion based on the preceding discussions. Since participants are not bogged down by statistics, the semi-structured format gives participants more freedom to expand on a given topic (Oppenheim, 1992; Raffay, 2007).
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The interview schedule was composed primarily of open-ended questions and developed in light of secondary literature and local Jordanian media. The average interview duration was approximately 45 minutes, though the actual duration varied between 15 and 90 minutes depending on the content of the views expressed and the comfort and relaxation level of the participants. Questions fell into five main categories, summarised as follows (see Appendix 3 for an exhaustive account): 1. The satisfaction of the local community and small business owners with the urban and tourism development projects. 2. The perspectives of the governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental stakeholders regarding sustainability policy and the implementation of sustainable tourism in Jerash. 3. The main aspects of conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development from the stakeholders’ perspectives. The overlap of stakeholders’ interests. 4. The level of coordination, participation and collaboration among all the stakeholders of the archaeological site. 5. Conflict causes and resolution.
4.5.1.3.1 Stakeholder Interviewee Sampling A snowball sampling method was employed to select participants according to characteristics germane for the present study (method reviewed in Berg, 2001). In this type of sampling, participants with diverse social connections can suggest to the researcher other relevant participants who would be worth interviewing. The snowball sampling method is a useful means of identifying both local-level and national-level stakeholders based on the suggestions of other participants (Medeiros de Arajo and Bramwell, 1999). Firstly, the initial group of stakeholders was identified through the analysis of tourism and urban development documents (see “Stage 88
One”, Figure 4.1). These stakeholders were met during the pre-testing stage of the interviews and asked to recommend other stakeholders affected by the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development. For instance, the popularity of local tour guides and a previous member of the Jordanian parliament guided the researcher to particular employees in the Jerash Antiquities Office and representatives of other civil organizations who had an interest in sustainable tourism at the Jerash Archaeological Site. The main criteria for choosing the participants were their proximity to the modern city of Jerash, their socio-economic relationship to sustainable tourism activities, and their level of involvement in the planning and implementing urban and tourism development projects. The researcher attempted to select representatives from each of the following five sectors: 1. Governmental bodies with public administration authority over tourism and urban planning directly related to the Jerash site, including national and local governmental organizations. 2. Intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations interested in sustainable tourism or world heritage issues. 3. Tourism entrepreneurs concerned about their tourism sector investments. These include tour operators, owners and staff of tourist restaurants and owners of souvenir shops. 4. Small business owners that have shops inside the modern city of Jerash, but that are not benefitting economically from the tourism in Jerash (i.e., owners of businesses depending largely on local customers, not on tourists). 5. Local community members impacted environmentally, socially, or economically by the urban and tourism development projects around the Jerash Archaeological Site. The majority of the interviewees were located around the archaeological site, especially in the modern city of Jerash. The small business owners are most closely related to the modern city of Jerash because of their daily commercial interests there. The Jerash Municipality, which is in charge of urban development, has its headquarters in the city centre. The head offices of the two governmental organizations responsible for antiquities protection and tourism management (the 89
Jerash Tourism Directorate and Jerash Antiquities Office) are located inside the archaeological site, along with the office of the tour guides (Figure 4.2).
Figure 4.2: The Geographical Distribution of the Local Stakeholder Interviewees in the Jerash Archaeological Site and its Surrounding Area. As a result of the sampling design, a preponderance of responses came from representatives of governmental bodies, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. Aside from these sectors, there were fewer participants from accommodation services providers compared to small business owners. The number of participants in each one of the sectors did not have an apparent affect on the quality of the content analysis. A random sample was not necessary. 90
Determining a satisfactory sample size requires collating data until reaching a saturation point at which no new data is obtainable. A saturation point is quite simple to obtain via the snowball sampling method (Ruhanen, 2006). Lincoln & Guba (1985) estimate that the saturation point of a sample size is reached with no less than twelve participants; Interviews conducted during the first phase were continued until the researcher thought that no new subjects could be discussed. During the second phase of interviewing, a prearranged selection process was used to obtain the information still required for analysis and, according to that, to identify the participants whom the researcher should interview. Based on these sample selection criteria, 54 participants took part in the first phase of the interview, and ten participants took part in the second phase.
4.5.1.3.2 Identification and Coding of Stakeholders Hajialikhani (2008) defines stakeholders as “individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the works, or whose interests may be affected as a result of works execution or completion”. In terms of sustainable tourism conflict analysis, stakeholders are all those individuals and groups that have mutual interests in a given conflict or whose interests are negatively affected by other interests. As mentioned earlier, semi-structured interviews and group discussions were carried out with 64 participants, including stakeholders from governmental bodies and intergovernmental nongovernmental organizations, as well as small business owners, tourism entrepreneurs and members of the local community. Over 36 hours resulted from the interviews and group discussions. To ensure the privacy of the participants, codes were developed to identify each interview and group discussion on transcripts and during the content analysis. The actual names of the participants were maintained until the completion of the concluding phase of the analysis to aid the researcher’s memory, after which they were replaced by codes (see Appendices 4, 5, 6 and 7). Tables 4.1 to 4.6 display the codes of the participants along with their position and relationship to sustainable tourism and urban development at the Jerash Archaeological Site. The participants codes mentioned in the first column of the tables were used to facilitate the categorization process of the stakeholders’ responses. 91
Governmental Bodies Governmental bodies are understood as the national, regional and local organizations that play a leading role in the public administration of the urban and tourism development in Jerash city (Table 4.1). The Jerash Municipality, a local government, is located in the modern city of Jerash. For that reason, the researcher considered it an important stakeholder due to its proximity to the urban centre and its administration of the planning and implementation phases of tourism and urban development projects. The Jerash Municipality has connections with most of the Jerash site stakeholders, especially the governmental stakeholders (MoTA and DoA) and the local community. This character enables it to act as mediator through its Department of Local Community Development, which has the role of building “Trust Bridges” between the stakeholders of the Third Tourism Project and the local community of Jerash.
Code
Position
Department
Relation to the Jerash Archaeological Site
Interview
Director
MoTA
Director of Jerash Tourism Directorate. Worked in the Third Tourism Project in Salt city. Newly appointed in Jerash.
Individual
GO2JM
Section Director
Jerash Municipality
Head of the Department of Local Community Development in the Jerash Municipality.
Individual
GO3JM
Engineer
Jerash Municipality
Engineer in the Department of Local Community Development in the Jerash Municipality.
Individual
GO4JM
Section Director
Jerash Municipality
Head of the Organization Department in the Jerash Municipality. Responsible for the future urban planning of the city.
Individual
GO5JM
Coordinator
Jerash Municipality
The Municipality coordinator of the Third Tourism Project. Monitors the implementation of the project.
Individual
GO6JAO
Conservationist
DoA
Engineer in the Conservation Department in Jerash Antiquities Office. Extensive experience in the cultural heritage conservation.
Individual
GO7JAO
Director
DoA
The Jerash Antiquities Inspector. Responsible for the management of the Jerash Archaeological Site.
Individual
GO8UAO
Director
DoA
Umm Qais Antiquities Inspector.
Individual
GO9JG
Section Director
Jerash Governorate
Head of Development Unit in the Jerash Governorate, which integrates local community of Jerash in the urban and tourism development.
Individual
GO10JIB
Commissioner
Jordan Investment Board
The Commissioner of the MoTA in the Jordan Investment Board. Responsible for facilitating tourism investments and providing a suitable environment for the tourism industry.
Individual
GO11DA
DirectorGeneral
DoA
Director-General of the DoA. Extensive experience in supervising and managing archaeological excavations and conservation works in Jordan.
Individual
MT12TTP
Coordinator
Third Tourism Project
Officer in the Third Tourism Project. Very collaborative. Coordinates the different project stakeholders.
Individual
GO1JTD
Table 4.1: Governmental Bodies. 92
A number of related governmental bodies provided helpful input, including the DoA, the Jerash Municipality and the Jerash Governorate. Nevertheless, some personnel at other governmental bodies like the MoTA, refused to be interviewed because they believed that they could not provide relevant information. Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organizations The local and international participants from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations were experts in the fields of archaeology, World Heritage Nomination and conflict management. The international experts have been identified based on their nationality (or local affiliation), field of expertise and degree of relatedness to research problem (Tables 4.2 and 4.3). They were from Great Britain, Australia and Germany. The majority hailed from the latter and worked in nongovernmental organizations, such as the Catholic University of EichstättIngolstadt, the Centre for Key Qualifications (Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen) at the University of Passau and the German World Heritage Committee. The researcher attempted to contact the engineer responsible for the urban and tourism development projects in Jerash, but unfortunately, one key stakeholder at the Hussein Attiyah Foundation for Building and Contracting (Dr. Fawaz Al-Basheer) did not respond.
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Code
Profession
Type of Organization
Experience
NG1YU
University Professor
University
Assistant Professor at the Department of Travel and Tourism -Yarmouk University. Conducted his PhD thesis about Jerash site.
Individual
NG2YU
University Professor
University
Assistant Professor at the Department of Travel and Tourism -Yarmouk University. Jerashian resident.
Individual
NG3HU
University Professor
University
Assistant Professor at Queen Rania Institute of Tourism and Heritage (QRITH) - The Hashemite University. Researched the Jerash site.
Individual
NG5JIT
Director
Association
Acting Executive Director of the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association. Tourism expert who participated in some management projects of the Jordanian cultural heritage sites, such as the Azahar and Athena projects.
Individual
NG6FAH
Chairman
Association
President of the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage (FOAH). Professor of Archaeology and Jordan Representative to the World Heritage Committee.
Individual
NG7JSD
Chairman
Association
President of The Jordanian Association for The Development of Cultural Heritage. Tourism expert and Jerashian resident.
Individual
NG8JTG
Tour guide
Association
Tour guide and Jerashian resident.
Individual
NG9JTG
Tourism expert
Association
Tour guide and member in the Tourist Committee of the Jordanian Parliament.
Individual
NG11GJU
Director
University
Director of the Centre for the Study of Natural and Cultural Heritage - the German Jordanian University. Interested in the study of the cultural and natural heritage from sustainable and geological perspectives.
Individual
NG12YU
University Professor
University
Head of the Department of Travel and Tourism -Yarmouk University. Interested in heritage management and tourism development of the Decapolis Sites in northern Jordan (Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella and Abila).
Individual
NG13YU
University Professor
University
Head of the Department of Hotel Management - Yarmouk University. Interested in tourism in Jordan, management and accounting of hotels and restaurants and tourism marketing.
Individual
NG14JU
University Professor
University
Head of the National Tourism Centre for Development and Hotel Training - The University of Jordan, which educates students to advance environmentally and socioeconomically sustainable growth.
Individual
NG15JTG
Tourism expert
Association
Worked as tour guide in many international tourist destinations like Rome and Venice.
Individual
NG16YU
Researcher
Bank
Lecturer at different Jordanian colleges. Specialist in public and business administration. Has worked in the Cities and Villages Development Bank for more than ten years. Specialized in governmental loans and grants.
Individual
Table 4.2: Local Experts at Nongovernmental Organisations.
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Interview
Code
Position
Nationality
Organization
Experience
Interview
NG4JAU
Coordinator
Australian
University of Western Australia
English Department Coordinator at the Jordan Applied University College of Hospitality and Tourism Education. Conducting her PhD thesis about the Jerash Archaeological Site.
Individual
NG10UO
Officer
English
UNESCO
Officer at the UNESCO Office in Amman, Culture Unit. Interested in the management and conservation of the World Heritage Sites.
Individual
NG17EI
University Professor
German
The Catholic University of EichstättIngolstadt
Assistant Professor at the Chair of Economic Geography The Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Specialized in the implementation of conflict resolution systems in enterprises and organizations (Negotiation and Mediation).
Individual
NG18MU
Mediator and facilitator
German
Centre of Mediation and Moderation
Certified mediator and facilitator in the Centre of Mediation ∙ Moderation in Munich. More than 20 years experience in conflict management. Participated in 9 conflict management projects in different cities in Germany. Lecturer in Negotiation Management at the Centre for Key Qualifications (Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen) at the University of Passau. 11 publications about mediation.
Individual
NG19UN
Representative
German
World Heritage Committee
Germany Representative to the World Heritage Committee and Delegate of the Standing Conference for the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Division of Multilateral Cultural and Media Relations of the Federal Foreign Office.
Individual
Table 4.3: International Experts at Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organisations. Tourism Entrepreneurs Although there are very few tourism businesses in Jerash, investment in tourism services sector is high, especially for tourist restaurants. There are approximately 18 tourist restaurants, so they were selected as part of the sample. These restaurants have a good reputation in Jordan because their service quality is comparable to that in the prestigious restaurants in Amman. Most of these restaurants benefit financially from local tourists and the tourists from the Arab Gulf countries, and their benefits depend on their adjacency to the archaeological site on Wasfi At-Tal Street. Various stakeholders from accommodation, souvenir shops and tour operation companies were selected due to their direct and indirect relationships with the tourism industry in Jerash (Table 4.4). Olive Branch Hotel (one classified “hotel”) does not benefit financially from tourism in Jerash because it is situated far away from the site; this establishment focuses more on ecological tourism stemming from the camping site near Dibbean Reserve. There are three tour operators that launched their businesses in Jerash, but they are quite new—the oldest operator was established in 2007. All of them were contacted and two of them responded affirmatively. 95
Code
Age
Type of Business
Income/JD
Notes
Interview
Monthly
TE1REST
20-29
Tourist restaurant
400-500
Manager of Al-Khayyam Restaurant. The customers of the restaurant are mainly local tourists and, less often, international tourists.
Group Discussion
TE2TO
20-29
Travel agent
300-400
Owner and manager of Travel & Tourism Agency (Boq’at Thoo’). Operates only on the Hajj and Omra.
Individual
TE3CSM
40-49
Souvenir
300-400
President of Jerash Association of Crafts and booth owner in the crafts and souvenirs market (Souq), which is the first thing tourists see before entering the archaeological site.
Group Discussion
TE4REST
30-39
Tourist restaurant
400-500
Manager of Yahala Restaurant, accompanied by employees. Operating since 1977. It is situated near the archaeological site.
Group Discussion
TE5HO
50-59
Hotel
>500
Owner and managers of Olive Branch Hotel, which is a family run, medium-sized hotel and is 5 km away from the archaeological site.
Group Discussion
Table 4.4: Tourism Entrepreneurs. Small Business Owners Small business owners have played a significant role in the recent urban development of Jerash city, which has required their cooperation on a variety of issues relating to air pollution and visual pollution that distort the integrity and authenticity of the archaeological monuments and traditional buildings. Small business owners who represented a number of different types of businesses were interviewed (Table 4.5). Code
LS1JCC
Age
Type of Business
Income/JD
Notes
Interview
Monthly
20-29
Chamber of Commerce
400-500
Manager of the Jerash Chamber of Commerce. Serves the business community by creating economic opportunities.
Individual
LS2AREST
30-39
Restaurant
400-500
Sales depend only on local residents. Located near Al-Hashmi Mosque.
Group Discussion
LS3AS
20-29
Shop
300-400
Manager of gifts and accessories shop. It is located next to the Jerash Chamber of Commerce.
Individual
LS4MS
40-49
Shop
300-400
Manager of a shop. Newly opened in the commercial centre.
Individual
LS5ST
30-39
Supermarket
>500
Owner of a supermarket. Opened since 1988. It is one of the shops most impacted by the digging and construction in the area.
Individual
LS6PHY
20-29
Shop
>500
Owner of a shop. It is located outside the ancient city wall.
Individual
Table 4.5: Small Business Owners. 96
The researcher selected the participants of this sector based on their businesses’ proximity to the modern city of Jerash. For an overview, the researcher began by interviewing the manager of Jerash Chamber of Commerce and visited the commercial centre. Although the selection of the participants was random in respect to their location around the ancient city wall, some geographical bias has been occurred. For example, it was necessary to interview some participants from locations inside the ancient city wall in order to know how they had been impacted by the urban and tourism development projects. Local Community Local community participants were selected from various locations around the archaeological site, specifically the ancient city wall area, Al-Atmat Mountain District, Al-Montazah District and Municipality Hall District (Figure 4.2). Local community participants, as illustrated in Table (4.6), were selected based on their own interests and relationship to tourism in Jerash or the archaeological site. This sector involved individuals who were interested in tourism issues in Jerash and representatives of some civil society associations. Code
Age
Income/JD Monthly
Family Members
Profession / Interest
Interview
LC1AA
40-49
400-500
5
President of Jerash Jabal Al-Atmat Cultural Forum. Interested in archaeology, literature, arts and folklore. Organizes diverse cultural activities and events (lectures, seminars and poetry recitals).
Individual
LC2AN
40-49
400-500
4
Poet, writer and civil activist. A member of Jordan Writers Society.
Individual
LC3AS
30-39
200-300
2
Teacher. He worked in Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts for 5 years as booth owner.
Individual
LC4AG
>59
>500
6
Previous member in the Jordanian parliament.
Individual
LC5RH
40-49
300-400
5
Retired from the Jordanian Armed Forces.
Individual
LC6FG
20-29
300-400
1
Public servant and cultural activist. Participated in some meetings and conferences related to inscribing Jerash on the World Heritage List.
Individual
Table 4.6: Local Community.
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In most cases, the local community stakeholders who were contacted participated enthusiastically in the research, in spite of their lack of information about various issues.
4.5.1.3.3 Pre-testing of the Interviews and Group Discussions Participants were first contacted by email or telephone to ask for their participation and to dispense general information about research objectives. Later on, consent to conduct the study was procured from the DoA. After this, interviews were scheduled. The consent letter and a copy of the questionnaire were then shown to each participant at the beginning of each interview or group discussion to assure them of confidentiality. In addition to that, the researcher tried to build friendships and personal relationships with them to gain their trust. To better understand the attitudes of the interviewees, the researcher paid some preliminary visits to a few stakeholders prior to the formal interviews. This allowed the researcher to tweak the formulation of various questions. During this time, stakeholder group categories were defined and further refined. Separate strategies were developed for each one of the interviewees to have a wide knowledge and understand their interests and perspectives comprehensively. For example, during the interviews conducted with the local community members, the researcher focused on the sensitive issues that influenced them like the land uses and economic issues.
4.5.1.3.4 Conducting the Interviews and Group Discussions: Phase 1 The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase consisted of 38 interviews and group discussions to investigate the attitudes and perspectives of the local community in Jerash towards tourism, the urban and tourism development in Jerash, as well as the perspectives of all the stakeholders towards the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site. The first phase of the interviewing involved comprehensive consultation with different stakeholders. Beginning on May 1 and August 1, 2011, a number of interviews and group 98
discussions, respectively, were conducted with the 54 participants documented above. In order to cover all of the interview issues in detail, the researcher identified particular central topics and then developed a number of sub-topics that the study included. Each stakeholder group was asked different questions based on its nature and involvement in the urban and tourism development in Jerash. The interview and discussion questions were designed to arouse interactive conversations that encouraged the participants to express themselves based on their personal backgrounds. The researcher began the interviews or group discussions by asking the participants questions regarding general information about tourism and sustainable tourism in the Jordanian cultural heritage sites. The semi-structured interviews and group discussions spanned different themes. The first of these themes related to urban development issues and included open-ended questions regarding stakeholder perspectives on the nomination of the Jerash site to be on the World Heritage List. The second theme of the semi-structured interviews and group discussions involved the stakeholders’ attitudes and recommendations regarding sustainable tourism and cultural heritage protection initiatives. The participants were also asked questions regarding urban obstructions and limitations in their adoption of heritage protection measures and sustainable tourism practices. The third theme was the level of stakeholder participation and collaboration work during the planning and implementation of the urban and tourism development in Jerash, including the involvement of the local community in the decision-making process. Participants were also asked for their perspectives on the commonalities and potential conflicts between the stakeholders of Jerash and how the overlap between the various authorities impacted the tourism development process. The fourth theme included the discussion and identification of urban encroachment on the antiquities areas on the map provided (see Figure 4.3). The researcher used this method to visually stimulate the participants’ memory and to ensure that the data documentation process of the interviews and group discussions was not done only by transcripts but also by photographs. This type of interviewing investigated how the participants described the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site, how they viewed the urban changes in recent years, and how they understood the contemporary urban development issues that followed. Furthermore, it evaluated how participants perceive the future of tourism development in Jerash. 99
The interviews and group discussions were usually conducted in the houses and workplaces of the participants at different times of the day due to the various work circumstances of the participants.
4.5.1.3.5 Conducting the Interviews and Group Discussions: Phase 2 When the researcher initially analysed the interviews and group discussions of Phase 1, he noticed that there was a need for supplementary data in order to clearly recognize coherent themes. Phase 2 addressed this issue via semi-structured interviews between August 15, 2012 and September 15, 2012. New questions derived from phase 1 were reiterated to other participants in order to get more detailed information about some aspects of conflict and how their impacts could be managed and mitigated in the future. Revised questions were designed to encourage participants to suggest ideas toward a solution to the conflict between sustainable tourism dimensions and urban development in Jerash, and explore the issues pertaining to the rules, set of laws and procedures which hinder the implementation of sustainable tourism principles effectively. However these questions were used as a guideline for each interview in Phase 2, the participants had a propensity to turn the conversations towards subjects in which the participants harboured strong beliefs. The revised questions dealt with the principles of sustainable tourism, sustainable urban planning, legal and implementation matters, and stakeholder collaboration. Pointed questions were also designed to gauge the extent to which experts’ perceptions of strategic visioning and conflict management could contribute to viable solutions. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts that were chosen based on the results of Phase 1. It was fundamental that local and international experts had adequate time and readiness to take part in the study. Affiliated primarily with the Yarmouk University, the University of Jordan and the German Jordanian University, these local experts represented a broad cross-section of the local academic community working on the present research problem. After the researcher analysed the responses of the Jordanian governmental and nongovernmental experts towards the conflict management in sustainable tourism, he compared the perceptions of 100
the local experts with those of the international experts. To this end, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with international experts from Great Britain, Australia and Germany to increase the understanding of how to solve and manage the conflicts between the stakeholders of Jerash and thus how it could inscribe Jerash successfully on the World Heritage List. Discussing these themes particularly required flexibility for participants to concentrate and give details on the issues that particularly interested them. During interviewing them, the researcher heard flexible management solutions to the conflict issues of sustainable tourism. In addition, these discussions addressed how the Jerash site could meet the requirements of the World Heritage Nomination (Integrity and Authenticity). The results of Phase 2 are discussed in Chapter 6. The stakeholder interview results regarding sustainable tourism, sustainable urban planning and stakeholder participation are presented to address the second research objectives. Furthermore, interview results concerning experts’ perceptions of conflict causes, strategic vision and conflict management are presented to address the fourth and fifth research objectives.
4.5.1.4 Observation Observation is a public interaction between the researcher and stakeholders in their setting, during which data are methodically and randomly collected (see Taylor & Bogdan 1984: 15). Such interaction assists in obtaining insights into the behaviour of stakeholders in their daily life or work, broadening the socio-economic scope and accuracy of the interview and discussion data. An understanding of how stakeholders of the Jerash Archaeological Site interact with sustainable tourism and urban development issues was largely obtained by such observation. The researcher produced recorded notes, video records, photographs and field surveys. He recorded the field observations in a notebook and converted them afterward into “Microsoft Word” files. This included notes on spontaneous conversations, remarks, and other observations from before, during, and after the formal interviews and group discussions. To ensure the efficiency of schedules observation times, observation coincided with the occurrence of 101
particular events, such as on the days of the yearly Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts— important days for tourism in Jerash. A GPS navigation apparatus was used to record the geographical coordinates of the study area, which also aided in interpreting map-based data.
4.5.2
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources provided support for the conceptual framework of this study and contributed to the preparation of questions for semi-structured interviews and group discussions. This set of secondary sources served to clarify information gathered from the participants. These sources included the existing literature on urban and tourism development in Jordan in general and with a particular concentration on Jerash. Jordan Government documents on tourism (especially the Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy 2011-2015), annual reports, urban plans, management strategy and survey reports, and other published and unpublished papers were accessed. Statistical data about the tourism industry in Jordan and the city of Jerash were collected. They included annual tourism arrival numbers, tourist tours, tourist expenditure, tourism investments, tourism facilities and services, and the socio-cultural impacts of tourism planning and implementation on local communities. Most of the urban development information, aerial photographs, maps, urban plans, local reports and statistics were available in the Jerash Municipality, Jerash Governorate, DoS, Jerash Tourism Directorate and Jerash Antiquities Office. The MoTA and Jerash Municipality were contacted for support in providing data and information regarding The First, Second and Third Tourism Projects, The Project of the New Bus Station, The Craftsmanship City Project and The Beautification Project of Jerash Southern Entrance. Data available from the DoA offered information about Jerash’s situation as a potential World Heritage Site, in addition to the 1986 and 1995 reports produced by the World Heritage Commission and ICOMOS. All these reports were subjected to further comparative analysis with primary data collected in the field. The DoA also helped in contacting various organizations in order to get permission to interview their stakeholders. Information on the history and cultural significance of the archaeological site was supplemented by additional information on the future site’s management and sustainable tourism 102
development. These multiple contexts form the comprehensive basis for the sustainable tourism concept; therefore, strategies and plans that focused on economic, social, cultural and environmental issues were considered an important data source. All these data may be seen as forming the institutional framework. From this framework, it should be possible to derive approaches for the protection of the archaeological site. These approaches are highly relevant for the development of sustainable tourism in Jordan’s tourism industry generally, and in the city of Jerash particularly. The websites of some international organizations, such as UNESCO, UNDP and ICOMOS contained details on the World Heritage Nomination process and information about sustainable tourism principles as well as international conventions and charters were accessed.
4.5.3
Participatory GIS Mapping
To improve the analytical capability of the thematic knowledge system of this study, a Geographic Information System (GIS) was utilized, incorporating as much information from different sources as possible. Based on the multiple options and functions of GIS, different maps were generated, which was helpful in evaluating urban and tourism development plans. GIS was used to explain some conflict aspects between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash. This included those stemming from accepting the principles of the World Heritage Convention and the ICOMOS recommendations for solving urban encroachment problems, which were developed to enable the nomination of the Jerash Archaeological Site for the World Heritage List. Maps were generated to display the geographical distribution of the local interviewees and the tourism services and facilities in Jerash, such as tourist restaurants, recreational and entertainment activities and the two hotels. The researcher used GIS mapping according to the so-called Participatory GIS Mapping (PGIS) method during interviews and group discussions. This type of mapping aids the interviewer both in prompting interviewees for more information during the interviews and in subsequently analysing issues unearthed in these interviews (Chambers, 1997; Kyem, 2004). Using numerous visual illustrations during interviews, the participants can detail more directly the exact locality 103
under discussion (Cornwall, 1996). The present study made use of aerial photographs as a base map (Figure 4.3) to carry out the participatory mapping technique, giving a helpful visual explanatory guide to the stakeholders of the Jerash site.
Figure 4.3: Aerial Photograph of the Case Study Area used as a Base Map for Interviews and Group Discussions (Google Earth, 2012). The mapping was conducted in interviewing five individuals and two groups who were selected from among the governmental stakeholders, tourism entrepreneurs and local community members interviewed. The map served to aid their geographical understanding of the study area.
4.6
Data Analysis
After collecting data during the two phases of fieldwork, the data was analysed. The quantitative data included statistical data and documents collected from governmental departments, as well as personal data about the interviewees. This did not require sophisticated quantitative data analysis. The researcher analysed the qualitative data relevant to the case study area and its stakeholders. Bogdan and Biklen (1982) define qualitative data analysis as “working with data, 104
organizing it, breaking it into manageable units, synthesing it, searching for patterns, discovering what is important and what is to be learned, and deciding what you will tell others” (p. 145). Data analysis of qualitative research is mainly concerned with content analysis, which involves the management and manipulation of the transcripts of the interviews, group discussions and observations.
