Jordan officially launches the new city project “Umrah”

Today, Jordanian Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan launched the “Umrah City” project as a new model for sustainable urban development and long-term population growth management in Jordan, with the project’s development phases extending over a period of 25 years and across governments.
The project is scheduled to work to relieve population pressure on the cities of Amman and Zarqa, in partnership with the private sector.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the plans for the projects that will be implemented within the first phase, which will be built on an area of ​​40 thousand dunums out of nearly half a million dunums, provided that the Jordanian City and Government Facilities Development Company will follow up and facilitate the completion stages. Work in this phase is scheduled to begin early next year and extend until 2029, with part of the projects being completed within two years.
The Jordanian Prime Minister stressed that “Umrah City” will not be a new capital nor an administrative city, but will come to meet future population needs in the Kingdom, especially in Amman and Zarqa, where the population is expected to reach 11 million people within 25 years if population growth continues at its current pace.
The project pre-determines land uses to include investment, educational, commercial, industrial, service, residential and tourism sectors, according to sustainable principles that are compatible with the comprehensive plan and its future updates.
The project is classified as a “green city” that adopts the latest environmental and technological technologies, clean energy, and public transportation, providing advanced residential and service alternatives. It was also decided to form an advisory council that includes an elite group of creative youth in the fields of architecture, arts, environment, energy, real estate development, sustainability, public transportation, and technology, to ensure effective participation of youth in designing the future city.
The first phase includes developing major investment projects, including an international exhibition and conference center to be completed in 2027, and an integrated sports city that includes an international football stadium, an Olympic city, and Olympic-standard halls for various games, to be completed in 2029, in addition to an environmental park on an area of no less than 1,000 dunams, and an entertainment city to be completed in 2028, in addition to commercial and service areas, an educational city, and a technology center for investment in The education sector, museums and cultural facilities, including the expansion of the Royal Automobile Museum. The implementation of these projects will be financed through local and foreign investment.
The investment projects will be implemented on an area of ​​40,000 dunams of state treasury land, after it was allocated to the Jordanian Government Investment Fund, which established the Jordanian Company for the Development of Cities and Government Facilities to be the development arm of the project.
According to preliminary studies, the first phase projects are expected to provide thousands of job opportunities, with direct positive repercussions on the contracting, construction, trade, construction industries, transportation, and tourism sectors, thus contributing to stimulating economic growth.
“Umrah City” will also be connected to the high-speed bus system with the completion of the first phase at the end of 2029, to consolidate its role as a vital center for housing, work, and transportation and enhance its competitiveness in the long term.
The government announced that investment in the project will be in accordance with the comprehensive plan and within regulatory foundations that will be revealed in the coming months, with a study of partially opening public subscription after the end of the first phase, to provide citizens with the opportunity to benefit from this national investment.
The project is located on international roads linking Jordan to Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq, 40 kilometers from the center of Amman, and 35 kilometers from the city of Zarqa and Queen Alia International Airport.
It was also decided to allocate 10% of the project’s lands to the Jordanian Armed Forces, which will contribute to the development and equipping of infrastructure through the Engineering Corps. In addition, 20,000 dunams of adjacent treasury lands will be allocated to develop housing projects for the benefit of state employees, retirees, and residents of the Muwaqqar District through the General Corporation for Housing and Urban Development.