Insights on the obstacles, challenges, and complexities of engaging youth in urban planning in Jordan: assessment and recommendations

What is it about?

Youth involvement in Jordan's urban policymaking is limited and inconsistent. A substantial lacuna exists in understanding the complex web of hindrances deterring active engagement among young Jordanians in this process. The most recent iterations of legislative reforms vis-à-vis the legal frameworks governing planning paradigms in Jordan have, regrettably, fallen conspicuously short in their responsiveness to the critical issue of youth exclusion from the rubric of urban policymaking. This paper comprehensively investigates the lack of youth involvement in the intricate tapestry of urban policymaking in the Jordanian context. It attempts to present and illustrate the obstacles, challenges, hindrances and complexities facing engaging youth in urban planning in Jordan. The research methodology adopted is grounded in a mixed-methods approach, encompassing the synergy of qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques. A total of twelve discernible barriers emerged as a result of a systematic deductive thematic analysis of primary data. Subsequent quantitative analysis was employed to strengthen the external validity of the research findings, thereby enhancing the generalizability of the qualitative insights. This comprehensive inquiry highlights the pervasive gaps in support for youth participation in urban policymaking within the administrative framework and across Jordanian society. Most notably, the prevalence of adultism emerges as the predominant and most substantive impediment, exerting a considerable influence in constraining the agency of young Jordanians in shaping urban policy.

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