4.6.1
Content Analysis
Content Analysis was used to identify, collate and compare the collected data of the interviews, group discussions and observation. Content analysis is a broad area of research that includes thematic analysis of text, indexing and descriptive analysis (Devi, 2009). As elaborated in Hancock (1998), the basic purpose of the content analysis process is to categorize verbal or behavioural data for classification, summarization and tabulation. In the present study, the data gathered from the observations, group discussions and semi-structured interviews were coded, labelled and arranged into sub-groups according to the responses of the participants. Categorisation helped the researcher to identify the differences and similarities of the different themes. The process of analysing huge amounts of qualitative data can range from physically categorizing slips of paper to using computer software programs such as NUD*IST, NVivo and MAXQDA. The researcher used MAXQDA computer software because it has diverse tools to handle huge amounts of qualitative data and information, by browsing, categorizing and coding them accurately. After the completion of the interviews and group discussions, the tape recordings were transcribed, while the conversations were still fresh in the researcher’s mind. Notes and transcribed material from the observation process were also included in the content analysis. Throughout the analysis phase of the study, transcripts were categorized according to the responses of the participants to the interview and discussion questions to help in determining themes relating to the research problem. According to Ryan and Bernard’s (2003), themes emerge before, during and after the phase of data collection. In this study, the themes that emerged before data collection were drawn from the previous literature works and newspapers 105
articles which talked about the urban development and sustainable tourism issues in Jerash, while the themes that emerged during and after data collection were drawn from the transcripts of the interviews and group discussions. After that, these themes were investigated and discussed to identify sub-themes. The main role of the themes and sub-themes in the analysis is to represent issues explored in the interviews and group discussions. They also helped in understanding the interests of the stakeholders of the site and their level of participation in the decision making regarding tourism and urban development. This guided to clarify the stakeholders' experiences about the aspects of conflict, aspects of agreement and conflict management techniques.
4.6.2
Organization of the Results Chapters
The researcher organised the results around three primary themes: (1) Conflict aspects between sustainable tourism and urban development, (2) Causes of the conflict, and (3) Conflict management and conflict resolution techniques. These themes covered most of the transcript information handled during the analysis of the research results. The results of the data analysis were discussed by using the words and expressions of the participants to explain some theoretical aspects of the analysis, thereby enriching the available vocabulary with which to present the results. Therefore, the researcher described and compared the data that represents the conflicts between the voices of sustainable tourism interests (the local community and DoA) and urban development interests (the stakeholders of the urban and tourism development projects) through the narratives of the participants in this study.
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Chapter 5: Conflict Analysis
Tourism emerged in ancient times as a socio-cultural phenomenon and steadily evolved with human needs and desires into an economic phenomenon. With increased environmental and cultural awareness, it is essential today for tourism to be sustainable, thereby balancing the natural resources, cultural heritage, labour and capital that produce urban and tourism development. Urban and tourism development reflects the infrastructure, entertainment and cultural activities distinguishing one region from another. On the other hand, such kinds of development closely impact sustainable tourism and affect the relationships among diverse stakeholders of natural and cultural heritage sites. Urban development is inconsistent with sustainable tourism in Jerash. The whole idea of “urban development” tends to emphasise economic development over protection of cultural heritage sites like the Jerash Archaeological Site and the community relying on them. Thus, it is not surprising that the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects triggered several conflicts between the stakeholders of sustainable tourism and urban development. Such sites are very susceptible to such conflicts, especially where historic-cultural values are plotted against urban needs (Healey, 2005). Government officials from the Jerash Municipality who dealt directly or indirectly with urban and tourism development for some time explained: “One of the most important reasons that led to urban development in the past and its encroachment on some archaeological places in the modern city of Jerash is that civilization tends to emerge in strategic geographic locations and areas rich in natural resources (e.g., water springs and fertile soil).” (GO1JTD) Whenever such resources are found in or near archaeological sites, there is usually exploitation of them by all stakeholders interested, sometimes resulting in conflicts of interest. For this reason, conflict analysis is critical in the long run for maintaining the satisfaction of tourists, protecting the archaeological monuments and heritage buildings and mitigating unexpected and undesirable impacts on them. Conflict analysis investigates mismatches, differing perspectives
107
and levels of authority, and it evaluates the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects on this basis. In the end, it can help forecast future conflict. Conflict analysis can improve the stakeholders by investigating the causes of conflict in the context of sustainable tourism. Leonhardt (2001) argues that the stakeholders of the conflict are uniquely well suited to formulate reasonable resolutions if they understand the “true” causes of the conflict and how their interests came into conflict. In addition, conflict analysis could help the stakeholders to engender partnership and collaboration that assist them in alleviating the conflict’s negative impact on the local community. In order to analyse the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site comprehensively, several stages of investigation have been conducted (Figure 5.1).
Stakeholders analysis and level of authority Dimensions and types of conflict Conflict Analysis Framing the Conflict Investigation of the conflict causes
Figure 5.1: The Main Stages of Conflict Analysis. It was necessary to conduct these stages in the Jerash Archaeological Site considering the different aspects of conflict at various levels. The archaeological and environmental aspects include conflict between the protection of the cultural and natural heritage resources and urban development, which results in the distortion of the integrity and authenticity of the site and its setting. The economic aspects of the conflict include how the local community, tourism entrepreneurs and small business owners have been affected by urban and tourism development projects conducted recently in Jerash city. The socio-cultural aspects include impacts on the relationships of the local community with both the archaeological site and tourists. Taking into 108
consideration all of the social complexity and tangled relationships above would certainly contribute to the successful management of this kind of conflict. In theory, all the stakeholders of the Jerash site agree on the general objective of the urban and tourism development projects, namely, to develop tourism activity in Jerash. However, during implementation, they do not agree on the implementation of the projects. All government plans showed the benefits for the local community, tourism entrepreneurs and small business owners. In addition, the MoTA and DoA were allotted grants and loans to make tourism more sustainable, thereby protecting the archaeological sites and heritage buildings and alleviating poverty. But to what extent has the implementation of these measures led to conflict? The Municipality coordinator of the Third Tourism Project pointed out the following: “In the implementation stage conflicts mostly occurred between those concerned with urban and tourism development in Jerash due to the impacts of the digging and construction of the projects on the local stakeholders.” (GO5JM) This chapter seeks to show the stakeholders’ perspectives on the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash and to uncover the root causes triggering this conflict. The subsequent sections of the chapter discuss the responses of the stakeholders of the Jerash Archaeological Site.
5.1
The History of Conflict
There are many factors that increase the urban development inside the area of the ancient city wall, especially in the eastern part. One of the most important factors was the presence of potable water. Water is an essential factor linking human beings with the land they inhabit. Between the western and eastern parts of the city, there was a stream called the Golden River. People lived near this stream, which itself passed through the ancient Roman city. By the end of the Ottoman period (1850-1916) and at the beginning of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was collecting taxes and preparing soldiers to fight in East Europe. This proved to be rather harmful as a result of managerial and legal issues in the Al-sham countries, and injustice was widespread. One of the Ottoman Regime leaders, Ali Kayid Basha, used his unlimited power as a leader to 109
change the placement of Jerash antiquities and columns, ordering them to be brought from Aswan in Egypt to build his palace in the area of Suf, which is now owned by the DoA, due to its historical and traditional significance. During this period, Jerash witnessed some immigration, which a local tour guide described in brief: “In 1878 the city of Jerash wasn't inhibited due to a malaria outbreak. At that time, the Circassians came to the area. They chose Jerash because it was an agricultural area with plenty of water, and they exploited these resources commercially. People from Damascus also came to Jerash for commerce, and many people from the surrounding villages started to inhabit it. They were lucky since the components of the building were the stones and columns from the archaeological site, so they transferred some stones and columns to the eastern part to build new modern buildings and houses. They didn’t have the slightest awareness of the significance of the antiquities they were going to destroy or distort in respect to their integrity and authenticity. After that, the period of establishing the Emirate of Transjordan began in 1921.” (NG8JTG) After this period, archaeological awareness started to increase as the first Department of Antiquities was established in Jordan in 1923. It is situated directly in Jerash (in the old Turkish building inside the archaeological site). An Antiques Law was then enacted that was considered the first legislative tool for the preservation of archaeological heritage in Jordan. Since the establishment of the Municipality in 1918, however, there has been no organisational or managerial plan to prevent the encroachment of urban development inside of the ancient city wall, negatively impacting the eastern part of the city and leading to corruption in many cases: “This corruption resulted from the way of electing the manager of the Municipality. Since Jerash is a tribal city, the tribe and family of the candidate elect him with other allied families in order to achieve their demands and wishes after he wins the election, whether their demands poorly affect the archaeological site or not. For example, many buildings were built by the local residents within the area of the ancient city wall, especially in the modern city of Jerash [in the eastern part] without supervision by the Jerash Municipality.” (NG7JSD)
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The manager of the Jerash Municipality should not be chosen through elections but according to specific academic qualifications in civil engineering, especially in city planning. Engineers and employees in the municipalities in the Fifties and Sixties constructing streets on the ancient city wall had little archaeological awareness, and the DoA had no authority to supervise these urban developments. Moreover, there was no law preventing this urban encroachment. Nevertheless, the urban situation started improving at the beginning of the twenty-first century as legislation involving antiquities and cultural heritage protection started to be enforced partially by Jerash Antiquities Office. Though these laws prohibited construction in Jerash without official permission and regulated the heights and shapes of the buildings being built near the archaeological site, these legislations came too late to prevent a significant amount of distortion and destruction. The recent urban and tourism development projects which were conducted in Jerash between 2000 and 2012 have contributed to the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development, with the most influential being the First, Second and Third Tourism Development Projects. The main objective of these projects is to improve urban integration, social cohesion and the local economy in Jerash by creating a suitable atmosphere for sustainable regeneration of the modern city of Jerash and tourism development. For example, one of these projects aimed at restoring and rehabilitating some areas of the ancient city wall like the Eastern Baths area. The Third Tourism Project was conducted to improve the infrastructure in Jerash and the visitor facilities and services linking the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site. This was expected to increase the interaction between the local residents with the tourists, but the local residents were dissatisfied with these projects because the digging and construction of these projects negatively impacted their lifestyles and businesses. In addition, these projects did not fully respect the authenticity and integrity of the archaeological site.
5.2
Sustainable Tourism in Jerash
In order to make the participants feel comfortable, interviews and group discussions began with two introductory questions aimed at introducing them to the general topic of the study. The 111
questions were identical for all interviewees and suitable for their diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. Examples of such open-ended questions included, “When you hear the word “Tourism”, what is the first thing you think of?” And “When you hear the word “Sustainable Tourism”, what is the first thing you think of?” These questions thus concentrated to a large extent on the participants’ general attitudes toward tourism and sustainable tourism in Jerash. This strategy resulted in responses expressing diverse, often contradictory perspectives and, in many cases, mature knowledge and extensive experience with the research problem. There were some responses about tourism in general and about the Jerashian tourism product in particular. On the whole, most participants mentioned the words “archaeology, heritage and culture” in their responses, which is quite sensible since most of the tourist destinations in Jordan are archaeological or heritage sites. A governmental official defined tourism generally, as well as the common relationship that tourism normally creates: “When I hear the word ‘Tourism’, the first things that come to my mind are culture, heritage, entertainment and interaction between local communities and tourists. Tourism is a multifaceted process.” (GO11DA) Nongovernmental stakeholders shared the governmental stakeholders’ point of view, and some sophisticated details shed light on how to satisfy tourists. An assistant professor at Yarmouk University said: “For me, tourism means economy, tourist attractions (natural and cultural), geographical location, tourism services [restaurants, tourist resorts and hotels], tourism infrastructure, and amusement activities, as well as tourists who come from outside for pleasure, entertainment and an encounter with new cultures and traditions.” (NG1YU) Thus, aside from the archaeological site itself, a large number of other cultural activities and events is intended to promote the cultural character of the entire region. But every stakeholder saw this from his own perspective. The benefits of stakeholders from tourism influence their perspectives. A manager and owner of a hotel in Jerash thought of tourism more pragmatically, perhaps due to her economic benefit from it: “Tourism is a nice business to be in.” (TE5HO) 112
A few Jerashian residents were proud of the comprehensiveness and completeness of their tourism product, describing Jerash not only as the main attraction of north Jordan, but also as the capital of the Jordanian heritage cities in the north. A local official described the tourist attractions in Jerash: “Tourism in Jerash is distinguished because it has three types of tourism. The first type is archaeological tourism, including many archaeological sites in the west part of the city, such as the amphitheatres, temples, theatres and the Colonnaded Street. In the eastern part there are the East Baths, but in the north part there are the Al-Birkatain site and the Ali Basha Al-kayid Palace, in addition to many other archaeological buildings in the different parts of the site. The second type is religious tourism; there is the temple of the Prophet Hood and the Tomb of the Sheikh Abu Bakir Al-jeelani. There are also some other landmarks of religious tourism, such as the Virgin Church and Suf Church. Environmental tourism includes many sites, such as Dibbeen Reserve (the largest forest in north Jordan). Thirdly, there are many small reserves in Dibbeen including Deer Reserve, Cedar Reserve and Suf Valley, which is considered one of the most beautiful valleys in the region.” (GO2JM) Concerning sustainable tourism, some residents showed their enthusiasm towards talking about it, indicating its importance for their life and the Jerash Archaeological Site. Although having a low level of touristic awareness, one resident viewed sustainable tourism as a balance between benefit and protection: “Sustainable tourism means a protection of our archaeological site from any potential threat in the future. We are the guardians of the site because it is our past, but we also want to feel that it is really our site and to benefit financially from it.” (LC5RH) In another context, a cultural activist and president of a cultural forum in Jerash made a similar argument: “When I hear the word ‘Sustainable Tourism’, I imagine the people from Jerash being integrated into the tourism industry, providing services to tourists kindly and, at the same time, benefiting financially from doing so. Therefore, tourism in Jerash should establish 113
an integrated relationship between the archaeological site and the people living around it in order to open the doors of the site widely to their initiatives—not only benefiting from tourists but also welcoming them, showing them our generosity and exchanging cultures with them.” (LC1AA) Other locals were disappointed about the uselessness of the current site visit path or visitor circulation in the Jerash Archaeological Site, which is usually limited to those visiting the archaeological site only (the parking lot nearby the crafts and souvenirs market, the Ticketing Office, Hadrian Gate, the rest of the site). These tourists then have a lunch, come back to their bus and leave the city for another region. A local resident, who worked as a booth owner in the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts for five years, was nearly epigrammatic in expressing his dissatisfaction with the state of sustainable tourism in Jerash: “Tourism in Jerash is not sustainable because the original generator of the tourism industry [the local resident] does not work well because the oil of this generator [economic benefit from tourism] is not available in Jerash.” (LC3AS) The previous quotes described what the stakeholders feel and think about tourism and sustainable tourism in Jerash. The following sections will analyse the stakeholders and discuss how their perspectives influence the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development.
5.3
Stakeholders Analysis and Level of Authority
Stakeholder analysis examines the conflict-ridden relationships, commonalities and alliances between stakeholders, as well as issues lying at the root of the conflict (Leonhardt, 2001). The function of stakeholder analysis here is to elucidate the impact of the stakeholders’ interests, rights, responsibilities and relationships in fuelling conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development. Accordingly, stakeholder analysis enriches the researcher’s understanding with significant information for identifying and differentiating between the most influential stakeholders in the urban and tourism development. In addition, such analysis will reveal opportunities for partnership and collaboration work. 114
Although most of these stakeholders are not interested in a consensus-building process, they are the most fundamental actors in conflict management and conflict resolution. Therefore, in order to contribute in finding a resolution to any given conflict, a question should be asked in each stage of conflict analysis: "Who are the stakeholders of the conflict?” There are three main ways to determine who the stakeholders are in a sustainable tourism conflict. The first way is by reading and analysing relevant literature. The second is by interviewing governmental and nongovernmental specialists who understand the conflict. The third one is by interviewing the stakeholders of the conflict themselves. Stakeholders’ Level of Authority The stakeholders of the Jerash Archaeological Site have different levels of authority in the urban and tourism development projects, which can in turn be altered during the planning and implementation phases of these projects. Additionally, stakeholders make use of varying levels of resources and possess context-dependent personal and group interests. Their rights, responsibilities and authorities vary from temporary contributions in conducting some evaluative studies, to partial involvement of the local community, to full administration, which involves providing permanent political, financial and technical support. Stakeholder analysis tries to reconcile these varying levels of authority. Some stakeholders doubtlessly will benefit while others will lose, but the interests and needs of stakeholders should be equitably balanced as much as possible. Leonhardt (2001) divides stakeholders into three categories depending on their level of authority, level of influence and involvement in conflicts: 1) Primary stakeholders are the parties engaged directly in the conflict. This includes the groups that are intended to benefit from the project. 2) Secondary stakeholders play the part of mediators and have a smaller role and influence throughout the conflict. 3) External stakeholders are not involved directly in the conflict but do have certain interests, and they have an influence on the conditions required for achieving successful conflict management. 115
Based on the interviews and group discussions conducted with each stakeholder in this case study’s conflict analysis section, the stakeholders of Jerash were divided according to Leonhardt (2001) and their authorities and interests were identified (Tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3). In order to cover a wide range of the interviewed stakeholders, the researcher indicated if the stakeholder had an overriding interest in economic, cultural, environmental, aesthetic, socio-economic, legislative, scientific, educational, and public administrative issues. These tables also include a categorization of stakeholders according to their means of influence. Primary Stakeholder Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Interests
The Consultants of the Third Tourism Project Jerash Tourism Directorate
Aesthetic Socio-economic
Department of Antiquities
Aesthetic, Cultural, Legislative Scientific
Jerash Antiquities Office
Aesthetic, Cultural, Legislative, Scientific Educational Aesthetic
Construction Companies
Economic, Aesthetic Educational
Economic, Aesthetic Educational
Authority in Urban and Tourism Development Top management of the urban and tourism development projects Enhancing the local community’s role in urban and tourism development Ensuring the quality of tourism services and infrastructures Consultation concerning traffic, air quality, noise levels, landscape and visual distortions, socio-economic impacts and stakeholders’ participation.
Level of Authority High
Means of Influence Directly and Part of Development projects
High
Directly and Part of Development projects
Public communication Fostering touristic and archaeological awareness Welcoming tourists Ticketing Archaeological excavations Application of World Heritage requirements Contribution in enacting the laws and regulations of cultural heritage protection Protection of the archaeological site from the encroachment of urban and tourism development by halting digging and construction in the archaeological areas
Intermediate
Directly
Low
Directly
Low
Directly
Digging and construction Implementation of re-routing schemes and roads neighbouring the digging and construction areas Installation of proper warning signs
High
Directly and Part of Development projects
Table 5.1: Primary Stakeholders and Their Level of Authority.
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Secondary Stakeholder Jerash Municipality
Jerash Governorate
Interests Public Administrative, Aesthetic, Socio-economic Legislative
Public Administrative, Socio-economic & Legislative
UNESCO Amman Office
Cultural Environmental
Jordanian Universities and Research Centres
Cultural, Scientific Educational
Authority in Urban and Tourism Development Contribution to the development and enforcement of traffic management plans Organization of area building codes Local community development and involvement in urban and tourism development projects Following up on the implementation of urban and tourism development projects and their progress in the prescribed period Identifying the causes of failure for these projects Ensuring that the Jerash site is managed and conserved according to the World Heritage Convention Consultations concerning archaeology, tourism management and conservation of cultural heritage
Level of Authority Intermediate
Means of Influence Directly
Intermediate
Directly
Low
Not Directly
Low
Not Directly
Table 5.2: Secondary Stakeholders and Their Level of Authority.
External Stakeholder The Jordanian Association for the Development of Cultural Heritage Tourism Entrepreneurs
Interests Cultural Environmental
Economic
Small Business Owners
Socio-economic
Local Community
Socio-economic
Authority in Urban and Tourism Development Consultations concerning the management of the urban development around Jerash site Local community participation in the decision-making process Selling handicrafts, meals and accommodation services to tourists in order to cover expenses and generate a financial profit Play a role in supporting or hindering the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects via their businesses Play a role in supporting or hindering the implementation of the urban and tourism development
Level of Authority Intermediate
Means of Influence Not Directly
Low
Not Directly
Low
Not Directly
Low
Not Directly
Table 5.3: External Stakeholders and their Level of Authority.
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The MoTA is the governmental body ultimately responsible for managing urban and tourism development, implementing development projects and collecting ticketing revenues. The DoA is responsible for archaeological excavations, archaeological foreign expeditions and conservation projects. Some NGOs like the Jordanian Association for the Development of Cultural Heritage play a consultative part in the management of urban development around the Jerash site in a participatory approach that engages local communities in socio-economic activities, tourism management and heritage protection. The local community, which has lived inside the archaeological site and neighbouring site borders for about 50 to 60 years, can hinder or support the digging and construction relating to urban and tourism development projects in Jerash. Stakeholder analysis also plays an important role in representing the interactions between the stakeholders. The researcher used the two methods developed by Mayers (2005), the Four Rs, which are Rights, Responsibilities, Revenues (benefits) and the Relationships between stakeholders, and narrative interviews, to identify patterns and contexts of interaction between stakeholders. The latter method probes the relationships between stakeholders and investigates factors triggering conflict and collaboration among them, such as authority relationships, administrative divisions, cultural backgrounds and jurisdictions. This will enable the investigation of the current conflict aspects and commonalities. The relationships between different stakeholders are displayed in Figure 5.2.
Figure 5.2: Relationships between the Major Stakeholders.
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The most impactful relationship between the stakeholders was the authority relationship. Strong relationships are those based on trust, local involvement and equal participation of stakeholders, but the relationship between key stakeholders, particularly between the government and local community is characterized by reciprocated mistrust and conflict of interest. The antagonism relationship between the government on one side and tourism entrepreneurs, small business owners, and local community on the other is a major hindrance hampering sustainable tourism development. This analysis displays the aspects of conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site.
5.4
Framing the Conflict
As a matter of fact, the dimensions of sustainable tourism affect the stakeholders and tourist resources both positively and negatively. Most of the interviewed experts pointed out that achieving a balance between the benefits and costs of these dimensions is not easy at all. An assistant professor at the Hashemite University researching urban development and tourism in Jerash noted: “The term ‘Sustainable Tourism’ is problematic because it is difficult to achieve a balance
between
the
archaeological,
economic
and
socio-cultural
interests
simultaneously. However, sustainable tourism could be implemented if tourism and urban planning is realistic.” (NG3HU) The MoTA is trying to develop the sustainable tourism process in Jordan in order to improve the economic and socio-cultural positions of the stakeholders while protecting the tourism sites. There have been some efforts to mend these inadequacies in Jerash. The MoTA launched three urban and tourism development projects funded by both the World Bank and MoTA in order to strengthen social cohesion, develop the economy of Jerash and improve the urban situation in Jerash. Initiatives like the all-important Third Tourism Project, however, only recently began to improve the quality of life for the city residents. The project also aimed to culturally integrate the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site. Unfortunately, the stakeholders’ respect for sustainable tourism turned out to be more theoretical than practical—sustainable tourism 119
principles were not respected during the implementation stages of the urban and tourism development projects, especially those related to cultural heritage protection. Some employees from both the DoA and MoTA were aware of the fact that tourism management in Jerash is not sustainable, indicating that it is a result of long-term managerial weaknesses. The antiquities inspector of the Umm Qais Archaeological Site, who has worked in the Jerash Archaeological Site for 14 years, described the implementation of sustainable tourism: “The economic, socio-cultural, and archaeological goals of sustainable tourism have not been achieved in Jerash yet. For example, the socio-cultural dimension is ignored because there is no connection between the local community and tourism, and you may find that the local community is upset because of the Jerash site and the antiquities that surround them. This is because they do not receive any benefit from them and are affected negatively by the urban and tourism development projects that aim to improve the tourism in the site. Regarding the economic dimension, it is also ignored because few people in Jerash benefit economically from tourism. Part of the local community works as hawkers, so this simple work does not earn a lot of money. The environmental dimension is not well-considered either, and few nongovernmental organizations take this dimension into consideration. JITOA launched an initiative of ‘Don’t Mess with Nature’ that aims to keep the archaeological site clean all the time and to recycle litter.” (GO8UAO) Conflict tended to arise as an inconsistency between different dimensions of sustainable tourism and urban development. Some conflict is intertwined in cultural heritage sites, so the main question facing planners and managers is the categorization of these conflicts. Diverse types of conflict can be categorized in terms of whether they are related to interests or authorities, such as conflict between local stakeholders and stakeholders in urban and tourism development, between governmental stakeholders, and between tourism entrepreneurs. As noted above, key stakeholder groups of urban and tourism development frequently have administrative overlap and conflicts of interest with other stakeholders of cultural heritage protection. As a result of the different definitions, interpretations and perspectives of sustainable tourism, additional confusion and conflicts arise when attempting to implement sustainable tourism, and these arise more if sustainable tourism is implemented in an urban setting. 120
To understand the overall vision of policy proposals for the Jerash site, one must understand the major interests within the urban setting of Jerash that could impact the implementation of sustainable tourism. These interests include: 1. The World Heritage Requirements and interests of cultural heritage protection 2. The city needs concerning urban development 3. The desires and needs of tourists and local visitors 4. The socio-cultural and economic interests of the local community. Conflict of interests can be further categorized as taking place either among stakeholders directly involved in a particular development project (e.g. between governmental bodies) or between a direct stakeholder and one not directly involved (e.g. between the local community and heritage protection stakeholders). Conflicts occur not only between stakeholders but also within stakeholder groups, which makes understanding these perspectives more complicated. For instance, an officer in the Jerash Municipality indicated that an attempt to enhance the involvement of the local stakeholders in the decisions related to the implementation of the Third Tourism Project had failed because authoritative persons in the Municipality thought that local involvement would hinder the progress of the project. Even though all the stakeholders of the Jerash site aim at sustainable tourism development, they understand it differently. For example, the local community understands sustainable tourism development as an improvement of the quality of life through economic and socio-cultural sustainability. For some other stakeholders, such as the DoA and UNESCO Office in Amman, it involves the protection and conservation of the archaeological site and its cultural landscape. Urban development is associated with economic growth, where stakeholders attempt to maintain wealth continuously and improve the living standards of the local community. By using this as the sole guide for development, however, cultural heritage resources could be exploited, degraded, and ultimately consumed for capital gain. According to a sustainable perspective, on the other hand, cultural heritage resources should not be exposed to degradation and severe development over time. A critical challenge for the tourism planners and site managers with 121
regard to archaeological sustainability is to make sure that these resources will be prolonged for future generations. Both archaeological sustainability and economic sustainability create atmospheres prone to conflict when they are considered separately. The following sections provide analysis of the different perspectives of the stakeholders involved in this continuing conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development in Jerash.
5.4.1
Archaeological and Environmental Aspects
People tend to work and live around urban areas due to the quantity and quality of social and security services, as well the presence of public facilities and infrastructure. Various specific factors attracted people to work and live in Jerash. One of the most important factors is the geographic location of Jerash, which allows it to serve as a connection point between all the major cities in Jordan, especially Amman and Irbid—the two most urbanized cities in Jordan. This strategic location gave Jerash a commercial importance as merchants from other cities came to Jerash for business, especially in the eastern part of the ancient Roman city. The area of the archaeological site in the western part of the city represents one third of the ancient Roman city, and the other two thirds are underneath the modern city of Jerash in the east. In all, this has had a negative impact on the integrity of the ancient site: “The government was remiss and incautious for 40 or 50 years about the impacts of this issue as it allowed local residents to build their houses and buildings over the ancient Roman city.” (TE3CSM) Thus, lack of careful planning can lead to urban encroachment, causing irreversible archaeological and environmental damage, such as distortion of the sites’ integrity and authenticity, destruction of archaeological monuments and traditional buildings, water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution and traffic congestion. As one interviewee put it: “If not appropriately planned, the implementation of the urban projects and improvement of tourism facilities can lead to distortion of cultural landscape and open spaces by urbanising the archaeological character of the city and damaging the traditional and heritage areas.” (GO11DA) 122
Without an understanding of sustainability, another threat is hovering over the environment. Population increase has also had a harmful impact on the environment surrounding these resources due to an infrastructure stressed beyond capacity. Some residents and tourism entrepreneurs complained about the poor sanitation services in the city, including the manager and employees of the Yahala Restaurant: “There are not enough garbage containers in the city. In addition, there is a poor distribution of the containers in Jerash, where there are areas without any containers, and other areas have a lot of containers. For example, at Al-Montazah Circle [south-east part of the modern city of Jerash], there are 15 containers next to each other. But along Wasfi At-Tal Street next to our restaurant and on the way to the Jerash visitor centre, there are no containers.” (TE4REST) Anecdotally, the researcher observed a similar problem when he visited the Al-qairawan Circle area. After consuming a can of cola, he wanted to throw the can away but could not find a trash receptacle nearby. He was forced to walk from Al-qairawan Circle to the Jerash visitors' centre (about 1km), where there is a container. The local residents themselves also aggravate the littering problem. If one walks in the minor roads of the modern city of Jerash at sunset, one will notice that they are full of rubbish—some small business owners throw the rubbish of their shops into the roads after cleaning their shops. The archaeological and environmental impacts could be alleviated if the urban development projects observed the environmental standards during the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects. Unfortunately, instead of protecting the environment from the urban encroachments, the Third Tourism Project aggravated the problem with digging and construction conducted mostly in Jerash, causing various types of pollution. A tourism expert who contributed to the establishment of some environmental protection initiatives, like “Don’t Mess with Nature,” reported how the Third Tourism Project environmentally influenced the local community, shops and restaurants: “The Third Tourism Project carried out in the modern city of Jerash ignored an essential principle of sustainable tourism [the environmental principle] since it produced so much 123
dust and particles haphazardly, negatively affecting the commercial shops, restaurants, and people. In some cases, respiratory problems have been reported by some people who alleged that it was as a result of the frequent digging and construction in public streets, such as those at Bab Amman Traffic Light. Until the roads there were paved two months later, there was dust and dirt polluting the houses, commercial shops, and restaurants, as well as harming the local people walking in the streets. Needless to say, the goods of the shops and restaurants became covered with a layer of dust.” (NG5JIT) The conflict between the interests of cultural heritage protection and urban development triggered destruction of many archaeological monuments and traditional buildings during commercial construction. Disregarding the principles of rehabilitation and restoration, landowners and small business owners initiated reconstruction and modernization of some traditional buildings and houses, harming their historical integrity. Commercial interests override an interest in the archaeological significance of the city in such cases. A study conducted by Bilal Khraisat (assistant professor at the Hashemite University) found that the majority of shops in the modern city of Jerash are not being suitable for tourism: “We conducted a study about the economy of Jerash, and we found that 70% of the economic activities are not suitable to the touristic character of Jerash. There is thus a large conflict between the main touristic product [the archaeological site] and its setting due to a dominance of commercial interests and an absence of touristic businesses in the economy of the city.” (NG3HU) One of the most harmful conflict issues facing the Jerash Archaeological Site is the distortion of its integrity and authenticity via urban encroachment and tourism development, thereby jeopardising its inscription on the World Heritage List. The OUV is the essential core of the 1972 World Heritage Convention; so much of the justification of any OUV is derived from the general protection measures of authenticity and integrity at a given site. Urban and tourism development projects tend to violate the integrity and authenticity of the Jerash Archaeological Site. The conflict between the interests of heritage protection and urban development was one of the main reasons for deferring the nomination dossiers submitted to inscribe the Jerash Archaeological Site on the World Heritage List. 124
5.4.1.1 The Current Situation of Jerash as a Potential World Heritage Site To be included in the World Heritage List, a nominated property must meet at least one out of the World Heritage Selection Criteria stipulated in the 1972 Convention for OUV (see Section 2.2). As mentioned in Section 1.2, the Jerash Archaeological Site met three selection criteria (i, ii and iii), but it has not yet been inscribed on the World Heritage List because it does not fulfil the conditions of authenticity and integrity. The cultural values (i, ii and iii) of the Jerash Archaeological Site are not realistically expressed in the sources attesting to its authenticity that, according to the Nara Document on Authenticity, include form and design, materials and substance, use and function, traditions and techniques, location and setting, spirit and feeling, and other internal and external factors (UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 1994). In addition, the integrity conditions of the Jerash site (the wholeness and intactness) are not protected well, as the elements necessary to express its OUV do not have enough protection from the adverse effects of development and/or neglect (UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2008). The Jerash Archaeological Site was nominated by the Jordanian government to be on the World Heritage List in 1984 and 1993. The committee deferred the first nomination dossier, which was submitted by the government on May 10, 1984, and sent a letter to the government on March 7, 1985, urging it to provide more information, especially in order to define the zone proposed for inclusion on the World Heritage List (ICOMOS, 1985). In fact, four reports were sent by ICOMOS to the Jordanian government in July 1985, April 1986, June 1995 and September 1995. All of them focused on three reasons for deferring the nomination dossiers of the Jerash site: (1) the unidentified boundaries of the nominated area, (2) criticism that the restoration policy adopted at Jerash since 1982 was not in line with internationally accepted standards, and (3) lack of a management plan for the site. The committee indicated, however, that addressing the first two reasons would be sufficient to inscribe the site at the tenth meeting of the Committee. Concerning the first reason, the unfettered expansion of urban development around the archaeological site is so intense that it has harmed its cultural landscape. Uncontrolled urban growth altered and distorted the integrity of the modern city of Jerash. Here, the most apparent negative impacts are linked with digging and construction of infrastructure and tourism facilities 125
in the modern city of Jerash. An archaeologist who worked in the Jerash Archaeological Site as an antiquities inspector for more than fourteen years explained this problem: “The urban development in the eastern part of the city goes back to the fifties when there was little archaeological awareness. Although there is now this awareness, there is still urban encroachment into the archaeological site itself, including the Jerash Restaurant and Bar, located between the Hippodrome and the North Gate, in addition to the Jerash Museum and the Visitors’ Centre that was built without sustainable urban planning. The most recent building is the Popular Market built within the borders of the archaeological site by the Jerash Municipality in 2009. The archaeological site also lost some aesthetic appeal as a result of the urban development in the northern part. It should also be noted that those modern buildings and other construction works are completely different from the archaeological monuments and traditional buildings in terms of the structure, and this does not cohere with the archaeological character of the area.” (GO8UAO) The fact that urban and tourism development might threaten Jerash's potential as a World Heritage Site, irrespective of growth, is aggravated by the sustainable tourism principle created at the 1972 World Heritage Convention, which requires World Heritage Sites to maintain a dynamic function in the current life of the local community while being conserved for transmission to future generations (UNESCO, 1972). Accordingly, if the cultural values of the site that grant it a World Heritage status are to be well protected, and if the site is to continuously benefit the local community, managing urban and tourism development sustainably will be a critical issue. Different attitudes regarding the inscription of the Jerash site on the World Heritage List were revealed during the interviews and group discussions. They can be broadly divided into supporters and opponents. The latter believe that the Jerash site requires a more comprehensive management plan for development before being inscribed on the World Heritage List. The former believe that the issues surrounding urban development are not the primary reasons that the two nomination dossiers of the Jerash site were deferred. A tourism expert from the MoTA who supervised many urban and tourism development projects in several Jordanian cities reported: 126
“Most of the urban and tourism development projects in Jerash city were carried out in collaboration with international organizations to protect and develop the site to be like other World Heritage Sites, such as the cultural heritage sites in Italy and Spain, but there were obstacles and problems hindering the achievement of these goals. The government tried to benefit from the previous experiments by other countries that have World Heritage Sites in order to solve the problems surrounding urban development in Jerash. However, these experiments were marred by errors and cannot be implemented in Jerash due to the different surroundings of the Jerash site. For example, several projects have been implemented to develop the modern city of Jerash, but unfortunately most of them have failed, such as the Bus Parking Project and the Vegetable Market Relocation Project.” (GO1JTD) Other interviewed experts see this issue from a different angle, explaining that urban development is not the main reason that Jerash was not inscribed. A professor active in tourism research placed an emphasis on economic and political factors: “I think that the reason that the Jerash site is not inscribed on the World Heritage List is not urban development and population growth—there are many archaeological sites all over the world where people reside that are on the World Heritage List, such as the Historical Centre of Rome located in the city centre of Rome. In my opinion, there is no relation between residency and the requirements for inscription. Some people in Jerash inhabit old houses that are parts of the historical site, and they coexist with the archaeological context of the site. I think that the real reason that Jerash is not inscribed on the list is that there are internal and external interferences of an economic and political nature.” (NG3HU)
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Figure 5.3: The Historical Centre of Rome. A tourism expert who is also a member of the Tourist Committee of the Jordanian Parliament blamed the Jordanian government and those who prepared the nomination dossiers: “Urban encroachment is found in many World Heritage Sites, such as the Historical Centre of Rome and the Acropolis in Greece. All these sites have been infringed upon by urban development. I think that the real reason behind the failure of the two nomination dossiers in 1984 and 1993 was the insufficiency of the governmental bodies in preparing strong nomination dossiers. These files were weak because the governmental bodies which prepared the two files were unable to convince the UNESCO Committee because they did not effectively highlight, as much as possible, the importance and strengths of the Jerash site and downplay the weaknesses of the urban setting surrounding the archaeological site. The other reason for this failure is that the UNESCO Committee, which includes 21 members, always compares the Jerash site with other ancient GrecoRoman cities.” (NG9JTG)
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This opinion is understandable to some extent, but according to the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, the boundaries of the nominated property must be clearly defined and marked in order to safeguard the property from the impacts of urban development. For example, between three governments—Austria, Turkey and Germany—and UNESCO representatives over the controversial high-rise urban project in Vienna's city centre, the giant Halic (Golden Horn) Metro Bridge in Istanbul and the area of the Cologne Cathedral next to Rhine River juxtaposed the conflicting interests of heritage protection and urban development. Concerning these cases, UNESCO observed a harmful threat to the “visual integrity” of the World Heritage Sites in question. Consequently, it indicated that such developments would irreversibly influence their OUV and total cultural and natural assets. With regard to cultural heritage in Jerash, preservation and control measures should contribute to the aesthetic character of the site. Indeed, for the Jerash site, the main purpose of the World Heritage Inscription would be to provide adequate protection for the site after inscribing it on the list. “If UNESCO really wants to protect cultural heritage sites all over the world, the Jerash site is the most important one to be protected. The negative impacts of urban development and population growth near the archaeological site can be mitigated through
sustainable
urban
planning
in
collaboration
with
experts
from
intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations like UNESCO or ICOMOS, thereby reducing the residential and commercial activities surrounding the archaeological site.” (NG3HU) Protection of cultural heritage sites requires regulation and reduction of urban development in areas adjacent to the site. This requires delineating buffer zones. In order to delineate such zones in Jerash, some areas must be cleared of urban activities, expropriated, and evacuated. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee only requested a 50-meter buffer zone, and they did not talk about removing everybody from the city. Based on the 1986 report, it does not seem that the modern city of Jerash has to be demolished. According to this report, the DoA expropriated some plots of land and buildings in the southern and eastern areas that surround the archaeological site, aiming to remove all visual distortion from the archaeological site. An Australian PhD student,
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whose dissertation evaluates whether Jerash meets the World Heritage standards of archaeological work as a tourist destination, commented on such expropriation: “We should not expropriate all the lands in the modern city of Jerash, even though it exists over the archaeological remains. UNESCO’s rules were made after these people and their houses were already there. Nobody can tell the people from London that they are on an archaeological site and that you thus have to evacuate London. Jerash is a Roman period site, Bronze Age site and Prehistoric Site. That is nonsense. You cannot tell a modern thriving extended city that the whole city has to be evacuated so that you can find something underneath it; you would never be able to do that in any place. Before Jerash became a tourist destination and before the historicity of Jerash was even recognized, this modern town already existed. Look at what the MoTA did in the Umm Qais Archaeological Site when they evacuated everyone from the Ottoman Period village; those people are still fighting for their houses. Look at the people who live in Umm Sayhun: those people still feel they have ownership of their caves in the Petra site, and some of them are moving back, and I really do not believe that anyone from anywhere, even from Jordan, has the right to tell the people from Jerash that they have to evacuate their town so they can excavate underneath it. UNESCO, go and evacuate London first, and then tell the people from Jerash to evacuate their town. That is just another example of people not considering the stakeholder-ship of the people from Jerash at all. I do not think that the World Heritage Committee will ever expect the people from the modern city of Jerash to be removed because it is a thriving town. In the 1980s, when Jerash was first presented to be suitable for World Heritage Status, if they had wanted to expropriate the land that was outside the ancient city wall, all they had to have for Jerash was a buffer zone. When the committee talked about the buffer zone, they did not mean the whole of the land inside the ancient city wall—they meant the archaeological site itself. Now it is very difficult to expropriate that land and remove 50,000 people. Where are you going to put these people? Anywhere that you put these people, you going to be building on archaeological materials to some extent because the whole of Jordan is an open museum. If you say that you cannot build over an archaeological site, then you
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cannot build anywhere in Jordan. So all the people from Jordan have to go and live in the desert because there are no archaeological remains there.” (NG4JAU) Urban encroachment on an ancient archaeological site is normal due to the succession of civilizations. Despite the urban encroachment of the local stakeholders in Jerash, based on the opinions of the interviewed antiquities inspectors, Jerash is the most preserved Roman site in the World because most of its archaeological monuments are still standing and clearly defined, including the Main Colonnaded Street, Nymphaeum, Oval Plaza, Tetrapylon, and Artemis and Zeus Temples. World Heritage recognition would support cultural heritage management and provide financial assistance for excavation and conservation works within the designated site. The DoA hopes that such recognition would also give it stronger influence to develop tourism of site sustainably. The DoA and MoTA are currently seeking to have Jerash inscribed on the World Heritage List, and they were planning to submit the nomination dossier of Jerash in 2013. However, this has been delayed until further notice due to various unaddressed issues relating to protection, conservation and management.
Taking Authenticity and Integrity into Account in the Urban and Tourism Development Projects In spite of the successive recommendations of the World Heritage Committee to prohibit urban expansion near the archaeological site, construction continuously increases in the area. Moreover, the Wadi area – which should have been included in the buffer zone because it closely neighbours the eastern boundary of the archaeological site – is still the subject of conflict stemming from constant encroachment by the recent urban and tourism development projects. For example, the Third Tourism Project regenerated the connection area between the site and the modern city of Jerash, building a few associated buildings using substances incompatible with the archaeological character of the city. There was a consensus among the interviewees that the urban and tourism development projects, especially the Third Tourism Project, were not in line with the World Heritage Requirements of authenticity and integrity. An interviewed expert observed: 131
“I think that the Third Tourism Project does not take into account the nomination of the Jerash site to the World Heritage List because it only partially considered the sustainability requirements of the World Heritage Nomination in the implementation stage. Huge concrete walls more than 20m in height that were built near the Ancient Roman Bridge did not match the international standards of the heritage protection charters, such as the Venice Charter. It is known that the archaeological stones of the Jerash site are calcareous. The stakeholders of the project who participated in the rebuilding process do not know that the concrete does not match the character of the calcareous stones in terms of rigidity, colour and vulnerability to external factors. According to conservation science, this is completely backwards.” (NG1YU)
Figure 5.4: Huge Concrete Walls Distort the Integrity and Authenticity of the Connection Area between the Archaeological Site and the Modern City of Jerash. Quite strikingly, if one stands on the Ancient Roman Bridge, as illustrated in Figure (5.4), one will see very high concrete walls obscuring the beauty of the archaeological site. The Ancient Roman Bridge was one of the connection points between the east and west of the Ancient Roman City in the Roman period, though there is no longer a connection between them. The aim of the urban and tourism development projects is to link the modern city with the archaeological site, not to nominate the site on the World Heritage List, leading to a relative lack of consideration of 132
archaeologists’ viewpoints regarding the protection of the authenticity and integrity of the archaeological site. As a result, most of the streets in Jerash are full of basaltic stones, not calcareous stones which are more suitable to the archaeological character of the site. Such absence of archaeological awareness triggered a conflict between the archaeologists and the DoA on one side and the stakeholders of the project on the other. The first party of the conflict wishes to protect the antiquities during digging and construction of the projects, while the second party sees the DoA as a delay and hindrance to the contractor’s work. “In the last two or three years, the Third Tourism Project has been doing enormous damage to the antiquities in the modern city of Jerash; it just started, and no one has been supervising it. There has to be a sustainable process to dig in the antiquities areas. When you find buried antiquities, digging should be stopped. You have to develop roads for the Jerashians, but you also need to investigate what is there and then remove it. You cannot just dig it up and throw it out irresponsibly because that is not acceptable from the point of view of heritage protection.” (NG4JAU) Such urban encroachment caused long-term destructive impacts. The Jerash Antiquities Inspector complained angrily about the digging and construction methods contractors used in the modern city of Jerash and the Wadi Jerash Area: “If the DoA performs risky archaeological excavations in the future, they will not save what has been destroyed or damaged in and around the archaeological site. Some archaeological excavations may cause damage to the antiquities, so what will happen if random diggings occur using heavy vehicles such as bulldozers? The three projects did not consider the requirements for protecting the archaeological site.” (GO7JAO) As mentioned earlier, there is weak supervision of the three recent urban and tourism development projects largely because the stakeholders of these projects want to proceed unrestrained with their projects. Therefore, they aimed firstly to marginalize the heritage protection role of the DoA in these projects, even though it made an effort to safeguard the antiquities as much as possible. The stakeholders of the projects mentioned in their Environmental Impact Analysis Report that the expected environmental impacts of the 133
implementation stage would be generally positive in terms of traffic, air quality, noise, waste generation, health and safety and water quality. The report claimed that the negative impacts would be alleviated by sustainable environmental management practices. Nevertheless, most of the interviewed governmental stakeholders, especially the local ones, criticized the implementation of these practices. A civil engineer at the Jerash Governorate who is experienced in the implementation of the urban development projects in Jerash said: “I was provided with a copy of the environmental requirements for the Third Tourism Project, which must be adhered to during project implementation to protect the archaeological site and its surrounding environment from visual, noise and air pollution. However, it was only ‘Heber Ala Warag’3 because the contractor did not commit to any requirements, because he either has minimal knowledge of them or doesn’t want to commit to them in order to decrease expenses and costs.” (GO9JG)
5.4.1.2 The Government’s Conflict with the Local Community, Tourism Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Growing conflicts between heritage protection interests and local stakeholders over the exploitation of cultural heritage resources have emerged as well. Archaeologists and site managers are responsible for the protection of cultural heritage significances, so their interests may conflict with what local residents, small business owners, tourism entrepreneurs and projects stakeholders are looking for. For instance, site managers intend to mitigate the negative impacts of urban development on the archaeological site, thus restricting where and how small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs build and construct inside the ancient city wall area. Their commercial interests required them to get as close as possible to the archaeological site in order to enjoy more economic benefits from tourism. Multi-interest conflict occurred frequently between them in the adjacent areas of the archaeological site where lands are used for housing and tourism businesses. The DoA and tourism entrepreneurs often hold conflicting attitudes about the use of these areas. Most of the governmental interviewees agreed that the fundamental 3
Heber Ala Warag is an Arabic expression that means ink on paper, and it is used when what has been implemented does not match what has been planned.
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cause of conflicts between them and the local stakeholders was financial; the MoTA and DoA could not get real support from the local stakeholders without fair expropriation of their lands and businesses. The fund is not enough to expropriate all the lands of local residents and tourist restaurants around the archaeological site and inside the modern city of Jerash, and this hindered the implementation of zoning plans that could protect the archaeological site from urban encroachment. The coming sections of this chapter frame the discussion of the government’s conflict with the various stakeholders, providing an evaluation of the urban development in the modern city of Jerash and its interaction with the dimensions of sustainable tourism.
The Conflict between the Government and Local Community The local community in Jerash depends economically on the commercial centre of Jerash. Many residents remain on the east of the archaeological site to maximise these economic benefits. In many tourism sites, conflicts over resources often persist due to the on-going emphasis of heritage protection goals over the economic needs of the local people (Warner, 2000). “There are governmental attempts to move local residents outside the ancient city wall area due to their location over archaeological remains, although most of them are poor generating a source of income from it.” (NG8JTG) This situation caused conflict between public administrators managing the archaeological site and the local community. The local community blames governmental stakeholders for the implementation of the urban and tourism development, believing that such development would negatively impact their interests. The local community thought that the government was going to evacuate them from their houses (some of which the residents inhabited since childhood) in order to protect the archaeological site. The government intended to expropriate the houses mostly located in the western area of the archaeological site due to their proximity to the antiquities, but the local residents were against this action because they expected the government to expropriate their houses without fair compensation. “We always suffer from the policies and projects of the DoA and MoTA because they always aim to hurt us by displacing us from our houses for unconvincing reasons. They 135
used to say: We want to protect the archaeological site from you. Really, we do not hurt the site; it is our site, and we are proud of it. We are supposed to benefit from the site, not to be impacted negatively by it.” (LC5RH) Unfortunately, though the local community belongs to their site, they are not well educated on how to assist in protecting their cultural heritage. Consequently, most archaeological monuments and traditional buildings in the site and its surrounding area are susceptible to damage in the immediate future if they do not partake in the heritage protection related to the site.
The Government’s Conflict with the Tourism Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners A comment by a tourism director representing the MoTA expressed the overall mood of government agencies towards expropriation as a means of sustainable tourism: “I think there is a need to eliminate urban activities around the archaeological site, including some shops, though not all of them. There are some shops that tourists love to see, such as handicraft and souvenir shops, supermarkets and some other shops, but on the condition that their visual appearance be harmonious with the archaeological character of the city”. (GO1JTD) Such an attitude points to a family of conflicts between the DoA and MoTA on one side and the owners of both tourist restaurants and small businesses on the other. Mason (2003) pointed out that such conflicts often occur at tourist destinations because tourism enterprises benefit from tourism but are not willing to contribute to the protection of natural and cultural resources. Conflict between the DoA and property owners is frequent in Jerash. The objectives of the DoA and property owners are antagonistic and incompatible to a certain extent. The majority of the property owners are trying to increase their profitability by expanding their businesses, opening new markets and building new properties near the archaeological site. In contrast, the DoA regulates the expansion of urban development activities and the carrying capacity of the site in order to prolong the life of the valuable resources and to achieve a reasonable return on investment. 136
The mechanism of the regulation system involves expropriating land containing restaurants, shops, and houses which were constructed over a large part of the ancient Roman city (within the ancient city wall). As mentioned before, the World Heritage Committee deferred the Jerash nomination dossier because there were no clear boundaries of the Jerash Archaeological Site and no buffer zones around the site to protect it from the encroachment of continuous urban development. To remedy this, the government was planning to expropriate most the land surrounding the site and specifically to eliminate Wasfi At-Tal Street. “Because Wasfi At-Tal Street passes in the middle of the ancient Roman city, it divides the city into two parts [east and west]. This clear violation of the integrity of the city leaves unseemly scenery and distorts its visual appearance.” (NG1YU) Of course, the owners of the tourist restaurants and small businesses along the street and in the city centre expressed their dissatisfaction with the possibility of eliminating the street. The manager and some employees of Abu Sa'eed Restaurant said univocally: “If the government eliminates Wasfi At-Tal Street, our trade will experience a great economic loss because this street is the backbone of trade in Jerash.” (LS2AREST) After long arguments between the government and the owners of the tourist restaurants and small businesses, the MoTA and DoA suggested in 2010 to pave only one part of the street with flagstones commensurate with the archaeological character of the ancient city instead of eliminating the entire street. By doing so, it would have visually linked the two parts of the ancient Roman city and avoided negative economic effects on the merchants. However, this solution was not useful due to mistakes in the finishing stage. Another dimension of this conflict is that most tourist restaurants are adjacent to the archaeological site, and some of them were built on the boundaries of the site like Yahala Restaurant, Nahr Al-Dhahab Restaurant and Abu Ahmed Restaurant. For this reason, the DoA wants to demolish these restaurants and other infringing buildings. There have been a number of meetings between the DoA and the owners of these restaurants to discuss how it could demolish these restaurants. Negotiations regarding compensation came to a standstill as the restaurant
137
owners expressed doubt that their restaurants did not impacted the archaeological site at all. The manager and an employee of Yahala Restaurant argued: “We know that the restaurant was built within the site’s boundaries, but the land that the restaurant was built on is an excavated area with no antiquities. However, we agree that the government will likely expropriate the restaurant, but we are sure that it will not pay fair compensation.” (TE4REST) Yahala Restaurant maintains a legal lease to operate inside the site’s boundaries, and the DoA has yet to demolish it after four years of attempts. A similar conflict also occurred involving Jerash Restaurant and Bar, which benefits from international tourists. After failing to demolish the restaurant, the DoA resorted to demolishing the terraces of the restaurant. Before destroying the terraces, the capacity of the restaurant was 700 persons. Now it only seats 250.
5.4.1.3 Power Conflict and Overlap of Authorities: A Challenge for Sustainable Tourism Management Power conflict, particularly among the MoTA, DoA, and Jerash Municipality (the primary governmental stakeholders), is one of the main challenges in managing the balance of the discussion regarding cultural heritage tourism sustainably in Jerash. The two parts of the ancient Roman city have different administrative structures. The archaeological site in the west is administered directly by the DoA, and the modern city of Jerash in the east is administered directly by both the MoTA and Jerash Municipality, though the final say regarding urban and tourism development belongs to the MoTA. The MoTA wants to develop a contemporary form of tourism development at the Jerash site. On the other hand, archaeologists and conservationists at the DoA prefer to adopt sustainable heritage management rather than a contemporary development approach: “Particularly, the key issue is power conflicts between and among the governmental stakeholders regarding heritage protection, which is largely a result of mismanagement. 138
For example, the MoTA and Jerash Municipality do not completely follow the heritage protection instructions of the DoA. The MoTA and Municipality view Jerash heritage tourism differently from the DoA; they want something contemporary and attractive without careful consideration of sustainable tourism management.” (NG5JIT) This picture indicates an apparent divorce between the two parts of the ancient Roman city. The state of this separation made people reluctant to interact actively with the touristic reality of the city. Thus, the absence of an interactive connection between both parts of the city discouraged investment in tourism, especially for local investors. “In reality, there are many indigenous rich people in Jerash who successfully started their businesses in several sectors except the tourism sector. This was because of the strongly held stereotype that in Jerash, touristic projects are among the least successful projects due to the separation of the two parts of the city and unstable investment atmospheres.” (LC1AA) There are three managers of the Jerash Archaeological Site: the Director of the Jerash Tourism Directorate, the Jerash Antiquities Inspector, and the Director of Development and Restoration. These three managers perceive themselves to have overriding control of this site. Therefore, there is no one person obviously responsible for all the issues concerning tourism, archaeology, and urban development and, therefore, no one person to deal comprehensively with Jerash's sustainable tourism issues. This bred a palpable pessimism among the interviewed nongovernmental stakeholders, a pessimism shared by this archaeological expert: “The three managers of the site have no comprehensive vision for sustainable tourism management because the person in charge of the antiquities says, ‘We have to do this, and he does not care about tourism,’ while the person in charge of tourism says, ‘Oh, we must do that, and he does not care about antiquities,’ while the person in charge of restoration says, ‘We must conserve more monuments,’ and he does not care about either the archaeology or the tourism.” (NG4JAU) A local tour guide criticized the method of the DoA in its dealing with the MoTA:
139
“I think that the DoA does its work well, but it works individually; many agreements related to the restoration and archaeological excavations projects were signed without informing the MoTA about them. Working individually without any cooperation between the official stakeholders affects the decisions involving sustainable tourism.” (NG7JSD) Other archaeological and environmental experts think that the DoA should have a final say on both western and eastern parts of the ancient Roman city in order to prevent further urban encroachment beyond the ancient city wall and to delineate the all-important buffer zones around it. The latest of a succession of encroachments was initiated by the Director of the Jerash Tourism Directorate four years earlier when he destroyed the archaeological wall parallel to the old market and built a new street near the Old Market Bridge in its place to mitigate the heavy traffic congestion at the entrances of Jerash. An outcome of unclear delineation of authority, this action was a clear violation of the authority of the DoA: the Director of the Jerash Tourism Directorate discussed this action with deputies from both the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Royal Court without consulting the deputies of the DoA, which strongly opposed the measure. Some ministry officials closer to Prime Ministers seem to have more influence on the issues surrounding cultural heritage protection. For example, according to AlArab Al-Youm Daily Newspaper (2011), the Minister of Tourism, a few hours before leaving power at the end of 2011, accepted the approval of the Prime Minister to change the names of most of the Jordanian sites from archaeological to tourist sites, thereby allowing them to be leased to the private sector in future. In another instance, the MoTA cancelled and froze many of the units in the DoA, such as the Development Unit of the Archaeological Sites, and put them under its own control and authority. The MoTA also eliminated the position of the Directorate of Management of the Archaeological Sites, thus enabling the ministry to lease the archaeological sites to the private sector. Another power conflict occurs frequently between the DoA and Jerash Municipality concerning building licenses around the archaeological site and the modern city of Jerash. For example, to build in these areas, one should obtain a building license from the DoA ensuring that there are no antiquities in the proposed construction area. However, the Jerash Municipality sometimes gives citizens building licenses without asking the DoA, perhaps because of the tendency of the DoA 140
to intervene in urban and tourism development projects to protect the buried antiquities. A former Jerashian parliament member and former mayor of Jerash justified the Municipality’s disregard for the DoA: “The DoA stopped projects many times around the archaeological site because some antiquities were discovered during the excavation. When I was mayor of Jerash, the problem was that when we give a citizen a building license, he should first obtain permission from the DoA to build in the city centre. Also, when the Municipality wanted to construct in the city centre, it was not allowed to move any archaeological stones, and this hampers the urban and tourism development of the city.” (LC4AG) Most of the governmental employees in the Jerash Municipality blamed the DoA for the delays in the projects. An engineer in the Municipality reported: “The DoA was the only one responsible for the all delays in the urban and tourism development projects. Therefore, the DoA should compensate and solve all the problems that resulted from the delay in work.” (GO4JM) Two areas were particularly susceptible to conflict between the Municipality and DoA. The first one was the area opposite to the Jerash Municipality, which was subject to dispute after the deputy from the DoA halted construction, claiming there was an ancient church under this area. The second area is the Al-Birkatain Site, which the Municipality wanted to rehabilitate by building a tourist resort in collaboration with Italy and Lebanon. It again faced resistance from the DoA because its archaeologists believed construction would impact the integrity and authenticity of the Jerash site. Another area of conflict between all three governmental stakeholders is the Popular Market Building located near Al-qairawan Circle. The Municipality sought approval from various officials to administer the Popular Market Building, which includes 32 shops and 10 stores, in order to get rid of the undesirable hawkers selling cheap goods along the streets of the modern city of Jerash (King Abdullah Street and Wasfi At-Tal Street) (Figure 5.5).
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Figure 5.5: The Popular Market Building and the Hawker Stalls. It is unclear which stakeholder will use this building. It was founded by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (JD400, 000) as one of the ten markets in Jordan intended to eliminate hawker stalls, which are a clear eyesore to passers-by. Some interviewed employees of the Municipality pointed out that hawker stalls are spread out randomly on Jerash streets, causing traffic congestion for both vehicles and pedestrians. The employees added that the Popular Market is the best solution that respects both the environment and tourism: it would transfer stalls from around the city to this market. Although the Municipality wants to use this space as a popular vegetables and fruits market, the MoTA and DoA objected to this plan. For this reason, the building has been closed for over seven months, and it remains unused as of the publication of this study. Some small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs who are affected by these hawkers pointed out that the Municipality’s solution will not be useful:
142
“I think that there was no discussion with the hawkers regarding their interests in the building of the Popular Market Building. These hawkers simply do not want to transfer to this building. For them, stalls are better than shops because customers may buy from them while passing through the street; in addition ... if they moved to the shops, they would pay rent.” (TE4REST) The DoA did not agree that the Municipality should use this building as a vegetables and fruits market or that the MoTA should use it as a market for crafts and souvenirs, citing continuing distortion of the archaeological site’s integrity and authenticity. A conservationist in Jerash Antiquities Office said: “If I had been asked about that building before it was built in that area, I would have opposed and rejected it because we want the area parallel to the archaeological site empty of any new concrete buildings. Also, the idea of using it as a fruits and vegetables market is not good because the area of Al-qairawan Circle is a place of very heavy traffic. In addition, this market affected the beauty of the archaeological site. The Jerash Antiquities Office aims to eliminate such visual distortions, not to increase them.” (GO6JAO)
Overlap of Authorities and Limitation of Responsibilities As described above, due to the multiplicity of stakeholders and their various interests in the archaeological site, some of them do not know their exact responsibilities regarding the site. Consequently, there tends to be overlapping in their authorities, which sometimes turns into a compound overlapping. Some participants observed that this mostly occurs in the cultural heritage sites located in urban settings. An antiquities manager who excavated various archaeological sites for more than 17 years agreed with this, explaining how the most influential governmental stakeholders of the Jerash site make the delineation of responsibilities unclear: “There is a disclaimer from the MoTA, DoA, Jerash Municipality and Jerash Governorate. For example, in case of a problem, the MoTA says it is the responsibility of the DoA, and the DoA says it is the fault of the MoTA, while in the case of something 143
advantageous for the site or tourism in Jerash, all of them declare their responsibility for it.” (GO8UAO) Indeed, most interviewees tried to enhance the image of their relationships with each other, glossing over the truth of the matter. A governmental official interested in the conservation and management of cultural heritage resources exposed this situation: “The main reason for the overlap of authorities is that the administrative division of the archaeological site is unclear and responsibilities are not specified well. Different authorities work separately and sometimes issue overlapping decisions. Another reason for such overlap is the vague visions of the decision makers about how to manage the archaeological site and tourism in Jerash. Therefore, it is necessary to specify accurately the administrative duties and responsibilities of all the stakeholders before planning for any project related to tourism in any cultural heritage site.” (GO11DA) Some governmental officials complained that the development projects are sometimes delayed because of the limitations of their responsibilities and centralization. This limitation may frustrate efforts to provide comfortable job atmospheres that would otherwise allow employees to work without administrative impediments, for example: “The Jerash Municipality cannot make decisions without referring to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Also, the Jerash Tourism Directorate cannot proceed with any project without getting permission from the MoTA, although some executive decisions pertaining to the site are important and could not be delayed. The previously mentioned ministries want to supervise everything and limit the authority of their sub-departments. They always follow bureaucratic procedures and do not care, sometimes, about how delay would influence negatively the public interest of the archaeological site and tourism in Jerash.” (NG2YU) In sum, these departments object to the unjustified procedures that suppress their achievements and trigger conflicts of interest between them and the central executive governments.
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5.4.2
Economic Aspects
The leading economic sector in the Jerash governorate is the internal trade sector, which includes the 1959 establishments concentrated in the modern city of Jerash, such as retailers in auto repair and lubrication, groceries, foodstuffs, and apparel (Table 5.4). No. of establishments in internal trade sector
1959
No. of establishments in service sector
504
No. of establishments in industrial sector
341
No. of establishments in construction sector
26
No. of transport, storage, telecom. establishments
8
Table 5.4: Number of Establishments in Economic Sectors in 2009 (DoS, 2009). Although it recently became a major source of economic development and financial support, the tourism sector in Jerash is not yet commonly used as a significant means to reduce poverty and generate income due to inefficient management and development. Without efficient development that is conscious of the needs of the local residents, economic benefits will be considerably less than expected (see UNEP, 2005). Presently, the economic benefits of tourism are limited to people investing in and around the archaeological site. Most tourism-related activities are concentrated in restaurants and souvenir shops located along Wasfi At-Tal Street (near the archaeological site). The main reason for this is that there are no tourists entering the modern city of Jerash, such as the East Baths complex and the commercial centre, or going to its shops or restaurants due to lack of infrastructural connection with the archaeological site. The exception to this is when tourists stop for lunch at one of the tourist restaurants located near the archaeological site. As such, good tourism employment opportunities for the local community are primarily limited to working as tour guides. To remedy this, the government tried to bolster interaction between both parts of Jerash in the First, Second and Third Tourism Projects. These projects aimed to link them and regenerate the historical centre of the city. However, they also affected various stakeholders, particularly local stakeholders, with a number of urban issues leading to economic stagnation. This led to numerous conflicts.
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5.4.2.1 The Economic Conflict between the Local Stakeholders (Local Community, Small Business Owners and Tourism Entrepreneurs) and the Stakeholders of the Urban and Tourism Development Projects In urban heritage settings, conflict often arises over the development of tourism sites between the local stakeholders and those responsible for the urban and tourism development projects. Due to the past inadequacy of public infrastructure and tourism infrastructure in the modern city of Jerash, tourists could not enjoy all of the archaeological monuments and traditional buildings there. This led to the First, Second and Third Tourism Projects, which promised improvement. The last project in particular aimed to renew and improve traffic, solid waste collection, storm water drainage, water supply, sewage, electricity, public lighting and telecommunications (Figure 5.6).
Figure 5.6: City Revitalization Program of the Third Tourism Project (MoTA, 2005a).
146
In addition, the project focused particularly on creating an integrated network of pedestrian of paths on Bab Amman Street, King Abdullah Street and Wasfi At-Tal Street as a connection point for the local community and as a magnet for attracting local visitors and tourists. The Third Tourism Project was supposed to improve the local community’s quality of life, an alleged priority for urban and tourism development in Jerash. Unfortunately, it fell far short of this goal in the eyes of the residents. The local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs are thus in conflict with the managers of the project because it negatively influenced their lives and businesses: “Unfortunately, we were very enthusiastic about the Third Tourism Project, but we found it very frustrating and disappointing. We are not fully satisfied with the urban changes in the modern city of Jerash. When the stakeholders of the project showed us the plans and schemes of the project, the plans met our aspirations and expectations and were very suitable for the urban situation in Jerash, but the implementation of such schemes was disappointing and far from what was shown in the plans.” (LS2AREST) From their point of view, though initially promising, the Third Tourism Project was not executed according to plan. A governmental officer from the Jerash Municipality who knew about the schemes and plans shown to the local stakeholders before the implementation of the project reported: “In reality, the project failed and was not finished as intended. Some essential parts of the projects were excluded, such as the multi-story parking complex in the city centre. Therefore, there is general anger at the Third Tourism Project, but if a multi-story parking complex was built, most would feel satisfied with the project. The project is about to be finished, and the local community still feels dissatisfied. If you look at the city streets, you will notice the digging and construction that hinder movement in the city. For example, in two cases of fire in the city centre, no ambulances could reach there because the project had widened the pedestrian walkways and tightened the streets. Moreover, someone fainted in the Municipality area [the eastern part], and the ambulance couldn't reach him quickly because of these streets.” (GO2JM) 147
With regard to this, the local stakeholders declared that they are not against the Third Tourism Project, but they have objections to the idea of excluding some parts of the project like the decoration of the shop fronts, lighting, widening the narrow streets and the multi-story parking complex. This complex would eliminate traffic congestion in the areas of Al-qairawan Circle and Wasfi At-Tal Street. In an interview conducted by a journalist from Al-Ghad Daily Newspaper, Dr. Fawaz Al-Bashir remarked that building a multi-story parking complex with a capacity of 340 cars could alleviate traffic congestion which is due to local stakeholders parking their cars on the pedestrian sidewalks (Al-Ghad Daily Newspaper, 2011). But he affirmed that the multistory parking complex does not exist in the agreement signed between the MoTA and Jerash Municipality, so it could not be done without an official letter from the MoTA. The local stakeholders feel resentful of this project because, during the implementation of the project, the small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs saw a weakening of commerce in the city. Dust and sand accumulated daily during the digging and construction in the modern city, so most shops were forced to transfer to the area of Dahr As-sero and the entrances of Jerash. In fact, this pollution affected public health and safety. “The digging for this project is like the Jews War in Gaza. There are many big holes in the streets and no cautionary signage warning drivers, so many vehicles have fallen into holes, especially in the evening and early morning, and this was a real financial loss for individuals who were required to repair their cars over and over. The air pollution causes many health problems like asthma. An old man was taken to the hospital with an asthma attack because of the unremitting digging in front of his house.” (LC5RH) A number of small business owners at the city centre announced their bankruptcy as a result of street diggings and the closure of the main and side streets: “Before the implementation of the project our sales were reaching 600 Dinars per day, but they went down to as low as 50 Dinars during the project implementation. Fifty Dinars per day is too little to cover even shop rent. These projects negatively impacted our businesses and caused large commercial loss for us; the number of customers
148
decreased noticeably because customers wanted to avoid entering the city centre due to continuous traffic congestion.” (LS5ST) Therefore, their sales declined prominently. Small business owners can bear financial loss for two or three months, but after that they will go bankrupt. In spite of those successive losses, they did not get any compensation from the organisers of the project. When they complained, contractors would answer back: ‘We are building your city and developing its infrastructure.’ One of the most important customers that decided to stop buying from businesses in the city centre is the Olive Branch Hotel: “This hotel occasionally needs foodstuffs, meats, vegetables, fruits, and so on. We are now buying these things from Amman and not from Jerash. Why? Although some of these things exist in Jerash, we cannot buy them from Jerash because there is traffic congestion in the city centre of Jerash. For example, if we forgot to bring in vegetables and fruit with us from Amman, we say: ‘Oh, Allah! How will we get through the traffic congestion in the city centre of Jerash to buy what we forgot?’” (TE5HO) The presence of governmental departments and banks increases the traffic congestion in the city centre, such as the buildings of the Popular Army Directorate, the Jerash Municipality, the Institution of Civil Consumerism, Civil Status and the Passport Department, the Sharia Court and the Directorate of Land and Survey. Most of the banks4 are also located on the same street, King Abdullah Street. The lack of parking lots currently forces drivers to park their cars on both sides of the street, causing traffic congestion, particularly during rush hour (between 8 am and 2 pm). “Traffic congestion is concentrated in the targeted areas of the Third Tourism Project [the city centre, especially King Abdullah Street and Wasfi At-Tal Street] because they are always full of digging and construction. Because Jerash is considered a magnet for local tourists from nearby cities, such as Amman, Irbid, Ajloun, Mafraq and Salt, the traffic congestion became unbearable on the weekends.” (LS4MS)
4
The Housing Bank, Jordan Islamic Bank, Arab Bank, Bank of Jordan and Jordan Ahli Bank.
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Taking an opposing view, an engineer from the Jerash Municipality believes that the local stakeholders have negative attitudes toward new development, overlooking the advantages of the urban and tourism development projects conducted in Jerash: “The local stakeholders talk about the negative side of any project, despite its positive side. They always blame the Third Tourism Project, although it enhanced Jerash’s appearance in organizing the streets, offering comfortable pathways for passers-by, renewing water and sanitation networks and developing the telecommunications and electricity networks in the city.” (GO3JM) Some nongovernmental stakeholders supported this opinion, pointing out that the project is advantageous for both touristic and urban development purposes. A tourism expert, for instance, with extensive experience in managing some international development projects noted when asked about the impact of the project on the local stakeholders: “The stakeholders responsible for the Third Tourism Project execute its schemes according to a determined timetable. We all know this project was like an earthquake, but it improved Jerash. Although the traffic congestion and air pollution caused by the project affected the local community, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs, I am 100% sure that the project will develop commerce and tourism in Jerash.” (NG5JIT)
The Slowness of the Implementation of the Third Tourism Project Another source of financial losses and environmental problems was the slowness of the implementation of the Third Tourism Project. When the contractor for the project would come to work in a street in front of a house or shop in the city centre, he might say to a local resident that he wants dig on the street and must therefore close it for one week for the sake of infrastructural improvement. All too many residents would wait for a week only to find that the digging and construction were not yet finished. Residents thus began to feel that the stakeholders of the project were unreliable, and trust for the organisers of the project waned. This atmosphere of mistrust developed into a conflict due to the lack of commitment by the contractors and supervisors to one of the six principles of sustainable tourism in the ICOMOS International 150
Cultural Tourism Charter: “The rights and interests of the host community, at regional and local levels, property owners and relevant indigenous peoples who may exercise traditional rights or responsibilities over their own land and its significant sites, should be respected” (ICOMOS, 1999). One local resident got into an argument with the contractor: “When I met the contractor of the project [Dr. Fawaz Al-Bashir] fortuitously in the building of the Jerash Municipality, I complained to him about how the digging and construction closed the street in front of my mother's house located on King Abdullah Street for more than four months. I told him: ‘My mother is an old woman and needs to go daily to hospital, so the closure of the street for a long time prevents her from going to the doctor.’ However, the contractor answered me contemptuously: ‘Do you want us to open the street for your mother? Alhamdulillah, we are Muslims, and we should interact with relatives from the maternal side, so you should take your mother to live with you in your house until we finish the project.’ That was a reply from an educated person.” (GO4JM) Most of the interviewees had convincing and pertinent answers to the question, “What are the main reasons slowing the implementation of the project in Jerash?” Indeed, some of them were involved in this situation and some were affected by it. They commented that the slowness can be attributed to the following reasons: 1. “The planning for the project was not perfect before implementing it because there was poor
collaboration
and
coordination
between
the
governmental
bodies,
nongovernmental organizations and the construction companies responsible for the infrastructure services [drainage, electricity, water, internet and telephone]. For instance, the section of the street that runs by Bab Amman Light Traffic ahead toward the old vegetables market (Hesba) was dug and repaved five times. This is because after paving a street or a side-walk, they often recall that they forgot to lay something like sewage pipes, telecommunication cables or water pipes.” (LC2AN) 2. “The DoA played a significant role in the slowness of the project, especially in Wasfi AtTal Street, because it suspended the construction there for three months, prohibiting 151
digging or constructing if they found antiquities in the workplace. All work, as a result, should be halted until an inspector from the Jerash Antiquities Office comes to evaluate the discovered antiquities and document them. During this period, they should stop digging and construction until the antiquities are relocated to another safe place.”(NG5JIT) 3. “The contractor wants to decrease the project cost. […] Instead of employing five workers to do work in a short period, he employs two workers to save money without caring about time. In addition, even after all piping and electrical wiring is laid under the dug street, the contractor does not pave it; he waits until they have five dug streets to asphalt them together in order to decrease costs.”(GO9JG) 4. “The urbanized nature of the modern city of Jerash. […] From my experience as a civil engineer, it is very difficult to implement urban and tourism development projects in urban cities, especially if the local community is against the project because they will hinder the progress of the construction. Some of the local residents and small business owners were not cooperative in implementing the project, parking their cars in front of their shops in the night, thereby hindering the next day's work. However, they were acting like this because the digging and construction negatively affected their business, and they believe that this project does not consider their interests.” (NG3HU).
5.4.2.2 The Economic Benefits of Local Stakeholders and Unfair Distribution of Tourism Income The tourism sector in Jordan ranked second on the list of the most lucrative sectors for Jordanian National Income, and it is one of the sectors that bring in important hard currency. Many intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations like the UNWTO and USAID indicated that the tourism is one of the sectors that will promote high economic performance, generate revenue for the government and provide job opportunities in the twenty-first century (Lee and Chang, 2008). However, the tourism sector in Jerash is underdeveloped, and the tourism investment opportunities around the Jerash Archaeological Site have mostly remained 152
unexploited in spite of its potential with regard to the number of tourists visiting it. There are many investment opportunities in the accommodation services, such as hotels, lodges, and tourist camps. Others include agriculture, dairy, transportation and rent-a-car services, souvenirs and handicrafts, manufacturing, pay parking, and traditional activities. However, the lack of investments in tourism indicates that there are no job opportunities for Jerashian residents. Table (5.5) shows the number of tourism businesses employees in the most common tourist locations in 2012. The number of employees in the tourism sector of Jerash is small (336 people) in comparison to the other Jordanian cities, although the Jerash site is the second most visited tourist destination after Petra. Except in the tourist restaurant sector, investments in tourism are not yet adequate in Jerash. The tourist restaurant sector is of high quality and operates at the level of other Jordanian tourist restaurants. The number of employees in this sector is satisfactory (248 people), representing 74.5% of the total employees in the tourism industry in Jerash. This number ranked second after Amman and Aqaba (14611 & 1664), indicating the comparatively large scale of Jerash’s restaurants. Location Amman Aqaba Petra Dead Sea Madaba Ajloun Karak Jerash Wadi Rum & Deesah
Hotels 9246 2719 1255 1585 56 19 18 15 90
Tourist Restaurants 14611 1664 37 160
Travel Agencies 3969 177 162
Rent-a-car Offices 603 38 18 6 6
91 248
31 2 26 13
26
10
720
6
Tourist Shops 377 82 66 33 185 10 38 54
Tour Guides 1181
Total 29987 4680 1538 1618 438 37 173 336 846
Table 5.5: Numbers of Employees in Tourism-associated Activities in the Most Common Tourist Locations, 2012 (MoTA, 2013). The simple questionnaires distributed to the participants after the interview collected general economic information. Only 29.4% of the participants or their relatives were involved in tourism related businesses and employment (Table 5.7). Table (5.6) shows that there is a significant gap between the people living in the historical centre and around the ancient city wall and the people living outside the wall. About 22% of the people living in the historical setting of the city are 153
connected to tourism, compared with about 29% outside the city. This indicates that most of the people making money from tourism are not living in the historical setting of the city itself.
Historical centre and around the ancient city wall
Is tourism your income source? Yes% No% 22.2% 77.8%
Outside the ancient city wall
28.6%
71.4%
Table 5.6: Tourism-related Income Sources Based on Location of Residence.
Marital Status Number of persons in the family Household income / JD / Monthly Is tourism your income source?
Married 64.7% More than 4
Single 35.3% 4
3
2
1
53% More than 500 17.6% Yes
17.7% 400-500
11.8% 300-400
5.8% 200-300
11.8%
29.4% No
41.2%
11.8%
29.4%
70.6%
Table 5.7: General Economic Statistics of the Local Stakeholders (percentages indicate the fraction of people with the given characteristic). The Jordanian government, through the MoTA and DoA, recognized this lack of employment opportunities in tourism and addressed it in Jerash by launching different urban and tourism development projects concentrated in the modern city of Jerash in order to connect the local residents with the archaeological site. The primary impetus for this was the fact that the living standard of the local community in Jerash is lower than the rest of the major Jordanian cities like Amman and Irbid. The most important problems that influence the standard of living in Jerash are unemployment (especially amongst the youth), low income, inflation, continuous increase in prices and decrease of demand. Therefore, the local residents are dissatisfied about the economy, and the majority of the interviewees feel that tourism does not provide adequate economic benefits. One voiced strong concern: “Clearly, we are dissatisfied about the tourism sector in Jerash because we reap little or no financial benefit from it. We live mostly around and near the archaeological site, but 154
we are not actively involved in tourism events and activities, so we do not benefit from its generated income. Therefore, I think that this sector will never be successful and, hence, never sustainable.” (LC6FG) Another local resident bemoaned the past economic prosperity of tourism and blamed the government for the economic decline in Jerashian tourism: “The golden economic era of tourism in Jerash was between 1980 and 1996, when our economic benefits from tourism were much more than what we expected. But when the MoTA started its intervention in the tourism investments of the local residents, the ministry destroyed their investments; it moved their booths and the ticketing office from the entrance of the visitor centre to the far south of the archaeological site.” (LC3AS) An owner of a travel agency complained about how the tourism sector affects businesses: “For us, as a travel and tourism agency in Jerash, there might as well be no tourism in Jerash because we do not benefit from tourism in Jerash at all. In my business I rely on selling airline tickets only. There are no tourist groups that visit Jerash via our agency or any other local agency because those [tourism agencies] in Amman dominate trade, the economy and seemingly everything related to the tourism industry in Jordan.” (TE2TO) Expectedly, the local residents are dissatisfied because they do not see economic improvement that makes their city distinctive. The people of Jerash see big busloads of tourists coming into Jerash, and they know how much it costs to go to Jerash—they can calculate how much money is made from tourism in Jerash and how much of that money is actually spent in Jerash. This exacerbates their indignation that these resources are controlled by a small group of people and are exploited by the MoTA, shifting economic benefits to people who do not deserve them. The leakage of tourism income out of the local region is a major issue for sustainable tourism (see Chheang, 2009). The percentage of tourism investments made by the local community in Jerash is very low. As an example, 90% of the restaurants in Jerash are owned by people are not from Jerash. The owner of Yahala Restaurant is Syrian, the owner of Jerash Rest House is from Madaba, the owner of the Lebanese House Restaurant is from Lebanon, and the owner of Alkhayyam Restaurant is from Amman. Only the Green Valley Restaurant and Abu Ahmed 155
Restaurant are owned by people from Jerash. The shops in the crafts and souvenirs market (including handicrafts booths) are owned by people from Jerash, and some tour guides are Jerashians. The local community benefits slightly from the revenues of the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts though they do not actively participate in it. The local community only receives a 10% cut of the proceeds from the festival, and the other 90% is for big traders from Amman. “Poor people are becoming poorer while a tiny clique of rich people is becoming richer. The government never tried to connect us with the festival in order to enhance the standard living of the local community here. They just care about their mutual interests and relationships with the traders in Amman.” (LC3AS) In this context, Jordan's tourism sector is monopolized by Amman interests. “Sustainable Tourism Development” refers to a process that both achieves a rapid growth rate of the average real per capita income during a particular period and also distributes this growth relatively fairly without increasing the rate of poverty. An increase in real per capita income reflects an improvement of living standards, more equal job opportunities for citizens, an improved balance of payments and a reduction of the social disparities between the different layers of society, as well as the provision of goods and services required to satisfy local community needs. Against this, governmental policies aimed to develop the tourism sector in Jordan encourage monopolistic control by a small group of influential persons and beneficiaries. Such control increases the wealth of those beneficiaries; in other words, the monopoly concentrates the wealth in the hands of a few people, which normally causes a conflict between the exploited and the exploiter as well as chronic stressful relationships between the majority and the minority. In fact, residents see the festival as a negative occasion because it does not generate enough income for themselves and increases traffic congestion and pollution. Therefore, the residents think that the festival does not really “belong” to Jerash because the local and traditional products of the Jerashians are not displayed in it. Even the tickets of the different soirees and concerts are sold outside of Jerash. Most of the participants think this is due to mismanagement and lack of participation: “During the Annual Re-formation of the Supreme Committee for Managing Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, the government asked [the people from Jerash] to have a 156
real role in our festival. The representatives of the civil society, during their meeting with the Governor of Jerash Mr. Mazen Obaidallah, asked to appoint persons from the local community to the Supreme Committee of the festival. They said that they will not accept the festival unless Jerash and its sons have an active role in it, affirming that real participation in the festival is a popular demand for the local community. They also asked to hold the events and activities of the festival not only inside the archaeological site but also in the modern city of Jerash.” (LC6FG) What makes the local residents satisfied is not the temporary benefits but their effective participation in the management of the festival to achieve real sustainability of both the local community and the festival. In the case of Petra, for example, the local community became more linked to the site, its entertainment programs and cultural activities when they benefit financially from income generated from the site (Hijazeen 2007, 15). Besides the high rate of unemployment, ineffective participation of the local community and lack of investment projects, another issue is currently impacting the sustainability of the Jerashian economy: the shops in the crafts and souvenirs market sell many products imported from China and Syria due to lack of availability or higher price of these products in Jordan. A small business owner asked about the imported products remarked: “Yes, there are many products imported from China and Syria. We know that the local products are much better than the imported ones, but the tourists do not care about the quality of the products, the only thing that they care about is the price when they bargain. The imported products are cheaper than the local ones; therefore, I cannot sell the local ones because my business will be negatively impacted. Tourists do not care if the product is of high quality or not. I would like to sell the products that were made by the local handicrafts associations, but the problem is their high price.” (LS6PHY) Selling the products imported from other countries affected the handicrafts associations financially. The heads of the handicrafts associations in the Jerash governorate expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of initiatives to market their products by governmental bodies. In a group discussion with the President of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts (Salah Obaid), the 157
President of the Jerash Women Association (Enayah Khalil) and the Secretary General of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts (Ahmed Al-Smadi) conducted by a journalist from AdDustour Newspaper, the President of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts affirmed that all the handicrafts associations in Jerash are suffering from marketing and financial issues (Ayasreh, 2011). He expressed a desire to establish a new department in the Ministry of Social Development specialized in promoting their products. The Secretary General of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts said that the associations in Jerash are susceptible to bankruptcy, with many of their products not receiving attention. The President of the Jerash Women Association indicated that the products of the association are diverse, including embroidery products, carvings on wood and bone, sand bottles, textiles, mosaics, paintings, gypsum works, ceramics, accessories, pickles and dairy products. She said that the products of the association could not be marketed without governmental assistance. She added that it is essential for the economic sustainability of tourism to sell local handicrafts and other goods from Jerash to reimburse the Jerashian women who made these products. In addition, this will create job opportunities for women who wear headscarves and do not want to work with men; they could make the products in their houses or in the societies for women and bring them to the handicrafts shops to sell them to the tourists. This would achieve economic benefits while respecting the teachings of Islam and the traditions of the Arabs (Ayasreh, 2011).
The Conflict of Kickbacks and Commissions Because every member of the tourism distribution channel has different commercial interests and operational procedures, a number of conflicts tend to appear, as detailed by Buhalis (2000). Many of the interests of tourism entrepreneurs are incompatible since they compete against one another for business, attempting to attain their objectives often at the expense of competing parties’ objectives. According to LeBlance (2007), tour operators and guides often conflict with the tourist restaurants owners and souvenir shopkeepers because tourist restaurant owners and souvenir shopkeepers complain that they are expected to pay tour operators and guides to bring tourists to their restaurants or shops. A manager of a tourist restaurant condemned the kickbacks:
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“The dilemma that has a negative effect on the economic sustainability of our businesses is the kickbacks. Few tourist restaurants in Jerash benefit financially from tourism because they already arranged for kickbacks with the tour operators and guides, since the latter receive money from restaurants owners and souvenirs shopkeepers if they bring busloads of tourists to the respective restaurants and shops. These kickbacks range between 30-50% on every order made by the tourist.” (TE4REST) Such hidden deals threatened owners of tourist restaurants and souvenir shopkeepers, who were under increasing pressure from the tour operators and guides. Another manager of a tourist restaurant also highlighted the conflicts that were occurring between the tour guides and the owners of the tourist restaurants: “Although our restaurant is one of the oldest tourist restaurants in Jerash [40 years old], we do not benefit from foreign tourists because of the hidden deals between the tour guides and owners of some tourist restaurants in Jerash. The Jordan Tour Guides Association has neglected controlling the behaviours of the corrupt tour guides. These hidden deals benefitted a few restaurants, and the rest waited to welcome a stray foreign tourist without a tour guide. Our restaurant depends 95% on local tourism, and most of our customers are from Amman. In winter, foreign tourists visit our restaurant sometimes because the number of the tourist groups decreases in the winter season, so the foreign tourists come individually without a tour guide.” (TE1REST) The tour guides also take kickbacks from local souvenirs shopkeepers, exploiting the strong competition between the souvenirs shopkeepers in Jerash and the antique traders in Amman. Unfortunately, some tour guides lie to tourists for kickbacks. During a group discussion with the President of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts (Salah Obaid), the Secretary General of the Jerash Association of Handicrafts (Ahmed Al-Smadi) and a booth owner in the handicraft market, they clarified how tour guides exploit competition and deceive tourists: “There is a very strong competition between booth owners in the crafts and souvenirs market and antique traders in Amman. These traders are concerned that tourists do not buy anything from the Market because the antiques and handicrafts which we sell to 159
tourists are cheaper than those in Amman. Because the tourists do not know anything about Jordan, they trust the tour guide to a large extent. Before tourists step down from the bus, the tour guide says to them: ‘Do not buy anything from Jerash because I will take you to a handicrafts shop in Amman owned by my friend, and he will give you discounts.’ The reality is completely different because the owner of the shop in Amman is not his friend—the tour guide just wants to deceive tourists. He will take a kickback from the owner of the shop in Amman for bringing tourists to his shop. The tour guide takes a kickback on every tourist who buys anything from the shop in Amman. In fact, this kickback is taken from the tourist indirectly because the owner of the shop adds a particular amount of money onto the bill and gives it to the tour guide. When tourists come to the Handicraft Market in Jerash, they ask us sometimes about the price of a TShirt or souvenir they bought from Amman. We tell them the real price [e.g. 3 JD], and when they hear that price, they feel upset and angry because they bought it from Amman at 10 JD. After that, the tour guide blames us angrily because we told the tourists the real price.” (TE3CSM) Although such kickbacks are illegal, they are a reality for tourism in Jerash. Therefore, the small business owners begrudgingly tolerate it, as some of them expressed: “Tour operators and guides are like vampires: they suck our blood. Such hidden deals are a sort of conspiracy between the tour operators or guides and restaurant owners or shopkeepers, and it really digs into the profits of tourism entrepreneurs and contributes to slowing down sustainable tourism development.” (LS2AREST)
5.4.2.3 Deportation of Shops, Expropriation of Lands and Compensation Conflicts involving expropriation are a two-edged sword. On the one hand, the local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs emphasise the threat to commerce resulting from implementing protective buffer zones around the Jerash Archaeological Site. On the other hand, the site managers and conservationists emphasise the threat to monuments and antiquities resulting from the increasing encroachment of urban development. Despite the continuous 160
attempts of the DoA to stop the urban encroachment on the Jerash site, there is still some urban development activity near the site, with the west area being more developed and organized than the east one. Such encroachment expresses how important these areas are economically for local businesses, for which tourism as a secondary source of income. The expansion of modern buildings and houses encroached upon the eastern half of the ancient Roman city, surrounded by the ancient city wall. If one digs under practically any building here, he will find antiquities. These buildings host governmental departments (the Jerash Municipality, the Education Directorate, the Directorate of Public Works and the Court), banks, shoe shops, poultry shops, auto repair and lubrication shops, and vegetables and fruits markets. Most of these departments and shops are concentrated on King Abdullah Street (the city centre). Al-Saad (2008) previously suggested that the DoA should remove all buildings that do not cohere with the touristic character of the city and expropriate most of the land plots in the western and eastern areas surrounding the site, as well as a few plots in the southwest toward the Hippodrome. Despite the difficulty the DoA faced in purchasing and funding this land acquisition, it managed to expropriate some of the land (Myers, Smith & Shaer, 2010). Most of the expropriated land was on Wasfi At-Tal Street, which extends from Yahala Restaurant to the Visitor Centre of Jerash. Located in the commercial heart of the city, the land was expensive. A former parliament member and former mayor of Jerash mentioned the difficulties that faced the relocation of the governmental departments, a main cause of traffic congestion in Jerash: “When I was a parliament member, I tried to solve the traffic congestion problem by relocating the governmental departments in the city centre, but the financial solvency of some of these departments was not sufficient to buy a new piece of land in order to build a new building. However, the departments that had enough money were relocated from their old places, such as the Education Directorate that moved from King Abdullah Street [in front of the Jerash Municipality] to a new building in the camp street [near the old governorate]. From three to four thousand teachers were visiting the department regularly in addition to its employees, and most of them were parking in front of it. The Department of Public Works and the Court were also moved from the city centre, and there are still some departments that should be relocated.” (LC4AG) 161
The owners of poultry shops were forced to evacuate their shops, and the auto repair and lubrication shops were moved to Craftsmanship City due to their foul odour and emissions. The Manager of the Jerash Chamber of Commerce believes this relocation will simultaneously benefit tourism and business owners in the city: “This relocation will beautify the historical centre and will be better for the business owners because the location of the Craftsmanship City is more appropriate for their line of work than the previous one. In addition the government decreased the rents of the hangars in this city from 170 JD to 110 JD per month in order to compensate them for removing them from the commercial centre.” (LS1JCC) Local residents and small business owners demanded an unrealistic amount of compensation before and during the implementation stages of the Third Tourism Project. Therefore, they conflicted with the stakeholders of the project (the MoTA) when the construction company for the project found antiquities during digging and construction in the modern city of Jerash. “If antiquities are found during digging and construction, the DoA makes a primary archaeological excavation and evaluates the discovered archaeological area. If it is significant, the DoA expropriates it. If it is not, they bury it again. If they decide to buy the land, they start negotiations with the owners. If they do not agree with each other, the land is taken by force, and then the owners file a legal suit in court for compensation.” (NG7JSD) Another type of land use conflict frequently happens when the stakeholders of the project expropriate buildings that contain shops or restaurants located in the East Baths area and the Golden Valley areas. The owners become dissatisfied with the meagre compensation. A manager and owner of an accessory shop located in the city centre (Bab Amman Street) elucidated the compensation system for the buildings in this area: “There is a complex dispute on the subject of land expropriation and eviction of the shops and restaurants that are located in the city centre because the tenants in these areas only take one portion [15%] of the total compensation for a given building. This means that if a building has 10 shops, and the compensation was 500,000 JD, then 162
75,000 JD would be distributed to the tenants of the shops, and every tenant will take only 7,500 JD. This is not fair.” (LS3AS) Since the government short-changes these tenants, most land expropriation conflicts are solved by the courts. A local resident mentioned an example of an ongoing land expropriation conflict between the government and small business owners: “The government expropriated three commercial shops [two auto repair and lubrication shops and an electrical maintenance shop] eight years ago, and these shops were adjacent to the archaeological site and owned by the Qu’war family. The government paid them compensation, but the family did not accept this offer and filed suit against the government to get higher compensation. For eight years, and to this day, however, they have not received anything, and the case is not finished yet.” (LC3AS)
5.4.3
Socio-cultural Aspects
The socio-cultural aspects of conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development are diverse, involving the socio-cultural relationship between tourists and local residents on one side and between local residents and cultural heritage on the other. Malviya (2005) indicated that urban development causes severe socio-cultural impacts on both the local community and cultural heritage:
Cultural deterioration and damage to cultural heritage may arise from vandalism and illegal removal of cultural heritage items or by changing their historical landscape.
Resources create conflicts, such as competition between tourism and local populations for the use of scarce supplies of water and energy.
Conflicts with traditional land use may also arise when the construction of hotels and touristic facilities cuts off access for the locals.
In the same context, since the late 1960s, one could witness uncontrolled urban development in Jerash that modified the cultural landscape of the Jerash Archaeological Site, and it was 163
accompanied by continuous damage to the ancient monuments and antiquities of the site (AlSaad, 2008). In addition, urban development has contributed to separating the local community from the tourists and the site, dividing the ancient Roman city (within the boundaries of the ancient city wall) into two parts—the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site. Thus, local residents do not feel the changes that tourism brings in cultural values, life styles, celebrations, and beliefs. The First, Second and Third Tourism Project were conducted in the modern city of Jerash in order to rehabilitate its historical centre and change the function of its shops from commercial to touristic, especially those located along King Abdullah Street, thereby linking the modern city to the archaeological site and reconstructing a socio-urban connection between them. The most important challenges for the historical centre of Jerash are recovering its urban centrality, addressing the disconnection of the two halves of the city and reviving its social and economic mission within its regional context (MoTA, 2005a). From a social point of view, the higher quality of the historical centre and enhanced standard of living will strengthen social cohesion among the diverse social groups of the local community, providing a mutual public space for the population, as well as the occasional visitors and tourists of Jerash.
5.4.3.1 The Local Community’s Understanding of the Tourism Industry: Tourism versus the Culture of the Local Community As mentioned earlier, the main aim of the urban and tourism development projects in Jerash is to link the modern city to the archaeological site socio-economically, but the local community in Jerash does not appear prepared to receive tourists. Local participants explained three main socio-cultural hindrances between the two halves. A local engineer in the Jerash Municipality mentioned the first, comparing the socio-cultural interaction of local residents in Jerash and Petra with tourists: “The local residents in Jerash are unaccustomed to seeing tourists and dealing with them because tourists only visit the Jerash Archaeological Site and rarely enter the modern city of Jerash. On the contrary, in Petra, there is heavy integration between the local 164
community and tourists, and this has increased the socio-cultural benefits of the local community. There is a clear example of this integration: The children who sell souvenirs in Petra can speak three or four languages, showing that they recognize different cultures and ways of thinking through their direct contact with tourists.” (GO3JM) From this comment, one can see that the people from Jerash require more awareness about how to deal with tourists in their city. A Jerashian tour guide mentioned another hindrance: “A stumbling block in the way of linking the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site is the conservative Islamic nature of the local community. The first link between the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site is the Roman Bridge, and there is a mosque next to this bridge [Al-Hashmi Mosque]. If the two parts are linked by this bridge, the first building which tourists will pass is the mosque. If the entry of [female] tourists who habitually wear short skirts coincided with the exit of Muslim prayers from the mosque, this would tarnish the mood of the prayers.” (NG8JTG) Similar comments were made by a previous member of the Jordanian parliament who has direct contact with local residents through occasions like weddings and funerals (i.e. “Jaha and ‘Atwa”5): “The local community in Jerash is conservative. In the 1960s, a man wanted to open a cinema, but people from Jerash prevented him because they thought that it may show movies with sex. We know that the millionaires in Jerash can build huge hotels, but they do not want their relatives and surrounding conservative community to consider such investments as incompatible with their customs and traditions. If they open hotels, night clubs and bars for tourists that buy wine, other people will insult, blame and criticize them harshly.” (LC4AG) Despite the conservative tenor of the local community, they are generally open-minded, generous, friendly and likely to welcome tourists if they had the chance. This would be made 5
These are part of the Arab traditions and customs, and they are commonly used during happy and sad occasions. Jaha involves a group of men (relatives and friends) who go with the man who wants to get married to the house of the girl of interest in order to ask her parents and family to accept the engagement. ’Atwa involves a group of men accompanying the family of a person who killed somebody, commonly by mistake, to the house of the killed person to ask his/her parents and family for pardon and forgiveness.
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easier if tourists had basic information about local tradition and custom. The third hindrance concentrated more on how the MoTA did not pay attention to certain sociocultural activities and entertainment programs in the modern city of Jerash before linking the two parts of the city physically: “The idea of the MoTA to link the modern city with the archaeological site is not ideal since it creates an improved infrastructural linkage without also creating socio-cultural link between the two parts of the city. There should be cultural centres in the modern city to show tourists entertainment programs and short historical and traditional plays about the successive civilizations that inhabited Jerash in different languages. These services and facilities are necessary to attract tourists’ attention; [otherwise] they will go back to Amman.” (GO8UAO)
5.4.3.2 The Relationship between the Local Community and the Jerash Archaeological Site Despite the separation of the city, some local residents expressed in interviews and group discussions their sense of belonging to the site and enthusiasm to help to develop the site: “I proudly belong to Jerash site and this sense of belonging stems deeply from my deep love for the place where I was and am still living. I am ready to do anything for the site; my family and I fully support any development or protection measures at the site or the modern city. We want Jerash to become similar to the most famous cultural heritage cities like Rome and Venice.” (LC2AN) Most of the local perspectives on the Jerash Archaeological Site have indicated that the local population poorly understands cultural heritage in general and, particularly, the identity of the site. This deficiency is inversely proportional to their proximity to the site. For example, a local resident who lives inside the ancient city wall described the gap between the local residents and the site: “There is no relationship between the local community and the archaeological site 166
because the site is separated completely from the local community. They do not know anything about the importance of their archaeological site. In addition, they often detract from the significance of the site. For example: In the past, some people from Jerash called the site ‘Wreckage and Havoc,’ without ever having visited the site.” (LC2AN) More comments from local residents who live outside the ancient city wall described the relationship between the local residents and the site as being more aggressive: “There is an antagonistic relationship between the local residents and small business owners on one side and the archaeological site on the other, since [the former] are angry at the urban and tourism development projects [the Third Tourism Project] that were implemented around the site because they negatively influenced the commerce in the city.” (LC3AS) The local residents of Jerash feel that the archaeological site damages their city and its commercial activities. They consider it a threat to their daily life. An Australian archaeologist who lived with the local residents in Jerash for more than three years described how the local residents feel about their site after the execution of the urban and tourism development projects: “One of the things that I say about the Jerashians is that if you said to some of them, for example, ‘We could take this place [the archaeological site] and put it in Mafraq’, most of the population would say, ‘Okay, take it, and thanks!’” (NG4JAU) Most governmental stakeholders agreed with the local community on the causes of this antagonistic relationship, but the Jerash Antiquities Inspector thinks that there is another cause: “We know that the main reason for the inimical relationship between the local community and the archaeological site is the negative impact on [the community’s] trade. But there is another root cause: Perhaps their bad reaction is caused by the feeling that the archaeological site violated their rights when their lands were taken by force without proper compensation. They used to let their sheep graze and had picnics inside the archaeological site in the 1960s, but […] these behaviours are now forbidden.” (GO7JAO) 167
Unfortunately, during the 1960s and 1970s, the local residents had no archaeological awareness. In fact, some people in Jerash used the old archaeological stones to decorate their houses. In the past, any resident who had or lived near a traditional building or antiquities area wanted to destroy it, not to protect it, since from resident’s point of view, this building had no economic benefit. The city centre became totally commercial, but the traditional buildings could not be used commercially, so the residents destroyed some of them and built new buildings or houses instead of them. Therefore, the Jerash Antiquities Office is currently trying to counteract the vandalism culture among local residents that threatens the sustainability of the site: “Now we are creating a strong relationship between the archaeological site and the local community by convincing local residents that the site belongs to them because it was not built by the Romans, but by Jerashians in the Roman period. When people in Jerash have a strong idea about the economic benefits that they will gain from the site, the inimical relationship will become friendly.” (GO7JAO) Concerning the resident’s attitudes towards tourism, most of them focused on the importance of tourism activities in the modern city of Jerash, and they tend to support any activities that generate benefits (economic and socio-cultural) for them.
5.4.3.3 The Relationship between the Local Community and Tourists While tourism has positive economic benefits, it can also have negative socio-cultural impacts, particularly in the conservative communities where some local residents think that interaction between them and international tourists will negatively influence their customs, traditions and cultural identity. Taking pictures of local residents without permission and wearing revealing clothes, especially in holy sites and conservative communities, are examples of impacts that local residents might think bothersome (even supposing they may stay ostensibly courteous). Jerash and its community are not heavily influenced by such impacts due to the separation between the populated city and the archaeological site. In addition, the MoTA concentrated most of the touristic services and facilities inside the archaeological site and its surrounding area so that tourists do not have to enter the modern city of Jerash to use them (Darabseh, 2010). In other 168
words, there is a gap between tourists and local community, preventing the former from embarking on a meaningful cultural experience and leaving the latter far away from the benefits of tourism (Abu Al-haija, 2011). “The tourists do not only want to see stones; they also want to see an integrated setting and different culture, enter the historical centre, and experience the daily life of the local community.” (GO9JG) The “Host-guest Relationship” is still very incomplete in Jerash. The rareness of interaction between the international tourists and local residents makes the latter feel inferior to the former. The perceived level of separation can be startling, two local residents said: “The MoTA had accustomed townspeople to seeing tourists only in pictures; in fact, there is no interaction or communication between them. So, the subjection of the tourism industry and the archaeological site to the power of the MoTA alienated the local residents and created a gap between them and tourists, and they never attempted to narrow this gap. As a result of that policy, when local residents see a tourist, they meet him surprised and often ask him to take a photo together exactly as if the tourist is a creature from another planet.” (LC1AA) “This separation between tourists and local residents occurred since the MoTA has been looking to Jerash as only a Roman City walled with three-meter fences.” (LC2AN) A healthy “Host-guest Relationship” in urban setting can be seen in Cairo, Egypt where the tourists’ tours are not limited to visiting the Pyramids and other archaeological sites. The tour itinerary includes visits to the Historical Centre of Cairo in order to enjoy the folklore life of the Egyptian people, including folk dances, walks through marketplaces and classical bazaars, such as Khan Al-Khalili and Al-Hussein Bazaar, as well as interaction with local residents and small business owners. The local residents in Jerash do not yet have the “tourism mentality”—they have yet to become open to tourists that visit the site for one to two hours and then leave for another site or to their hotel in Amman. Therefore, there is a real need to bridge the gap between the Jerash Archaeological Site and the modern city of Jerash by creating friendship and agreement between 169
tourists and local residents. The tourists could then become a part of the social life in Jerash.
5.5
Investigation of the Conflict Causes
Evaluating the root causes of conflicts between sustainable tourism, urban development, and the interests of stakeholders is indispensable for conflict resolution. It is difficult to determine the relatedness between the causes of the conflicts due to their complexity. Although all stakeholders agree that the local community should benefit from the site and tourism in general, conflict lies in the tension between sustainability and the decision-making mechanism. Conflict tends to arise at the implementation stage: “Conflict usually happens when you ask the following question: What is ‘sustainability’ of the site and tourism? There are differences in understanding the definition of sustainable tourism in any site; the archaeologist’s point of view is different from the points of view of the local community, urban contractor or tourism expert, and this is due to their different interests and backgrounds. Therefore, implementation decisions should be made based on one single definition agreed on by all the stakeholders because all of them are concerned with the sustainability and development of the site.” (NG11GJU) The conflict of the stakeholders’ interests was the core problem of the sustainable tourism implementation in Jerash. In order to address the basis of these competing interests, the researcher analysed the causes of conflict based on the perspectives of the stakeholders which concentrated mostly on five principal causes: (1) the short tourists’ stay in Jerash, (2) the inefficiency of legislation for conservation and management of cultural heritage, (3) the lack of a comprehensive vision for urban and tourism development in the cultural heritage areas, (4) the lack of local community participation and involvement in the decision-making process, and (5) the level of coordination, participation and collaboration work among the governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. How these conflicts are sustained is also discussed.
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5.5.1
The Short Tourists’ Stay in Jerash
Tour operators that are in charge of the current site visit path and visitor circulation incorrectly added Jerash to the typical tour itinerary in Jordan. Only two hours are assigned to the Jerash Archaeological Site. After the tourist bus reaches the crafts and souvenirs market, the tourists walk into the archaeological site for one hour and then hurry out of the city without passing the modern city of Jerash or having the opportunity to interact or communicate with the local community since the archaeological site is enclosed by fences. To visit the site, local residents need to buy tickets. If time permits, and the tour guide has a prearranged agreement with a tourist restaurant, the guide will take tourists for lunch in Jerash for a maximum of one hour before going to Northern Jordan or returning to Amman. As such, the local residents do not benefit from the tourist influx, which is limited to the archaeological site. During the interviews and group discussions, the participants mentioned three main causes of the short tourists’ stay in Jerash: unfair touristic advertisement for Jerash, the short tourists’ stay in Jordan in general and the inadequacy of the touristic services and facilities. Jerash has never been promoted as a long-term tourist destination by the JTB, MoTA or DoA. Instead, Jerash is promoted as a one to two-hour destination. “Touristic advertisement gives Jerash only two hours of the whole tourist's tour in Jordan. If you want to visit Jerash, you need at least three to four hours to see the whole archaeological site. The diversity of the Jerashian tourism product should earn it much more time from the tourist tour in Jordan.” (GO8UAO) Indeed, some of the participants indicated that it is vital for the MoTA and JTB to coordinate with the mass media to prepare advertising for Jerash and increase its share in the tourist tour of Jordan, encouraging tourists to spend a full day in Jerash. The second cause of the short tourists’ stay in Jerash is related to the short tourists’ stay in Jordan in general, averaging two to five days. An Assistant Professor at Yarmouk University who worked as a tour guide at various cultural heritage sites in Jordan explained: “The tourist’s tour in Jordan is a part of a tour itinerary including many Arab countries and Israel. The Arab Spring in some Arab countries has negatively impacted tourism in 171
Jordan as the number of same-day and overnight tourists decreased sharply from 8.2 million in 2010 to 6.3 million in 2012, although there was no revolution here in Jordan, just some peaceful demonstrations to improve the economic and political situation.” (NG1YU) Thirdly, tourists do not stay overnight in Jerash because there are only two hotels in Jerash. The first one (Ghusn Al-zaytoon) is actually located about 5 km outside the city. The second one (Hadrian Hotel) is a small hotel located in the modern city of Jerash, but it consists of only a few rooms and offers no drinking or eating services. If tourists knew there were hotels and cultural and recreational places to be visited in Jerash at night, they would ask the tour operators to extend their stay in Jerash. Of course, there really are no such accommodations and recreational sites. Therefore, they go back to the hotels of Amman. A Jerashian tour guide pointed out how the lack of accommodation services influences the quality of tourism: “A large number of tourists come to the archaeological site at, say, 4 pm, and because they arrive late and the site closes at 5 pm, tourists usually ask me to stay overnight in Jerash in order to visit the archaeological site in the morning. [...] But because there are not enough hotels to accommodate them, I returned them to Amman to stay overnight in the hotels, and in the morning, I take them to the site. In spite of that, the tourists number of the Umm Qais Archaeological Site is much lower than the tourists number of the Jerash Archaeological Site, and tourists stay overnight in the hotels of Umm Qais town much more often in comparison to Jerash city.” (NG8JTG) The reason for the lack of investments in accommodation services is that Amman is near Jerash, allowing tourists to go from Amman to Jerash and return to Amman in the same day, which is reinforced by advertisement: “The travel and tourism agencies in Amman promote Jerash as a short-term destination, so you can go to Jerash and come back to Amman in the same day. They also recommend that ‘it is advisable to go and come back.’ Since the tourists do not know Jordan well, they trust those agencies. Therefore, Jerash and Madaba are the victims of Amman because they are located near it. Madaba has many hotels since it depends mainly on 172
religious tourism, and Christian pilgrims visit the baptism site, but most of the tourists go back to Amman to sleep there.” (NG3HU) Thus, the local residents in Jerash do not invest their money in building hotels in Jerash since very few tourists stay there. Local residents often claim that the “Big Whales”6 in Amman are controlling the tourism business in Jerash. An investor and local tourism expert from Petra said regarding the dominance of a small number of entrepreneurs on the tourism industry in Jerash: “The local residents in Jerash say ‘Big Whales’ as an excuse. In Petra, as an example, there are local investors who cannot compete with multinational hotels and tour operators. But there is a competitive advantage. If Jerashians succeed to compete with these ‘Big Whales’ in Amman, they will easily survive the start-up stage, which is the most difficult stage in the investment process. If local investors built [a supply of] hotels in Jerash, they will create the demand. I believe that tourism may get sick but it never dies.” (NG9JTG) The tourists do not extend their stay in Jerash due to the lack of entertainment facilities like amusement parks, zoos, public spaces, ethnic shops, and traditional products. Additionally, there are no cultural centres or museums in the modern city of Jerash. The tourists’ time in Jerash is limited to visiting the archaeological site. This lack of recreational facilities increases the intrinsic risk of investing in hotels.
5.5.2
The Ineffectiveness of Legislation for the Sustainable Tourism Management of Cultural Heritage
A major threat to the sustainability of tourism, continuous human encroachment on the historical centre has expanded due to the lack of legislation concentrating on comprehensive protection, rehabilitation and development of the cultural heritage. In addition, there is an absence of detailed legal instruments related to zoning and expropriation in these areas. 6
“Big Whales” is an Arabic expression used when small traders describe big traders because they dominate the supply and demand of commerce.
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Jordan has numerous laws related to tourism, antiquities and cultural heritage dating back to the 1960s. These laws are: (1) The Tourism Law no. 20 of 1988, (2) The Antiquities Law no. 21 of 1988 and its latest amendments in 2003, (3) The Protection of Urban and Architectural Heritage Law no. 5 of 2005, and (4) The Cities, Villages and Buildings Planning Law no. 79 for 1966 and it amendments (Article 14, 15 and 19). Although these laws partially protect the cultural heritage sites located in urban settings, they have other deficiencies: “I think that the government cares for the economic aspects more than the interests of cultural heritage protection. Money is a thing but not everything. [...] The governmental legislation is short-term and unsustainable, as there is no balance between use and protection, and there has been no identification of the carrying capacity of the cultural heritage sites. Therefore, the government should develop legislation related to sustainable tourism in order to create a balance between the dimensions of sustainable tourism and satisfy every stakeholder's interest.” (NG12YU) The Tourism Law and the Antiquities Law are unable to provide a suitable atmosphere for the implementation of sustainable tourism in Jerash. There is only one article (Article 3) in the Tourism Law noticeably improving the tourism industry and increasing its contribution to the national income, but it has a narrow economic and cultural impact because it merely encourages the private sector and local community to develop hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related services. Therefore, in 2007, the MoTA, in collaboration with the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project (Siyaha), developed a new tourism law introducing tourism site management and planning concepts. This legislation presents a clear framework for enhancing the ministry's role in formulating and institutionalising strategic planning for tourism development and in establishing cooperation between the ministry and other tourism stakeholders, as well as local communities (MENAFN – Jordan Times, 2007). Despite these developments, the law lacks appropriate methods for balancing the various issues confronting sustainable tourism in the cultural heritage sites and their urban historical centres. The management of the Jerash Archaeological Site is considered one of the main sources of real conflict between the DoA, MoTA, and other ministries and governmental organizations.
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“The archaeological site is managed according to two laws. The DoA manages the archaeological site according to the Antiquities Law, but the MoTA manages it according to the Tourism Law. There has so far been no modern law that gathers together the antiquities and tourism issues. Furthermore, there are no laws and regulations with regard to tourism that provide general information about the archaeological sites in Jordan.” (NG1YU) As discussed above, this legal confusion can be attributed to the inconsistent overlap of various authorities, along with the insistence by some administrative bodies (such as the MoTA, DoA, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, or the Ministry of Public Works and Housing) on controlling urban and tourism development in Jerash without regard for archaeological and historical factors. For example, the laws that regulate urban and tourism development around the archaeological site conflict on many points. The Municipalities Law and the Law of Public Works and Housing are implemented in most districts of Jerash with little attention to sensitive archaeological and historical areas or the constraints of the Antiquities Law. To make matters worse, the Antiquities Law is not efficiently and broadly enforced—a major factor prohibiting Jerash from being inscribed on the World Heritage List. “One of the key justifications for deferring the World Heritage nomination dossier of the Jerash site is the unidentified boundaries of the site and the urban encroachment on it. The archaeological zoning article of the Jordanian Antiquities Law of 1988 [Article 13a] stated that it is prohibited to license any kind of construction, including buildings and walls, unless it is about 5–25 m away from any antiquities. This buffer zone distance has not been well applied in Jerash since enacting the law, so the urban expansion of the modern city of Jerash encroached on the boundaries of the archaeological site. I think that the problem is in how to apply this buffer zone strictly on the ground.” (GO9JG) This weak enforcement indicates that there is a weakness in the laws themselves that hinders their enforcement. The majority of the participants mentioned that the laws and regulations are not enforced well because of various socio-cultural traits as well as the lack of monitoring and awareness among the staff who are supposed to enforce them. The Australian archaeologist 175
mentioned two main reasons for the weak enforcement of the tourism and antiquities laws: 1. “The structure of the society: the Jordanian society is built around nepotism and cronyism (Wastah and Mahsobiah). The concept of ‘Wastah’ exists all over the world, but it is not usually as entrenched in society as here in Jordan […] People who have power are able to completely bypass any regulation.” 2. “The people who are enforcing these laws do not recognize the value of the heritage. If people who are supposedly in positions of power in the local government and the national government do not recognize the value of the heritage and do not care if it goes, then you are never going to be able to enforce these regulations. So awareness has to come from the top down, as well as from the bottom up. You have to bring all of Jordan into archaeological awareness.” (NG4JAU)
5.5.3
The Lack of a Comprehensive Vision for Urban and Tourism Development in the Cultural Heritage Areas
The MoTA, DoA and Jerash Municipality have the legal authority to govern urban and tourism development in Jerash. Their planning and implementing of urban and tourism development, to some extent, has lacked a comprehensive vision for the protection of the integrity and authenticity of the archaeological site. They did not develop comprehensive strategies that link cultural heritage with urban and tourism development, which are essential for developing tourism infrastructure, protecting the archaeological site and ensuring satisfactory living standards for the local residents. “Tourism in Jerash is far underdeveloped because of the lack of comprehensive tourism planning and long-term strategies. The stakeholders of urban and tourism development do not have the expertise and competency to prepare a master plan for the site and its surrounding area. Therefore, when there is a need for such a plan, they announce that they need someone who can prepare a master plan, whereupon private engineering companies prepare the plan. Unfortunately, these are merely engineering companies that are not interested in cultural heritage matters, so the master plan is prepared from only 176
one point of view while other points of view are marginalized, making it less comprehensive. For more than 40 years, the cumulative expertise in Jordan has not made comprehensive decisions to satisfy all the dimensions of sustainable tourism in our cultural heritage sites.” (NG11GJU) An additional problem hindering long-term tourism planning in Jordan is the frequent turnover of Jordanian ministers of tourism—four ministers have resided in the last two years. If a Jordanian minister changes, most employees in the ministry will be changed, and their positions will be changed as well. This change can cancel many future plans that must be carried out. For example: “The Jerash Municipality wanted to build a multi-story parking complex in collaboration with a local investor, but the MoTA stopped building it because the ministry wanted to build it in the old vegetables and fruits market. The agreement between the investor and the Municipality has been cancelled. After a while, the ministry retreated on its promises to build the parking space because the officials who were responsible for the project changed, and new ones have been appointed after a new minister was appointed.” (GO5JM) This lack of a comprehensive, persistent, long-term vision caused a number of oversights in the urban and tourism development projects implemented in Jerash, such as the floundering construction to organize traffic at Bab Amman Circle. Due to this, money, time, labour and materials are squandered during the implementation stages. A restaurant manager described this: “Part of the street adjacent to the Ancient Roman Bridge has been paved two times. First, they surfaced it with coarse stones [Tobzeh], and after a while they removed them and paved it again with asphalt. The percentage of the waste in these projects is at least 50%.” (TE1REST) Urban and tourism development projects in Jerash are based on personal interests and benefits between contractors and governmental bodies. Unfortunately, this kind of wasteful corruption is rampant in Jordan. Those involved in the projects are the gang of decision makers who work in a
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“Al-Faz’ah”7 manner. Their approach in tourism and urban development is like a "fire extinguishing system": they start thinking about the problem after it has occurred, and the solutions are temporary.
5.5.3.1 The Low Level of Collaboration, Coordination and Participation among the Governmental, Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organizations The fragmented nature of urban and tourism development around the Jerash Archaeological Site is largely due to a lack of official coordination and collaboration during the planning and implementation stages. As noted, the main governmental bodies are the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the MoTA, and DoA. Additionally, there are regional and national authorities, such as the Jerash Municipality, Jerash Governorate, Water Authority and Jordanian Electric Power Company. Other nongovernmental organisations involved in decision making are the Jerash Association of Handicrafts, Friends of Archaeology and Heritage (FOAH), the Jordanian Association for the Development of Cultural Heritage and the Jordanian universities. Succinctly, there are a wide variety of relatively uncoordinated parties involved in the Jerash Archaeological Site. Two main examples of how lack of collaboration caused conflict during the implementation of the Third Tourism Project have been extracted from the interviews and group discussions. In the first example, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs conflicted with the governmental and intergovernmental stakeholders of the Third Tourism Project due to the slow implementation of a certain subproject. Many issues were not considered fully by the stakeholders before the beginning of the project like the electricity, water, internet, telephone and traffic. An engineer at the Jerash Governorate explained how these issues caused the sluggish implementation: “When the infrastructure improvement projects started, it was necessary to have detailed information about the infrastructure networks in the city, such as maps for water, electricity, drainage and telecommunication networks. It was also necessary to know 7
“Al-Faz’ah” is a Jordanian expression used when many people hastily tries to solve a problem irresponsibly after it has happened. Such a plan has no predictive power to foresee impediments to development and to mitigate their future impact.
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where underground antiquities were in order to avoid them during digging and construction. Unfortunately, this information was not provided by the companies providing water and electricity, which frequently execute work without any form of collaboration or coordination with the local governmental bodies.” (GO9JG) This lack of comprehensive information forces the contractor to dig and pave the streets more than once in order to discover the suitable location for the construction. Another example involved the MoTA conflicting with the Jerash Municipality and DoA. An engineer from the Jerash Municipality explained how the lack of collaboration and the marginalization of some stakeholders impeded the urban and tourism development: “We [the Jerash Municipality] and the MoTA faced many handicaps created by the DoA that delayed the digging and construction many times in the areas that had archaeological sites underneath because of the absence of collaboration between the MoTA, DoA and the Municipality. The DoA was not notified by the MoTA regarding the urban plans before implementation; it could not play its protective role in informing the contractor about the areas containing fragile and vulnerable antiquities.” (GO2JM) The Municipality coordinator of the Third Tourism Project who monitors the implementation of the project summarized the influential management of the project and its decision makers: “When the Jerash Municipality notices something wrong or missing in the project, it sends a formal letter to the minister of tourism for approval to amend these mistakes, but unfortunately the MoTA usually maintains its point of view while ignoring the other stakeholders. It is normal for there to be mistakes because things might be forgotten during planning or implementation phases.” (GO5JM) Thus, the first and final decisions are referred to the MoTA only, and the rest of the stakeholders are marginalized. Two main consultation workshops have been undertaken in Jerash before and during the most recent urban and tourism development projects. The first was the City Consultation Workshop that was held on December 5, 2004, in the Jerash Municipality Hall and organized by the MoTA. The aim of this workshop was to present a preliminary outline of the First Tourism Project, to introduce the concept of the City Revitalisation Pact, and to obtain 179
feedback (MoTA, 2005b). Another workshop was held on April 29, 2009, in the Jerash Municipality Hall regarding the Jerash Archaeological Site as a World Heritage Site, organized under the patronage of HE Dr. Fawaz Al-Khraisheh, Director-General of Antiquities. It was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Moawiyah Ibrahim, Jordan’s Representative to the World Heritage Centre. These workshops did not partner with all the stakeholders, and those excluded from urban and tourism planning will not assist when tourism development plans are implemented. In fact, the marginalized stakeholders often try to obstruct projects. These meetings thus enjoyed very limited success. The last Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy (2011-2015) addressed this issue. One of the main aims of the strategy is to develop the tourism economy by the year 2015 through partnerships, collaboration
and
coordination
between
the
governmental,
intergovernmental,
and
nongovernmental organizations, as well as the private sector and the local communities. Its aims include increasing job opportunities, extending the average length of stay of international visitors and tourists and raising overall tourism revenue (MoTA, 2010a).
5.5.3.2 The Lack of Local Community Participation and Involvement in the Decision Making Process Local community involvement is a preliminary step for any urban and tourism development plan at cultural heritage sites. According to the Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry, one of the main responsibilities of the governmental, intergovernmental, nongovernmental, and tourism organizations is ensuring that all sectors of the local community are given the opportunity to be involved in sustainable tourism development. This raises their satisfaction and acceptance of the development plans. Therefore, urban management must respect and incorporate the culture of the local residents into its professional approach to urban development (Arthur & Mensah, 2006). If the local residents are involved in the decision making and implementation of the urban and tourism development in their area, their sense of ownership and belonging will be enhanced regarding the archaeological site.
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Simpson (2001) pointed out that specific examples of community involvement in the sustainable tourism planning process are rare. In spite of the importance of local participation in urban and tourism development projects, most of the local people in Jerash still do not feel involved in these projects; decisions are usually made by governmental bodies. “The role of the local community in the Third Tourism Project in Jerash is marginalized to a large extent. The governmental stakeholders of the project follow one principle: ‘Do it without understanding’. I never participated in a conference or workshop related to tourism or urban development in Jerash because the MoTA rarely conducts such activities and does not communicate with the local residents and business owners before or during the implementation of the project. Additionally, we have no local committee discussing the problems of the residents.” (LC3AS) In fact, the governmental stakeholders of the Third Tourism Project invited the Advisory Council of the Jerash Governorate, which represents the local residents, in order to make them feel that they are partners in the decision making process. Though the local community has been part of the project pro forma, they continue to be dissatisfied since the elegant schemes and proposals shown to the council are almost unrecognizable in the implemented results. Additionally, the advice of this council is habitually ignored: “When a plan was put forth for the Third Tourism Project, representatives from local community organizations in Jerash met with the project planners to discuss the project and developmental horizons of the city. The outcome from such meetings was always ignorance of arguments advanced by local community members. When planners asked local community members, ‘Do you agree?’ their emphatic ‘No’ was usually disregarded, and planners proceeded with their plans regardless of any protestation, suggestions or arguments presented by the local community representatives.” (LC2AN) The Australian archaeologist echoed this: “I attended a public meeting at the building of the Jerash Municipality, and the local people were always extremely angry that no one in authority listens to them and no one in power cares about them.” (NG4JAU) 181
Most of the professors researching sustainable tourism and urban development agreed that the Third Tourism Project disregarded the wishes of the local populace: “The problem is that the project is planned and implemented by people educated in tourism planning who constantly impose academic concepts and a 'good plan' for the existing situation, where 'good plan' means ‘academically sound’, not ‘sustainable’. I think a good plan should start by involving the local community in the decision making process. But unfortunately, those educated planners do not even care about the local community; they blocked public streets to carry out digging and construction that had negative impacts on both the local residents and small business owners in Jerash.” (NG3HU) Additionally, they indicated that those negatively affected by the plan have been barred from filing complaints about it. A local tourism expert explained one case when deputies from the World Bank came to Jerash to evaluate the progress of the Third Tourism Project: “It was proposed that the local residents meet deputies from the World Bank during a consultation to evaluate the Third Tourism Project, but the MoTA did not allow the local residents to attend the meeting after they knew that residents would be dissatisfied. When the ministry knew the feeling of the local community toward the project, it did not allow them to attend the meeting in order to prove to the deputies that there were no faults in the project and that everything was okay. Therefore, the ministry decided on August 6, 2010, to hold a secret meeting with the deputies of the World Bank, a deputy from the Municipality and one from the Governorate.” (NG7JSD) One of the main causes of the lack of local community involvement is that some governmental stakeholders see it as a threat to their power and authority. Accepting a policy of openness would require them to share all important information with the interest groups. Another main cause is the perception among some stakeholders that the local residents are trying to hinder the progress of any project that is proposed. “After the first few months of the implementation of the Third Tourism Project, I heard the same story from officials: ‘Oh, the people from Jerash are no good. All of them are 182
very difficult and want to hinder any new development in the city. How could we work with these people?’” (NG4JAU) This lack of local residents’ involvement weakens the capability of the MoTA to bolster acceptance of its urban and tourism development projects and to facilitate the required digging and construction occurring in front of their houses and shops. After multiple complaints of the local residents were published in Jordanian newspapers, the MoTA tried to develop new methods to consult the local residents effectively before finalisation of plans. As detailed in the next chapter, there are numerous improvements that can be implemented through some particular conflict management techniques.
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Chapter 6: Conflict Management
The greatest responsibility in resolving conflict between all the stakeholders resulting from urban and tourism development is entrusted to the government, represented by the MoTA and DoA. These governmental bodies, in turn, must balance these conflicting interests within the varying dimensions of sustainable tourism. In other words, the goal is to achieve three fundamental goals of human welfare: (1) providing economic opportunity, (2) enhancing the quality of the local community’s life, and (3) protecting its cultural and natural heritage resources (McCool, 2002). Understanding the different interests—the goal of this thesis—aids in formulating management strategies that could contribute to conflict resolution and successful implementation of sustainable tourism. In spite of the conflicts resulting from urban and tourism development projects, they are usually considered a positive measure for improving tourism in Jerash if they are managed well. The conflict management process aims to resolve or mitigate conflicts brought about by the pressures of urban development (Warner, 2000). There is no silver bullet to any conflict, so there should be multiple procedures for managing conflicts during the implementation of these projects. The conflict management skills possessed by the planners and managers of the projects are multifaceted. As Bartos and Wehr (2002) indicate, of course, conflict management is a practiced skill that some are better at than others. Conflict management is considered one of the most vexing issues for planners and managers due to the difficulty of developing strategies for conflicts involving cultural heritage pressures or urban development (Porter and Salazar, 2005). According to a professor at the German– Jordanian University, the planners and managers at the MoTA should include five considerations in developing strategies for conflict management in Jerash: “Firstly: freeze the conflicts and limit their impacts and possible complications. Secondly: the relationships between all the stakeholders must be addressed based on a rational decision-making mechanism that reflects all their needs and desires, thereby solving the most conflict issues possible. Thirdly: the roles and responsibilities of all the 184
stakeholders must be identified. For example, USAID imposes its hegemony on the planning process for urban and tourism development projects because it funds these projects, and the other stakeholders are marginalized. It does not make sense to implement solely the views of those with money. Fourthly: there must be an advisory council (not an executive) to discuss the conflicts and their details so they can eventually establish a mechanism to positively alter the conflict by finding solutions that satisfy all the stakeholders. Fifthly: prepare an action plan for these proposed solutions and facilitate their implementation.” (NG11GJU) The solutions developed by the MoTA to manage conflicts resulting from urban and tourism development are not sustainable. The present policy of the MoTA involves little effort to balance these interests methodically because it usually implements temporary solutions and strategies, placating the local community during the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects: “I think that they [the government] are unable to resolve the conflict because their plan for urban and tourism development is full of mistakes. Thus, they always try to placate the local community so as not to reveal their mistakes.” (NG14JU) However, one cannot simply placate the local community: all the stakeholders must be committed to a given system for decision-making, applying it strictly so that no one overrides the interests of other stakeholders. “The local resident is not a child—so though you placate him temporarily with a biscuit, his problems are not solved for the long term, and this will never happen without the presence of a certain systematic approach that gives public interest a high priority.” (NG14JU) An assistant professor at Yarmouk University indicated the main disadvantage of not having a systematic approach: “One of the most important obstacles confronting conflict management is when people give priority to personal interests instead of public interests. Personal considerations often control power and cause conflict mismanagement.” (NG12YU) 185
What makes conflict management more difficult is the inevitable imbalance of power. When asked about the hindrances of conflict management, two German experts said: “One of the main hindrances confronting the conflict management process is that the stakeholders have different powers. Some stakeholders are very powerful, and they say: ‘Oh, roundtable, we do not need a roundtable! And we do not want to talk to other people. We can go to the government by ourselves and get the solution that we want.’ Although there are laws and regulations that everybody must respect in Germany, some powerful stakeholders sometimes lobby the government to achieve their goals.” (NG19UN) A certified mediator who has more than 20 years of experience in conflict management and participated in nine conflict management projects in different German cities confirmed that: “The stakeholders with lots of money and power can sometimes dominate the decision making process. The most powerful stakeholders in Germany are the government and big companies, such as cars companies.” (NG18MU) In contrast to Germany, in Jordan generally and Jerash particularly, maintaining representation for all stakeholders is difficult, especially for the local community, thereby making it more difficult to reconcile their interests and needs during the conflict management process.
6.1
Conflict Management Techniques
In this section, the most widespread techniques for conflict management are presented. The intention is to concentrate on conflict of interest, land use conflicts and how to devise solutions that can influence the circumstances that surround each conflict. In general, the conflict management process can be divided into two methods based on who is in charge of resolving the conflict: formal methods (arbitration and adjudication) and informal methods (negotiation, compromise and mediation). Formal methods are used in a legal context, and their strength relies on the capacity of the authority that makes the decision to enforce it (Herrera & Passano, 2006). Informal methods are more flexible and can satisfy most of the stakeholders’ interests in 186
a friendly manner. Therefore, the researcher believed the techniques of informal conflict management to be more appropriate in the context of the present study. Three main techniques for resolving disputes include mediation, negotiation and compromise. (Table 6.1). Technique Negotiation Compromise
Mediation
Description A process in which the disputed parties directly meet and negotiate to reach a mutually acceptable solution. In this process each party represents its own interests. A process in which an outside party brings the parties in dispute together for discussion among themselves. This type of conflict resolution process includes outside parties only as a preliminary measure. Typically, conciliators do not take an active role in resolving the conflict but may help with administrative issues (like setting the agenda, etc.). They may act as a moderator during meetings or may act as a type of “negotiator” when parties do not meet directly. A process in which the conflicted parties meet together and separately with the mediator (who needs to be independent and neutral) in order to decide how the conflict between them is to be resolved. The mediator assists the parties in reaching an agreement but has no power to impose a result upon them.
Table 6.1: The Main Conflict Management Techniques (FAO, 1998 in UNEP, 2009). The existence of these techniques in conflict management plans is necessary for harmonizing the different interests of stakeholders during the implementation of urban and tourism development projects. All of the interviewed German experts indicated that conflict management techniques are very effective at resolving the conflicts caused by urban development in Germany and North America; they mentioned that about 90% of the conflicts are resolved by mediation, negotiation and compromise. The German mediator expressed the importance of these techniques and how they could be utilized during the implementation of urban and tourism development projects: “Mediation, negotiation and compromise techniques are important for the conflict management process, and every technique has particular indications. For example, we need negotiation to solve land expropriation problems between the government and local residents. Mediation starts usually when negotiation failed to solve a problem, and it takes usually more time. Compromise is more comprehensive than negotiation because negotiation involves one or two conflicting interests, while compromise is supposed to exchange benefits and interests between most of the stakeholders and to attempt to compensate them for various losses. For example, if the government expropriated some shops or land plots of the local residents, it should give them sufficient compensation or give them other shops or land plots, and it should guarantee that the new shops and plots 187
are located on main streets in order to grant them satisfactory economic benefits.” (NG19UN) In light of these techniques and based on the views of the interviewed experts and local stakeholders, the researcher explored the conflict management issues and developed seven particular techniques to manage and mitigate the conflicts caused by urban and tourism development in Jerash. These are presented in the following sections.
6.1.1
Rapidly Implementing a Sustainable Urban Tourism Framework
The following suggests an integrated sustainable framework for solving the major problems affecting tourism at the Jerash Archaeological Site. This framework includes fixing the shortcomings of the Third Tourism Project and clearly identifying the boundaries of the archaeological site. The quality of city entrances and roads, well-organized traffic control at intersections, and safety measures for passers-by and vehicles are important prerequisites for the success of any urban and tourism development project. Despite the infrastructure improvements of the Third Tourism Project, access to different parts of the city for tourists and local residents is still not optimal, and current traffic congestion at the entrances and exits of Jerash harms many small businesses and tourist restaurants. The government launched a number of projects to address this traffic problem. An engineer at the Jerash Governorate involved in these projects explained their benefits: “The traffic at the southern entrance of Jerash will improve after the Royal Grant Project (Mashroo’ Al-Makromah Al-Malakiah) is carried out to reconstruct the southern entrance. This project widens and repaves the street of the entrance and reorganizes the traffic there. Concerning the northern entrance of the city, the bus station project 8 will be 8
This bus station will be far from the city centre. This is important because busses and cars that go or come back from other cities such as Zarqa, Mafraq, and Irbid will pass through outward streets without entering the city centre, so the traffic will be better organised.
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carried out by the end of 2012, and this new station will play a role in organizing the traffic at the entrance. For example, busses that used to park in Wasfi At-Tal Street will be moved to the new bus station.” (GO9JG) Widening sidewalks and narrowing streets in accordance with the Third Tourism Project caused increased traffic congestion in the modern city of Jerash. Complementary projects were also supposed to be carried out in the modern city of Jerash to decrease traffic congestion and provide a suitable parking alternative for the residents. Some of these projects, like the multi-story parking complex, were planned to be built near Bab Amman Street, which is the most congested and narrowed street in the city. Unfortunately, the MoTA cancelled the project, severely impacting the local stakeholders. An engineer in the Jerash Municipality who supports the local need for constructing the parking complex commented: “I think that unless you solve the traffic problems which the local community and small business owners are suffering from, they will continue feeling resentful and handle the Third Tourism Project in a destructive way, and this does not lend any sustainability to the project.” (GO2JM) The current traffic circulation system on Bab Amman Street and King Abdullah Street still cannot accommodate heavy traffic, particularly during rush hour. To improve the infrastructure for locals and tourists, the government still needs to implement sustainable traffic planning strategies that organize the intersections appropriately, ensure adequate installation of direction signs and build barriers next to the sidewalk to prevent roadside parking and ensure safe passage for both locals and tourists. In addition, the government should make parking lots where citizens can find safe parking away from public streets and, at the same time, provide incentives to small business owners who commit to show their goods inside their shops only. An officer in the Third Tourism Project suggested incentives to encourage the small business owners to comply with the urban regulations: “Incentives could include exemptions for one or two years from the career license fee or organizing an event to reward the small business owners who comply with regulations.” (MT12TTP) 189
During the interviews, several small business owners showed their satisfaction about such incentives. The street network in Jerash developed by the Third Tourism Project still lacks many of the improvements needed to accommodate the expected tourist flow from the archaeological site to the modern city of Jerash. Governmental bodies should draw up an action plan determining the priorities of street maintenance and widening. Four actions were suggested by an engineer at the Jerash Governorate to improve the street network in the modern city of Jerash, rehabilitating them to receive tourists: “First of all, some streets must be widened from one-way into two-way streets, since there are large vehicles that cannot pass through the narrowed streets of the city centre. Secondly, the directions and lanes of some streets should be studied and changed. Thirdly, the vegetables and fruits market, which is supposed to be transferred to outside the city centre, must be carried out. Fourthly, it is important to activate such organizational tools as the observational role of the Municipality and the committees for buildings licenses and public safety in order to prevent small business owners from showing their goods in front of their shops [on the sidewalk] so as not to impede the movement of tourists and passers-by.” (GO9JG) Among major requirement is to establish a sustainable transportation system that links the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site. The archaeological site and the modern city of Jerash are separated both physically due to the poor transportation system and aesthetically due to the modern building design in the modern city. The presence of the modern buildings increases car usage and prevents tourists from navigating easily, preventing communication between the tourists and the local community. Consequently, the present framework aims to strengthen the role of the archaeological site in the life of the local community, raise the quality of the environment around it and link it more effectively with the rest of the modern city by considering the following: (1) implementing the vehicles project to transfer tourists from the eastern part of the city and returning them to the tourist bus station next to the crafts and souvenirs market, (2) implementing the public parks project near the crafts and souvenirs market to support domestic tourism in Jerash, (3) conserving and rehabilitating the ancient city wall and 190
the traditional buildings located within the historical centre, and (4) developing public spaces in the modern city to launch cultural activities and night events, as well as painting murals on the buildings to tell the story of Jerash’s history. An assistant professor at the Hashemite University recommended an effective way to implement most of the previous suggestions in the sustainable urban tourism framework: “Sometimes the best implementation of a framework involves law enforcement because some local stakeholders oppose or hinder implementation. Thus, enforcing a punishment on anyone who violates the regulations and legislations is an effective way to ensure full implementation.” (NG3HU)
6.1.2
Creating a Harmonious Balance between Cultural Heritage Protection and Urban Development
With the spread of the international charters and conventions for sustainable tourism beginning in the 1970s, the linkage between cultural heritage protection and urban and tourism development started to make a balance between economic development and heritage protection. The Charter for Sustainable Tourism (1995), applying to all the stakeholders at a tourism site, stated that urban and tourism development should be based on the dimensions of sustainability, which means that it must be environmentally (or archaeologically) feasible in the long term, as well as economically viable and socially equitable for local communities. This is because sustainable development is a guided process that envisages global management of resources to ensure their viability and protection. As mentioned in sections 5.4.1.2 and 5.4.1.3, there are two conflicts between cultural heritage protection and urban development. The first conflict is between the MoTA and DoA on one side and the local community, tourism entrepreneurs and small business owners on the other; it occurred because of urban encroachment on the archaeological site. “We [the DoA] try to protect the integrity and authenticity of the archaeological site from the encroachment of tourist restaurants and auto repair and lubrication shops, since they caused various negative impacts [visual distortion, foul odour and emissions] 191
within the site, and that is not acceptable from the World Heritage Centre’s point of view.” (GO7JAO) Though a resolution will require time, the MoTA and DoA should firstly focus on balancing the interests of cultural heritage protection and the economic interests of the local stakeholders gradually through mutually dependent collaboration between the archaeological site and the local stakeholders. “Creating a balance between cultural heritage protection and urban development would occur by making decisions that satisfy all the interests of the archaeologists, site managers, local residents and tourism entrepreneurs. To do so, we must change the philosophy of the decision-making process in Jordan generally and in Jerash particularly from a ‘top-down’ method to a mixture of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ methods to reach better decision-making outcomes. For example, the Director of the Jerash Tourism Directorate believes that he is responsible for the site and that the authority of the mayor is limited to the surrounding areas of the site. As a result, the local community, who wants to benefit from the site, is under political pressure, especially the pressures from the Municipality to carry out its development projects in a way that satisfies only its own interests.” (NG11GJU) Changing this philosophy is necessary in order for the governmental bodies to create collaboration with the local stakeholders, especially the local residents, since they are genuinely concerned with the protection of the authenticity and integrity of the archaeological site. Furthermore, this must be done even though their vision about sustainability may be different from the vision of archaeologists and site managers. On the other hand, urban and tourism development projects should benefit the host community economically and motivate them to protect the archaeological site. An assistant professor at Yarmouk University suggested a way to let the local residents themselves protect and develop their archaeological site: “If you want to implement any urban and tourism development project, it is necessary to employ the local residents in these projects because employing them will help to convince them that the site belongs to them and that they benefit from it. If they arrived at this 192
conviction, the development projects would avoid a lot of problems. For example, the problems regarding cultural heritage protection would be resolved more easily if the local community of Jerash were side by side with the archaeologists or the project’s stakeholders since they are part of the archaeological excavation or the project. If there are well-qualified local residents, why not employ them instead of outsiders?” (NG12YU) The second conflict is between the DoA on one side and the MoTA, Jerash Municipality and the contractors of the Third Tourism Project on the other side. It arose largely due to the fact that the Third Tourism Project did not respect the World Heritage requirements, especially those related to the integrity and authenticity of the site. The contractor of the project must commit to follow these requirements to ensure the sustainability of the site by removing the very large concrete walls built near the Ancient Roman Bridge since they do not comply with the international heritage protection charters and are incompatible with the archaeological character of the city. In addition, it is also important to inform the contractor that the use of concrete is forbidden in cultural heritage areas according to the World Heritage Centre (refer to Section 5.4.1.1).
6.1.3
Comprehensive Planning of Urban and Tourism Development
As a result of the urban development related to cultural heritage tourism, Jerash city has encountered an accelerated rate of conflict, mostly around the archaeological site and in the modern city of Jerash. Figure (6.1) shows the areas where land use conflicts took place, especially those pertaining to land expropriation issues. The DoA and Jerash Municipality are responsible for regulating the issue of construction licenses in the areas around the archaeological site and in the modern city of Jerash. However, some engineers familiar with the Jerash Archaeological site see the necessity for greater limitations in the issuing of building licenses: “The licenses should not be granted unless a team of archaeological experts inspects the area for potential archaeological or traditional remnants underneath the property before building anything on it.” (GO6JAO) 193
Figure 6.1: The Areas of Land Use Conflicts around the Jerash Archaeological Site. Therefore, the government should enact regulations compatible with the Requirements of the World Heritage Nomination, particularly which ensure the protection of the integrity and authenticity of the site. In addition, there is a real need for land use restrictions on the areas surrounding the archaeological site, traditional buildings and public spaces in order to regulate the urban development. 194
The main purpose of urban development around any cultural heritage site is to provide the basic infrastructure services and facilities (road networks, electricity, telephone and others) before rehabilitating the area and developing tourism in it. Planning for urban and tourism development should aim to develop programs for the use of cultural heritage sites and its setting, and then to develop them into distinguished tourist centres. This kind of development is a very multifaceted activity that concerns several different stakeholder interests, including physical, economic, environmental, and business interests. Consequently, the planning of urban and tourism development is very important, on a long term basis, for addressing all these interests and evading unexpected or unwanted impacts on tourism, various tourism sites, and the local community, especially in the congested urban areas (Quattrone, 2002). To do so, urban and tourism development should not care only about the tourists but also about the site and the local community. For example, development should not alter parts of the site seen as part of the identity of the local residents. Thus, it is important that the goals and interests reflect the significance attached to attributes of the Jerash Archaeological Site by different stakeholders. “Any plan in the future must identify accurately all the interests, needs and duties of the stakeholders and decrease the distances between their points of views. For example, the DoA excavates in the archaeological site and protects its archaeological monuments and antiquities. The MoTA organizes cultural events and tourism activities, encourages tourism investments and promotes tourism in Jerash. The private sector launches touristic facilities and services in the modern city of Jerash, such as hotels, tourist restaurants, and entertainment sites. And the Ministry of Culture establishes a heritage and folklore museum showing the history of Jerash.” (GO11DA) Identifying the multiple goals and interests is the first, perhaps most complicated step in the holistic planning process for tourism and urban development. The more goals and interests involved, the more challenging it will be to reach agreement between them. Therefore, a solution should defer to the capacity of the stakeholders to anticipate the future and make enlightened and sustainable decisions related to World Heritage Inscription, land uses, archaeological zoning, carrying capacity, presentation and interpretation, provision of infrastructure, development of
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tourism services and facilities and building regulations. A tourism expert who participated in a number of tourism development projects in Jerash remarked about a plan’s scope: “In order to have a comprehensive plan for urban development and tourism in Jerash, the governmental bodies and nongovernmental organizations must understand the current situation and potentials of the archaeological site, as well as the modern city of Jerash. Either by accident or by intention, such development includes critical questions for stakeholders, which focus on sustainable tourism development at different levels [local, national and international].” (NG5JIT) However, governmental stakeholders usually understand sustainable tourism and comprehensive planning from quite different perspectives. “Each stakeholder says that their own planning is comprehensive and seeks sustainable tourism. For example, if you ask the Jerash Municipality, it will say that its planning is comprehensive, and if you ask the DoA, it will say the same.” (NG7JSD) A professor at the German–Jordanian University involved in planning several European funding projects to rehabilitate and develop cultural and natural heritage sites in Jordan added: “I think that the solution is a master plan that reflects the needs of all stakeholders and, particularly, the needs of sustainable tourism. The implementation of this plan must be very accurate, and every stakeholder must be committed to implement it to ensure that future plans will be based on the success of previously implemented plans.” (NG11GJU) Another professor at Yarmouk University interested in tourism management of cultural heritage sites in Jordan voiced agreement: “We are proud that the MoTA is considered one of the few official authorities in the Arab World that has very clear tourism plans and strategies, such as the Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy 2011-2015. Strategic tourism planning already existed on paper, and it determined the roles of different stakeholders, as well as expectations, objectives and results. So the problem is in the implementation of the previous plans and strategies that did not pave the road to success for the subsequent plans and strategies.” (NG13YU) 196
With the rise of developmental planning projects in Jerash, the regular monitoring and evaluation of them go hand in hand with ensuring the overall success, sustainability and comprehensiveness of these plans. To be successful, Jamieson (2006, p. 120) stresses that the planning and management of cultural heritage sites and tourism, especially in an urban setting, must be a multidisciplinary activity, requiring competencies in urban planning, architecture, real estate finance, and building of partnerships in addition to tourism development. Two interviewed experts showed an exceptional amount of enthusiasm in answering an openended question about how to make the governmental plans more comprehensive and sustainable. The four goals they mentioned nicely summarise what a comprehensive plan in Jerash would involve: 1. “Creating visual harmony between the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site, especially along the Ancient Roman Bridge.” (GO6JAO) 2. “Delineating buffer zones around the archaeological site by removing the modern houses and buildings adjacent to it and obligating the owners of houses, shops and restaurants to decorate the facades of these buildings in a way that suits the archaeological character of Jerash.” (GO6JAO) 3. “The need for a participatory decision-making process among all the relevant public institutions at the national, provincial and local level at different stages.” (NG7JSD) 4. “The presence of monitoring criteria to ensure full implementation of the plans.” (NG7JSD) Some plans for Jerash are now in the preparation phase. The most recent plan was prepared by USAID/Siyaha and the French Institute of Middle East/Institut francais du Proche-Orient (IFPO) in partnership with MoTA for the development of the Jerash Archaeological Site (USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project-Siyaha, 2012). This project aims to improve visitor experience and enhance touristic awareness and appreciation for the cultural significance of the site.
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6.1.4
Ensuring Full Involvement, Real Collaboration and Active Participation of all the Stakeholders
Without a doubt, successful urban and tourism development projects necessitate real collaboration and active participation of all the stakeholders. According to Gray (1989), collaboration is a process of joint decision-making among key stakeholders in the same problem domain about the future of that domain. These processes are complicated by the fact that urban and tourism development projects involve a complex structure of interests and are usually longterm projects (Lee et al., 2009). From the point of view of sustainability, there are some common-sense reasons to avoid conflict by engaging in collaboration over cultural heritage resources: (1) It saves time and money, (2) Failure to understand stakeholder positions can delay or block projects, (3) Stakeholders can inform managers about easily misunderstood local cultural differences, (4) Stakeholders can help identify problem areas that may have been overlooked by experts, and (5) Stakeholders can provide useful input regarding desired conditions at a site (Pedersen, 2002). A German mediator who has more than 20 years experience in conflict management explained the history and importance of participative planning in Germany: “Germany has a long history in participative planning dating back to the seventies [the reconstruction period of Germany after the Second World War]. Some people were against building new streets on their lands, so the German government started to participate with the local stakeholders in urban planning processes to facilitate the reconstruction mission. Participative planning is the current ‘state of the art’ in that you cannot manage conflict without stakeholder participation anymore. It is necessary to invite all of them to a roundtable, especially those really influenced by the urban development project, since the aim of conflict management is not only to minimize the number of opponents against the projects, but also to make planning better and implementation easier. By doing so, the government produces a win-win solution.” (NG19UN) Stakeholders should participate from the very beginning of projects to avoid the eventual development of conflict into crisis and to maximise the project’s sustainability. 198
“Certainly if there is collaboration and participation, the dimensions of sustainable tourism will be applied more. Without the collaboration work, there would be no sustainable tourism since each stakeholder would act to satisfy his interests and to ignore other interests, and thus there would be overlap between the dimensions of sustainable tourism.” (NG2YU) The majority of the interviewed experts agree on this point. The nongovernmental experts were quite vocal about the necessity for collaboration and participation regarding any proposed urban and tourism development. Some of them noted: “Consultation is as much about developing trust and rapport between the conflicting stakeholders as facilitating the implementation of urban and tourism development projects. The consultation may take several weeks or months, and it may be based on a number of meetings or workshops. Once the stakeholders reach a reasonable degree of trust and develop a good relationship, there will be an opportunity to begin sharing and discussing the fundamental conflicting needs and interests of the different stakeholders with each other.” (NG16YU) “The MoTA must hold regular dialogue sessions, not only once every 10 years or for the purposes of planning or implementation of the projects. These dialogues should include all the stakeholders providing their suggestions, and thus bestowing benefits on all of them. Dialogue is the basis of real participation, and collaboration is the basis of sustainable tourism development.” (NG13YU) In order to maintain agreement between all the stakeholders, the Minister of Tourism must be powerfully charismatic in the first place, since he or she is usually authorized to assemble all the stakeholders at one table to discuss various topics transparently. The Minister must then record all the agreed-upon measures from the discussions with the stakeholders for later implementation. There are many examples concerning this that took place in Jordan. “For instance, during the development of the historical centre in Al-Karak, some unacceptable ideas and solutions were put forward for the project plan, but after a dialogue was established between all the stakeholders and after a lengthy debate, the 199
stakeholders accepted most of the proposed ideas and solutions. Afterwards, all of them contributed to the implementation of these solutions, creating a sustainable tourism environment resulting from a more democratic planning process.” (GO1JTD) Unfortunately, Jerash is confronting a lack of public-public, public-private, private-private, private-local community, and public-local community partnership and collaboration. The examples of collaboration and partnership in Jerash are quite few. A rare instance of such collaboration is the launching of the “Don't Mess with Nature” initiative by the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) in partnership with the central government (the MoTA, Ministry of Environment and the DoA), local governments (the Jerash Municipality, Jerash Tourism Directorate and Jerash Antiquities Office) and local community. Most of the governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders noted that consultations with multiple individuals and groups sometimes create misunderstanding. Therefore, they thought that the best way to foster collaboration and participation while avoiding these misunderstandings is to have a comprehensive committee with vested authority in both the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site. An engineer at the Jerash Municipality explained this: “The committee should include representatives of all stakeholders concerned with urban and tourism development in Jerash, such as engineers, tourism experts and archaeologists, in addition to deputies from the local community. Each one of them should have an important role in the planning, implementation, management, and monitoring processes. The committee must not only meet to recommend and make decisions, but also to execute their decisions. To do that, this committee must be independent financially and administratively with an independent budget in order to be able to work without limitations.” (GO5JM) This committee is thus meant to be an organizing body and to serve in a supervisory capacity to analyse data from different perspectives and to make recommendations for ensuring that the urban and tourism development projects will be planned and implemented in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.
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On the other hand, the full involvement of the local community, supported by governmental and nongovernmental bodies, is critical for the successful planning and implementation of urban and tourism development in Jerash. Such involvement processes must be transparent and equitable. The participation of the local stakeholders, for instance, would help the DoA accomplish the goals and objectives of heritage protection and local economic growth. Governmental stakeholders must assure that the perspectives of all the local stakeholders are considered fully. Therefore, a consultative process with locals and other stakeholders should be established to guarantee on-going and effective dialogue (see Darabseh, 2010). Without the local residents, achieving sustainable tourism development is easier said than done. “I believe that the local community is the main supporter and the essential foundation for sustainable tourism development in Jerash, but unfortunately, the local residents have a feeling of injustice that increases day by day because they have no clear role in the development process and do not receive any economic or socio-cultural benefits from tourism. For example, we find frequently that the local community is barred from investing in the businesses that are located near many Jordanian cultural heritage sites because influential people and venture capitalists dominate them.” (NG13YU) Tourism in Jordan is dominated certain types of tourist groups, which come to Jerash or Umm Qais by tourist buses and have a specific time for roaming inside the archaeological site before departing. It is also noteworthy that some companies own a hotel, travel and tourism agency, souvenir shop, tourist restaurant, and tourist bus. Indeed, most of what tourists spend goes to such companies while the local community receives the remainder—mere crumbs in comparison. The feeling of satisfaction among local residents, of course, will be enhanced when they are given benefits convincing them that they are real partners. Due to the vast amount of local community complaints about the negative impacts of the Third Tourism Project, the Jerash Municipality is now planning to involve the local community in the decision-making process, whether in the management of the archaeological site or in tourism in Jerash. An engineer from the Department of Local Community Development in the Jerash Municipality mentioned the most prominent features of the local community involvement plan:
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“Two engineers from our department are now taking a course that deals with the local community and how to coordinate between them and the stakeholders of the urban and tourism development projects. A liaison officer with the local community, for instance, can play a major role in the planning and implementation stages. We also put forth a plan involving four hundred members from the local community who articulated their needs and suggestions related to their city, and we will take it into consideration. The most important part of that plan is forming a council of the local community [a supporting committee to the Jerash Municipality] and choosing one from the local community to represent all the local residents.” (GO3JM) A resident not actively involved or excluded will demonstrate discontent and thus will not lend a hand when urban and tourism development plans are implemented, serving as a stick in the wheel rather than as a cooperating agent. If the resident is involved later of the project, and convinced of its advantage for him, then he would positively participate and work harder for the success of the project. On the other hand, if he felt little or no personal advantage, then though he would hinder implementation, he would not cooperate actively. So, when a local resident gets involved later in the project, he should be assured of the importance of his involvement despite his tardiness.
6.1.5
Financing the Expropriation of Lands Around the Jerash Archaeological Site
In order to implement the urban and tourism development projects efficiently, some existing buildings must be evacuated, and some governmental departments, banks, houses and shops must be transferred outside the historical centre of the modern city. Removing the local stakeholders from the city centre is a very complicated issue with economic, commercial, and demographic dimensions. “It is very difficult to move these stakeholders outside the city without paying enough financial compensation and finding alternative commercial and residential areas for these urban activities outside the historical centre.” (GO11DA)
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Financing of expropriation was seen mostly as the responsibility of the government and, partially, of international organizations. Therefore, one of the most important challenges facing the implementation of these projects is to provide alternative buildings and areas without forcing governmental bodies, such as the MoTA, DoA and Jerash Municipality, to purchase expensive buildings and plots of land in the modern city of Jerash and the areas surrounding the archaeological site. Most of the owners of these lands and buildings did not agree to expropriation because compensations was inadequate, thus resorting to legal action against the Third Tourism Project to obtain fair compensation. As a result, the court decided to double their compensation. An engineer at the Jerash Municipality, working as a liaison officer between the local community and the stakeholders of the Third Tourism Project, explained the difficulties: “We [the Jerash Municipality and the MoTA] are now facing many problems in Jerash related to the new centre near the north gate of the archaeological site. We expropriated many plots of land according to a report by the Department of Lands and the court decided to give the owners of the lands double the price. It is very difficult to pay all these sums of money to expropriate the land in the modern city of Jerash.” (GO2JM) For the areas surrounding the Jerash Archaeological Site, the expropriation measures are responsive to several variables. The DoA prioritizes expropriating the buildings and lands that border the archaeological site to protect it from urban encroachment, but the price of the land bordering the ancient city wall is very high, and the DoA does not have the financial resources to expropriate all the land in these areas. An employee at the DoA explained this: “The DoA’s budget depends on its share from the public budget of the Jordanian government, as well as the grants and loans that come from different intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. Instead of being increased, the budget of the DoA is being decreased year after a year. However, two thirds of the DoA’s budget is spent on employee salaries, and the rest of the budget is usually spent on compensation.” (GO6JAO)
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A number of solutions have been proposed to overcome these challenges. The Jerash Antiquities Inspector suggested one: “I suggested to the Director General of the DoA to ask the Prime Minister to make the Ministry of Finance allocate a special budget for expropriating lands adjacent to cultural heritage sites. This budget should be separated from the normal budget of the DoA. In other words, the role of the DoA should only be advisory in that it gives technical recommendations about the land that must be expropriated and its estimated price. The government should consider the expropriation of these lands as a critical public interest for Jordan.” (GO7JAO) The expropriation of these lands requires significant financial support, particularly from international organizations such as USAID, JICA and the World Bank. Another solution proposed by the Umm Qais Antiquities Inspector is as follows: “The DoA can overcome the expropriation issue by swapping the lands of the areas that will be evacuated with some lands owned by the government, in addition to dialoguing with the owners of the lands and buildings in order to convince them of the importance of protecting the integrity and authenticity of the archaeological site and the historical centre as a symbol of the city's history, thereby reaching a satisfactory compromise for all parties.” (GO8UAO)
6.1.6
Fostering Touristic and Archaeological Awareness among all the Stakeholders
Deepening the concept of touristic and archaeological awareness contributes to (1) enhancing a national sense of belonging and loyalty to Jordan, (2) fostering pride in past civilizations and various archaeological sites, (3) applying civilized practices and behaviours that reflect the nature of the local community, and (4) increasing the local community’s acceptance of tourism and tourists while encouraging respect of others from different religions and cultures. A large section of the local community of Jerash does not accept tourism as an idea. Some people view tourists as pariahs differing from the local community both in terms of culture and religion, 204
so there is sometimes hostile behaviour towards tourists, especially children uninformed about tourism. In addition, there is an obvious lack of understanding and awareness of the significance of the archaeological site, its potential for improving the local economy and the benefits that would follow if the Jerash Archaeological Site were inscribed on the World Heritage List. “Many Jerashians would like the Jerash Archaeological Site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, but they do not realize the importance of the inscription. They know little about what the World Heritage List is, so there is a need to educate them about this subject and the main problems hindering the successful inscription of the Jerash site.” (GO11DA) To remedy this, voluntary educational associations, with names such as “The Friends of Archaeology and Heritage” or “The Tourist’s Friends Club”, could be established. Darabseh (2010) indicated that this could be predominantly achieved through a systematic school curriculum, awareness workshops, and campaigns for local residents and university lectures which give children a solid cultural base and information about the historical and archaeological values of the site. This would hopefully produce a generation of children intellectually equipped to grasp their own city’s history and culture from the perspective of tourism and antiquities. “Subjects concerning Jordanian cultural heritage sites should be inserted into the textbooks of schools and colleges to raise students’ awareness on the importance of such a legacy. To ensure that knowledge is being conveyed in a simple way, different modern educational technologies should be used.” (LC1AA) Recently, the Ministry of Education seriously addressed the issue as it inserted some subjects related to archaeological and touristic awareness into the curricula. On the other hand, the ATHENA Project (Ancient Theatres Enhancement for New Actualities), which was conducted in most of the archaeological sites in Jordan including Jerash site, issued the book “Aladdin’s Magical Journey of Ancient Theatres” in December 2012, a children’s book authored by a wellknown children’s writer and poet Mohammad Al-Thaher. The book was written in a rhythmical style, sending a distinct message to young children and, thus, creating awareness about protecting ancient theatres (ATHENA Project, 2012). Additionally, teachers should be trained to 205
appreciate the importance of the archaeological sites, to teach the subjects regarding antiquities and heritage to schoolchildren, and to involve students in activities that are connected to these sites. On May 5, 2012, educational activities in the Jerash South Theatre were launched by the ATHENA Project to make children more aware of the cultural importance of ancient theatres. Other activities were launched through the "Don't Mess with Nature” Initiative to foster awareness among local residents and employees working at the Jerash site regarding pollution and cleanliness issues at the archaeological site. One of the founders of this initiative mentioned its main activities: “Our ‘Don't Mess with Nature’ initiative involved cleaning and awareness campaigns at the Jerash Archaeological Site from August 2010 to August 2011, at which we displayed environmental and cultural films and placed as many as 45 recycled garbage bins for the first time in Jerash.” (NG5JIT) If the local community is educated, the achievement of the three sustainable tourism dimensions—particularly the socio-cultural dimension—will be easier. These dimensions are like the columns of house—they support each other. A pair of experts gave two examples of the importance of touristic and archaeological awareness in achieving the sustainable tourism dimensions. The first remark is about the socio-cultural and archaeological dimensions: “If the local community was aware of the importance of the site and tourism, the relationships between the tourists and the archaeological site on the one hand and the local residents on the other would be friendlier because the local residents would be well prepared to welcome tourists gently and protect the site.” (NG14JU) The other example is about the economic dimension: “Tourism is an industry, and this kind of industry requires an aware community for its economic benefits. Touristic awareness is a precondition for the economic benefits. By convincing the local residents of the importance of the economic direct and indirect benefits of tourism, they will innovate new ways to welcome tourists and will keep improving the services and facilities which they offer to them.” (NG7JSD)
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The implementation of these activities also requires educating all the governmental stakeholders (the employees of the MoTA, DoA and Jerash Municipality) and educational institutions to be fully involved in developing more sustainable forms of tourism. This includes staff certification in best practice involving sustainability and cultural heritage protection. The Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy (2011-2015) included two key activities (Activity 3.3 and Activity 4.5) to improve the delivery of world-class tourism education services and increase awareness amongst key stakeholders regarding tourism’s socio-economic benefits. To reach higher levels of awareness, educators must ensure that these awareness programs address the current issues facing tourism at the Jerash Archaeological Site and prepare stakeholders to manage the challenges that influence or will influence sustainable tourism in Jerash.
6.1.7
Utilizing the Points of Agreement between the Stakeholders
At the beginning of a conflict management project, stakeholders should first discuss their agreements, thereby breathing a spirit of optimism into the discussion. Furthermore, establishing a base of commonalities and prior experience in managing such conflicts makes future conflict resolution more efficient. The agreement and commonalities are those interests that are widely shared by a number of stakeholders, though not necessarily all (Myers, Smith & Shaer, 2010). In the short term, identifying common interests between the stakeholders can bridge the gap between their viewpoints. There is a general agreement that the cultural landscape of the Jerash Archaeological Site could benefit a number of stakeholders through future economic development stemming from cultural heritage protection of the site. One of the most common points of agreement among all the stakeholders is that they are not against sustainability and local community benefits of tourism in Jerash. They want to keep the archaeological site in good condition and leave it in good condition for their children and grandchildren. This common linking of values associated with the archaeological site could be exploited in future planning and implementation processes. Particularly, there are other harmonious relationships between or among stakeholders. For example, there is a potential bond between the local community and the government represented 207
by the MoTA and DoA. “A while ago, there appeared to be agreement between the local community and the government because there was a significant tendency on the ministry’s part to support and involve the local residents in the development process in Jerash. In addition, both of them want to maximize the economic benefits from tourism in Jerash.” (NG11GJU) On the other hand, agreement between the governmental bodies themselves, such as the MoTA and DoA, exists in the area of scientific research and sometimes in the archaeological excavations. Both of them are trying to reach ideal, sustainable management of the Jordanian cultural heritage sites, including those in Jerash. To take advantage of this point of agreement, stakeholders could propose sustainable tourism development that satisfies most of the stakeholders at the same time. For a more detailed explanation, the following sections will discuss two major points of agreement between the stakeholders: (1) The need to obtain World Heritage Inscription and cultural heritage protection, and (2) The need to promote economic satisfaction of the local stakeholders.
6.1.7.1 Successful World Heritage Inscription and Cultural Heritage Protection A major point of consensus, the desire to inscribe the site on the World Heritage List would strengthen relationships between the local stakeholders and their cultural heritage site while supporting their cultural identity. A German representative to the World Heritage Committee noted: “Awareness building and the pride of being part of a worldwide network of heritage sites of OUV is essential for the cultural identity of communities.” (NG19UN) As noted before, according to the recommendations mentioned in the last World Heritage Committee report in 1995, the Committee deferred the nomination of Jerash to the government of Jordan (1) until it could establish a buffer zone around the archaeological site to the north, west, and south of at least 50 m, and preferably 100 m, within which no construction of any kind would be permitted; (2) an effective consultation and cooperation apparatus should be 208
established between the DoA and MoTA, with the participation of the Jerash Municipality and Jerash Festival Committee for the future management of the site; and (3) all permanent structures associated with the Festival should be removed from the archaeological site, and all restricted periods must be agreed upon for their subsequent erection and dismantling during the Festival (ICOMOS, 1995). Due to the urban encroachment on the site explained in Chapter 5, official boundaries of the site should be identified clearly with a buffer zone. Some local stakeholders thought that buffer zoning means expropriating the surrounding land and removing all the shops and houses of the local residents from the modern city of Jerash and the areas surrounding the archaeological site. An officer at the UNESCO Office in Amman detailed the structure of an effective buffer zone: “UNESCO cannot state what the boundaries should be because the government better understands the land use and excavations. Buffer zones can be much smaller in some areas and larger in others. For example, in natural heritage sites, the buffer zone can be several kilometres, and in urban heritage sites, it can be meters. The Operational Guidelines for World Heritage Sites suggest that the buffer zone distance can vary from 25 m to several kilometres. They make the buffer zone a requirement because it provides additional protection for the sites, but we also have to understand that there are living communities who exist around the site, and we have to accommodate them and incorporate them. So buffer zones can include the urban area, and it does not have to be empty. However, there have to be specific regulations to govern the urban development in the buffer zone, so the buffer zone would vary around Jerash site since, as far as I know, the site is almost completely surrounded by urban development. The nomination itself will include the archaeological site and what is included within the boundaries, though the buffer zone is part of the nomination.” (NG10UO) The local communities of Petra and Wadi Rum (World Heritage Sites) are incredibly important because the living heritage of these sites is one aspect of why they are listed. Petra and Wadi Rum were both listed not only because of their natural, geological, cultural, and archaeological value, but also because of the communities that live there. The latter is a very important factor to UNESCO, and it should also be so for tourism development planners. Thus, it does not make 209
sense to remove expensive houses and merchants from the modern city of Jerash, since the government has no financial basis to compensate landowners for expropriation. Instead, since these buildings have licenses issued by the Jerash Municipality, the Municipality can stop renewing the licenses for these buildings, thereby steadily decreasing the number of tenants. A buffer zone is not a requirement if there are also legal and regulatory methods available to protect the property from broader threats (Operational Guidelines, Paragraph 104). Countries have different mechanisms to regulate urban heritage areas, such as land-use plans or development regulations (UNESCO, 2010). The officer from the UNESCO Office in Amman explained how the buffer zone in Jerash must be regulated: “Buffer zones are not only for expropriating lands and buildings, but also for guiding people living around the site. There must therefore also be strict regulations for how the government manages them. For example, what will happen if there is new urban development activity inside the buffer zone? And what will happen if somebody wants to paint a house pink? That affects the authenticity of the site.” (NG10UO) Jordan intends to provide an applicable management plan and clear picture of the legal and contractual regulations for the archaeological site and its surrounding area. The delegate of the Standing Conference for the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Division of Multilateral Cultural and Media Relations of the Federal Foreign Office, Germany, explained the composition of a management plan for the sustainability of cultural heritage sites: “To my mind, it is important to develop a management plan as an integrated planning and action concept. It needs to define the objectives and measures regarding protection, conservation, usage and development, alternatives and financial implications. Highquality processes, carefully weighed possible impacts and transparent decisions are essential. Community involvement is also a crucial basis for such a process on the way to World Heritage status.” (NG19UN) The government can thus decelerate development by allowing the present buildings to remain but without future development. Additionally, if there is development in the area, specific
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regulations on colours, materials, and heights of the buildings around the site could be implemented: “Urban development can exist around the World Heritage Site as long as it is managed and checked. The World Heritage Committee does not intend to freeze the site and make it exist in the exact same form forever. Any new urban development affects the site and will affect any nomination dossier unless the government can demonstrate that it has implemented radical changes in urban development.” (NG7JSD) It would be possible to nominate the archaeological site in the west independently of the ancient Roman city in the east, where urban development is more prevalent. Therefore, urban development to the west part should be stopped as quickly as possible. This process would be simple since there are not many new buildings in the west part, so if the government expropriates the land and buildings in the western area within ten metres parallel to the streets, it can convince the UNESCO of Jerash to add it to the World Heritage List. As long as there is clear demonstration of intention to do the best for the site, there is rarely an issue. The government must still monitor the site to ensure that there is no further damage, guaranteeing that no further cement is used around the Ancient Roman Bridge area and that the current huge concrete walls will be covered with a disaggregate and a sandstone colour. These simple, completely achievable measures would build a convincing argument for UNESCO, who would see the amount of intent in the measures. It is primarily a matter of the management’s motivation in preparing an applicable management plan to identify the roles of all stakeholders and avoid authority overlap between them. Finally, if the Jerash Archaeological Site is inscribed successfully on the World Heritage List, all the stakeholders will feel satisfied because they will benefit greatly. Rebanks (2009) identified four benefits of World Heritage Inscription: (1) A magnet for international collaboration and funding for a wide range of projects, (2) Incentive to awareness raising and educational initiatives, (3) Enhanced tourism image and profile, and (4) Enhanced opportunities for niche branding of local products and services. Germany’s Representative to the World Heritage Committee commented on the impact inscription has on the local community:
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“World Heritage Sites represent resources for economic activities. Local communities could benefit from the listing of a site on the World Heritage List. I think it is important to involve the local community in the nomination process and to explain the benefits of listing the Jerash Archaeological Site on the World Heritage List.” (NG19UN)
6.1.7.2 The Economic Satisfaction of the Local Stakeholders Tourism in cultural heritage sites located in urban settings creates numerous job opportunities, decreasing the unemployment rate. In general, the sectors that benefit economically from tourism are commerce and accommodation services, with additional impacts in the construction, transportation and communication sectors. These benefits increase in a growing city population and growing tourist volume because demand increases. Eber (1992) indicated that to be sustainable, tourism should support local economies by stimulating a wide range of local economic activities, encouraging employment, and protecting cultural and natural resources. However, as mentioned in Section 5.4.2.2, Jerashian residents are not satisfied about the economic benefits from tourism due to the lack of tourism investments in Jerash. “For me, the Jerash Archaeological Site is like an oil well in that it generates a great deal of economic benefits for local residents, though its cultural significance sublimates the significance of the oil. However, the local residents do not benefit from the site as they had hoped.” (MT12TTP) One issue is that international tourists only visit the archaeological site and do not enter the modern city, so the economic benefits go to the government and some tourist restaurants while the local residents are marginalized. Only in the spring do the local residents feel that there is tourism in the modern city of Jerash, since many people from the other Jordanian governorates visit Jerash in the spring, walk in the modern city and buy some local products and goods. Indeed, the Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy (2011-2015) focused on the fair distribution of tourism benefits as one of the cornerstones of sustainable tourism, exploiting local human resources for the benefit of all segments of society without confining them to one category of beneficiaries (e.g., big traders from Amman or stakeholders in the modern city). However, fair 212
distribution has not been achieved yet in Jerash, and the concentrated control of tourism resources has unfortunately increased. One of the main solutions, suggested by most of the interviewed local and international experts, to solve such conflicts that hinder the sustainable tourism process is to encourage local investors to establish hotels, tourist restaurants and other related tourism enterprises. The MoTA is trying gradually to support the promotion of local products, which are seen as an essential factor for showing the city’s distinctness and uniqueness. An economist specializing in governmental loans and grants remarked about the funding of these activities: “It is very important to support the local residents financially by governmental or nongovernmental grants, bank loans, and a combination of foreign funding and the capital of the local residents and to invest in small tourism projects.” (NG16YU) In addition, the MoTA is working now on producing a tourism investment map to provide economic and investment advice to both local and international investors through its website. This map includes information about the projects that can be implemented in Jordanian tourist areas. These projects include micro projects involving a sum of 5000 JD and mega projects requiring a sum of 150000 JD. It also provides information about the nature of investment in these areas, such as the investment opportunities in Jerash or Umm Qais as well the risks and feasibility studies for micro and mega projects. The Commissioner of the MoTA from the Jordan Investment Board explained how both organisations support the investment initiatives of the local residents: “When the local residents take the initiative to invest in tourism, we encourage them and strengthen their initiative by telling them success stories of investors in the tourism sector who gained various financial benefits (including how these stories began, how the success was achieved, and what the nature of the success was). This is very useful in cases that might otherwise promote jealousy: if somebody opened a successful supermarket, many other people could do the same. We also foster investment awareness among them by holding seminars, meetings and lectures about the suitable ways to handle tourists and the best practices of hospitality.” (GO10JIB) 213
Investment potential in Jerash bears comparison with that in Petra. A tour guide who has a travel and tourism agency in Petra notes that People from Jerash make the claim that “the big whales in Amman are controlling the entire tourism sector”. He considers the local investors in Petra as a benchmark: “In Petra, there are local investors, but they barely compete with multinational hotels and tour operators, so there is always a competitive advantage. If the people from Jerash succeeded in competing with these big whales in Amman, they would be off to a strong start, which is the most difficult stage in any investment process. If local investors built a hotel in Jerash, it would create the demand.” (NG9JTG) As visitors are becoming more demanding, investment in new attractive entertainment events and activities will be needed, and this, of course, will encourage the visitors to stay longer (Darabseh, 2010). A German expert who specializes in the implementation of conflict resolution systems in enterprises and organizations summarised these points: “Local residents cannot just keep complaining. They should start to take the risk because every business is risky. In terms of tourism, it is very difficult to guarantee economic sustainability and continuity of any business because there is always turbulence during progress. Tourism is a fluctuating industry. They should create additional attractions, such as cultural events and entertainment activities to offer new experiences to the tourists.” (NG17EI) Investments in the tourism sector benefit the local community directly and indirectly. One such initiative would be establishing traditional home-stays. Staying solely in luxurious hotels bores many tourists. When they interact with the local community, on the other hand, they could learn new customs, the language and the local cuisine, such as Jerashian yoghurt, lettuce and olives. If a home-stay is opened in Jerash, twenty workers from Jerash could work at it, benefitting their families: “According to the Department of Statistics, the average family size in Jordan is five people, and five times twenty is one hundred. Therefore, one hundred people benefit directly from this home-stay. From the investor’s point of view, every direct job 214
opportunity equals three indirect job opportunities. On the other hand, every Jordanian Dinar that comes directly and indirectly from tourism supports the treasury of the country at [an income tax rate of] 14%. As the economic benefit goes through the wheel, the country also benefits from this home-stay.” (GO10JIB) Sustainable tourism does not happen by itself, as the proverb notes: "Feed the ninth, you eat the tenth". So the local community should invest in the tourism sector in order to gain benefits.
Extending the Tourists’ Stay in Jerash Tourists spend only a maximum of 3 to 5 hours in Jerash. As mentioned in section 5.2, their tour is limited to visiting the archaeological site only. The average length of stay for international tourists in Jordan is 4.1 days (MoTA, 2013). If we compare the time spent in Petra versus Jerash, which is considered the second most visited site after Petra, we find that tourists spend one day in Petra, while they spend only about four hours in Jerash. All the tour itineraries offered by travel and tourism agencies unfairly place Jerash on their tour programs with two or three other tourist destinations, with itineraries including Amman–Umm Qais–Ajloun–Jerash–Amman and Amman–Tabqet Fahel–Umm Qais–Jerash–Amman. Jerash should be given a full day tour so that the tourists can enjoy the diverse sites in Jerash. Additionally, tourists visit the archaeological site alone since there is a lack of amusement and cultural events in the modern city of Jerash that could be on such an itinerary. The MoTA is linking the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site physically by the Third Tourism Project. Linking the two parts of the ancient Roman city physically requires a socio-cultural linking. Many events and activities were suggested by local and international tourism experts to connect the archaeological site socio-culturally with the modern city of Jerash in order to extend the tourists’ stay in Jerash. A professor at the German-Jordanian University suggested: “The local community in Jerash should institute concerts and soirees, such as those instituted by the local community in Petra, like the Ammarin Bedouin Camp and Little Petra. These activities could be designed to respect the Islamic conservative nature of the local community.” (NG11GJU) 215
A tour guide who worked in many international tourist destinations said: “The archaeological site is usually open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the summer season when it is very hot, why not extend opening hours to 10 p.m. to let tourists enjoy summer nights in Jerash? It would also be important to plan night entertainment programs, including special dinners similar to ‘Petra by Night’, thereby achieving two goals in one action: (1) It would enable longer tourists stays, since the program will encourage tourists to stay for the ‘Jerash by Night’ program, which allows them time to spend in the modern city of Jerash and to shop, and (2) After ‘Jerash by Night’ finishes, it would be too late for tourists to go back to Amman, so they would have to stay in Jerash, which would necessitate heavy investment in the hotel sector for lodging a greater number of tourists.” (NG15JTG) A Jerashian tour guide suggested a new local and tribal event that could benefit the older population of Jerash: “Due to the tribal nature of Jerash, I suggest that the tour include visiting local tribal places like ‘Madhafah’,9 in which tourists meet one of the old men who wears traditional dress, exposing tourists to the tribal atmosphere and stories about the traditional life in Jerash. Afterwards, they could take the tourists to eat a local meal.” (NG9JTG) They can make use of an ancient building dating back to the Ottoman period as a cultural heritage museum that explains the historical and archaeological character and history of Jerash. This building is already owned by the DoA. Additionally, extending the tourists’ stay in Jerash requires changing the current visitor circulation. The tourists should be dropped off and begin their visit at the ticketing office, then pass through Hadrian Gate to see all the antiquities. Afterwards, they may leave the site from the North Gate located near Al-Qayrawan Circle, where they can enter the modern city of Jerash, shop and experience the events and activities there. They can then go to home-stays or hotels in the modern city of Jerash to rest before the beginning of nightly programs, such as “Jerash by Night”. Extending the tourists’ stay in Jordan will extend the tourists’ stay in Jerash, therefore 9
This is a large hall where the tribe members meet for various social occasions like weddings, consolations, etc.
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the MoTA should not depend mainly on the tours combined with neighbouring countries like Israel and some Arab countries which have Arab Spring revolutions. It should announce itself as a pure tourist destination because it has many magnificent cultural and natural heritage sites.
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Chapter 7: Conclusion Despite the significance of the Jerash Archaeological Site, it is not inscribed yet on the World Heritage List. This is primarily due to urban expansion of the modern city into the archaeological site, and this urban encroachment, which made the site boundaries unclear and impacted the authenticity and integrity of the site, contradicts the principles of sustainable tourism, especially the cultural heritage protection. Maintaining the authenticity of the site and protecting its integrity requires solving the conflicts between the stakeholders of sustainable tourism and urban development. Therefore, the main goals of this thesis are (1) to do a profound analysis of the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development and how to manage them and (2) to present the results to all the stakeholders to start a public discussion process that will contribute in solving the conflicts and ensure effective decision-making. This thesis contributes to the literature regarding the conflict in sustainable tourism. The argument of the literature revealed that the conflict in sustainable tourism is a complex concept especially when linked to urban development. During the field work, different stakeholders’ perspectives have been arisen. Therefore, it was essential to recognise and analyze these perspectives in order to understand the conflicts that occur between different stakeholders of cultural heritage sites. In-depth information regarding the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site was obtained by conducting semistructured interviews and group discussions with the stakeholders of the site (governmental bodies, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, tourism entrepreneurs, small business owners and local community). Another key contribution of the study is the need for studies of conflict analysis and conflict management to distinguish different aspects of conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development. In the case of Jerash, urban development is inconsistent with sustainable tourism because it is concerned more with how to develop the economy and the surrounding areas of the Jerash Archaeological Site rather than with how to protect this site and develop the local community. The implementation of the urban and tourism development projects triggers conflict between the stakeholders. Numerous kinds of issues were raised, namely cultural heritage destruction, financial losses, unfair distribution of economic benefits and mismanagement. 218
Several stages have been conducted to analyse the conflict between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jerash Archaeological Site comprehensively, and due to the specificity of each case study, the researcher preferred to adopt a particular analysis method to be more suitable for the case study of Jerash site, including: (1) The history of conflict, (2) Stakeholders’ analysis and their level of authority, (3) Framing the conflict (archaeological, environmental, economic and socio-cultural), and (4) Investigation of the conflict causes. The most important stage of the analysis is to investigate the aspects of conflict and how they influence the archaeological site and its setting, on the one hand, and the local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs, on the other hand. The archaeological and environmental aspects include conflict between the protection of the cultural and natural heritage resources and the various impacts of urban development like the distortion of the integrity and authenticity of the site, destruction of archaeological monuments and traditional buildings, water, air and noise pollution as well as traffic congestions generated by the urban encroachment on the archaeological and historical significance of this site and haphazard expansion over the surrounding environment. Unfortunately, instead of protecting the environment from the urban encroachments, the Third Tourism Project aggravated the problem with its long digging and construction conducted mostly in Jerash, causing various types of pollution. In addition, the Third Tourism Project did not take into consideration one of the main sustainable tourism principles in the cultural heritage sites, which is cultural heritage protection. According to some interviewed archaeologists, ignoring this principle is considered as one of the main infringements threatening antiquities. They indicated that the conflict between the interests of cultural heritage protection and urban development increased the problems that face the implementation of sustainable tourism in Jerash, namely inevitable destruction of many archaeological monuments and traditional buildings because the modern city of Jerash had lately witnessed an increase in the pace of construction to serve the interests of commercial development and population growth. From World Heritage point of view, one of the harmful conflict issues that influenced the future of the Jerash Archaeological Site to be on the World Heritage List is the distortion of its integrity and authenticity, since the World Heritage Committee pointed out that the important conditions 219
for the qualification of cultural heritage sites to the World Heritage List include the requirements of authenticity and integrity (Jokilehto, 2006). These two concepts, which are component of the OUV of any World Heritage property, should be well-protected from the encroachments of human factors, whether they are related to urban and tourism development or population growth. The economic aspects of the conflict showed how the local community, tourism entrepreneurs and local stakeholders have been affected by the urban and tourism development projects which were conducted recently in Jerash city. The Third Tourism Project was supposed to improve the local community’s quality of life, an alleged priority in the urban and tourism development in Jerash. Regrettably, this supposition came opposite of what local residents had expected. The purpose of the project is to regenerate the urban situation in the modern city of Jerash and link it with the western part (the archaeological site) to increase the economic benefit to the local community through changing the current visitor path or visitor circulation to include visiting the modern city, but the project did not change the circulation until now. Consequently, the local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs are against the project because it did not benefit them economically and influenced negatively their life and businesses. Local stakeholders also seem frustrated from the implementation of the Third Tourism Project, as it was disappointing and its execution was far away from what was shown in the plans, as well as some parts of the project were excluded. The local stakeholders feel resentful of this project because, during the implementation of the project, the small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs saw a weakening of commerce in the city because of the digging and construction in front of their shops and restaurants. To execute these works without harmful impacts on the local stakeholders and the archaeological site, the government should expropriate most of the land plots in the western and eastern areas surrounding the site and a few plots in the south west toward the Hippodrome. The interviewed experts from the DoA, MoTA and Jerash Municipality complained that the main reason for the land use conflict is that the purchase of land is not an easy task because of the high prices of these plots. They added that this type of conflict frequently happens when the stakeholders of the project expropriate buildings that contain shops or restaurants located in the East Baths area and the Golden Valley areas, as their owners will not receive fair compensation, so they will be dissatisfied about the amount of compensation. 220
Concerning the socio-cultural aspects, the analysis focused on the relationships of the local community with both the archaeological site and tourists. The consideration of the social complexity and tangled relationships can contribute to the successful management of this kind of conflict. The uncontrolled urban development in Jerash that modified the cultural landscape of the Jerash Archaeological Site, has contributed to separating the local community from the tourists and the site, dividing the ancient Roman city (within the boundaries of the ancient city wall) into two parts (the modern city of Jerash and the archaeological site). For that reason, the local residents who live in the modern city are somewhat remote from their guests and the site. So they do not feel the changes that tourism brings in cultural values, life styles, celebrations, morals and beliefs. But in the interviews and group discussions conducted with the local stakeholders, the local residents did not appear prepared to receive tourists due to lack of awareness of tourism's importance and its various benefits. Local participants explained three main socio-cultural hindrances between the two halves: The first hindrance is that the local residents in Jerash are unaccustomed to seeing tourists and dealing with them because tourists only visit the Jerash Archaeological Site and rarely enter the modern city of Jerash. The second hindrance in the way of linking the modern city of Jerash with the archaeological site is the conservative Islamic nature of the local residents. For example: There are millionaires in Jerash who can build hotels, night clubs and bars but they do not want, because their relatives and surrounding conservative community will insult, blame and criticize them harshly as such investments are incompatible with the teachings of Islam. Thirdly, the MoTA does not give a priority to launch certain socio-cultural activities and entertainment programs in the modern city of Jerash before linking the two parts of the city. On the other hand, the relationship between the local community and the Jerash Archaeological Site is weak. The interviews and group discussions conducted with most of the local residents revealed that their awareness of cultural heritage in general and, particularly, of the identity of the site is somewhat lacking. In addition, they often detract from the significance of the Jerash Archaeological Site. For example: In the past, some local residents considered the site as “Wreckage and Havoc,” and they never paid it a visit once during their entire life. Moreover, the “Host-guest Relationship” is still very incomplete in Jerash, as there is a lack of interaction and contact between the tourists and local residents. 221
This study also examined the root causes behind the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development. In addition the interests of all the stakeholders were also examined to contribute to developing solutions that address the conflicting interests. Three causes were identified through the interviews and group discussions: the first cause is the short tourists’ stay in Jerash: When the tourist bus reaches the parking at the crafts and souvenirs market, the tourists walk into the archaeological site for one hour, take a lunch in a restaurant adjacent to the site and then hurry out of the city without passing the modern city of Jerash. The second cause is the ineffectiveness of the legislation for the sustainable tourism management of cultural heritage, as there is an absence of detailed legal instruments related to the zoning and to expropriation issues which could regulate the land use in the historical centre and around the cultural heritage sites. Thirdly, the lack of a comprehensive vision for urban and tourism development in the cultural heritage areas to link cultural heritage with urban and tourism development, protect the archaeological site and ensure satisfactory living standards for the local residents. Nevertheless, there is a lack of collaboration, coordination, consultation and participation of these parties and there is a lack of local community participation and involvement in the decision making process, especially during the implementation of the urban and tourism development projects, and this causes slowness in the achievement of the projects, triggering conflicts between the interests of the stakeholders. In fact, according to the interviewed experts, the most important challenge is to enhance the ability of the government to contribute in making a balance between the conflicting stakeholders’ interests in sustainable tourism (in all its economic, socio-cultural, archaeological and environmental dimensions) and urban development. Most of the experts indicated that the best way to resolve conflicts is via the preventive management of tourism and sites to avoid conflict issues in the first place. In this respect, there is a need for increased understanding and awareness of the significance of the archaeological site, its potential for improving the quality of the local economy and the benefits that can be obtained if the Jerash Archaeological Site is inscribed on the World Heritage List. On the other hand, once conflicts appear, conflict management methods and techniques should be used. There are two main conflict management methods based on who is in charge of 222
resolving the conflict, namely, formal methods (arbitration and adjudication) and informal methods (negotiation, conciliation, facilitation and mediation). The informal methods are more flexible and can satisfy most of the stakeholders’ interests in a friendly manner. Therefore, the researcher believed that informal techniques conformed better to the nature of this Jerash case study. In light of the previous techniques based on the perceptions of the interviewed experts and local stakeholders, the researcher explored the conflict management issues and developed seven particular techniques to manage and mitigate the conflicts brought about by the pressures of urban development in Jerash: (1) implementing a sustainable urban tourism framework quickly in order to fix the shortcomings of the Third Tourism Project and identify the boundaries of the archaeological site clearly; (2) creating a harmonious balance between cultural heritage protection and urban development and solving the conflict, concerning this matter, between the MoTA and DoA on one side and the local community, tourism entrepreneurs and small business owners on the other; (3) comprehensive planning of urban and tourism development, on a long term basis, for addressing all these interests and evading unexpected or unwanted impacts on tourism, various tourism sites, and the local community; (4) ensuring full involvement, real collaboration and active participation of all stakeholders due to its importance in avoiding and mitigating conflicts which appeared during project planning and implementation, so the tourism sector can attain better payoffs, because every stakeholder has perspectives, knowledge, skills, and experiences that can be critical to the successful implementation of sustainable tourism; (5) financing the expropriation of lands around the Jerash Archaeological Site because removing the local stakeholders from the city centre is very complicated and difficult without paying enough financial compensation and finding alternative commercial and residential areas for these urban activities outside the historical centre; (6) fostering touristic and archaeological awareness among all the stakeholders to enhance their understanding of the significance of the archaeological site, its potential for improving the quality of the local economy’s life; and (7) utilizing the points of agreement between the stakeholders. In the short term, identifying commonalities between the stakeholders can facilitate the mediation and compromise processes by bridging the gap between the viewpoints of stakeholders. To sum up, the interviews reveal
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that these techniques could contribute to solving many current conflicts and will lead to successful implementation of sustainable tourism.
Future Research There are very few studies conducted about the conflicts between sustainable tourism and urban development in the Jordan’s cultural heritage sites, overlap of authorities and relationships between the stakeholders in these sites, therefore it is more than necessary to concentrate the efforts of researchers on conducting such studies. On the other hand, conflict analysis and conflict management in sustainable tourism play a role in predicting potential conflicts in sustainable tourism. Consequently, it is recommended that future research about conflict management should focus on how to avoid conflicts before they occur. This would provide predictive information concerning the aspects of conflict, points of agreement and stakeholders’ relationships, which contribute in mitigating the potential impacts of the conflicts and open diverse communication channels between the stakeholders. The total number of visitors to the Jerash Archaeological Site in 2012 was around 228,350 (MoTA, 2013). Most of them are foreigners. Therefore, it is recommended that further research be conducted on how to foster touristic and archaeological awareness among the local residents, small business owners and tourism entrepreneurs in order to enrich their experience in dealing with international visitors, understanding their cultures, providing high quality services and satisfying visitors’ expectations.
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Appendices Appendix 1: Consent Letter
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Appendix 2: Tour Itinerary in Jordan10
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http://www.deserthorizon.net/pdf/7days-6nights-new.pdf
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Appendix 3: Example of Interview Questions
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Appendix 4: Codes of the Governmental Bodies
Code GO JTD JM JAO UAO JG JIB DA MT TTP
Full Name Governmental Organization Jerash Tourism Directorate Jerash Municipality Jerash Antiquities Office Umm Qais Antiquities Office Jerash Governorate Jordan Investment Board Department of Antiquities Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities Third Tourism Project
Appendix 5: Codes of the Nongovernmental Organizations
Code NG YU HU JAU JIT FAH JSD JTG UO GJU JU EI MU UN
Full Name Nongovernmental Organization Yarmouk University Hashemite University Jordan Applied University/College of Hospitality and Tourism Education Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association Friends of Archaeology and Heritage The Jordanian Association for The Development of Cultural Heritage Jordan Tour Guides Association UNESCO Amman Office German Jordanian University The University of Jordan The Catholic University of EichstättIngolstadt, Germany The Centre of Mediation ∙ Moderation in Munich, Germany UNESCO
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Appendix 6: Codes of the Tourism Entrepreneurs
Code TE REST TO CSM HO
Full Name Tourism Entrepreneurs Restaurant Tour Operator The Crafts and Souvenirs Market (Al-Souq Al-Herafy) Olive Branch Hotel
Appendix 7: Codes of the Small Business Owners Code LS JCC REST AS MS ST PHY
Full Name Local shopkeeper Jerash Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Accessories shop Mobiles shop Supermarket Pharmacy
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Appendix 8: Example of Personal Information Questionnaire
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