Cultural Tourism; Are Tourists that Gullible?

The old electricity building -located downtown, opposite the Municipality of Greater Amman- is categorised as an important part of Amman’s history and industrial heritage. It also marks one of this country’s historically most significant attempts at claiming independence from the British mandate in the 1930’s in that it was a group effort from Amman’s influential families who came together and joined forces to bring light to their city.

In a city that has very few traces of modern history, the electricity hanger is naturally a very important monument.  Recently, this building has been purchased by the Municiaplity of Greater Amman who has placed it on its map of spaces to regenerate as part of face-lift for downtown Amman. 

On December 9^th the Municipality along with JARA (Jabal Amman Residence Association) invited a group of people from different sectors of arts, culture and tourism to a brainstorming workshop investigate ideas for the use of the space.

The workshop was commenced with a presentation made by the architecture and planning firm Turath, who presented the results of the research made around the physical attributes as well as history of the building. This was followed by several examples of similar buildings worldwide that have been converted in functional spaces. Some of such examples included open markets (Camden market) and contemporary gallery spaces (Tate Modern) both located in London city, as well as Tayebat the fresh food market in Beirut, opera houses and multifunction spaces were also presented as examples.

Immediately after this inspiring presentation, at which point the people invited were expected to begin a discussion on how to best use this unique building. Simultaneously a sheet of paper was handed out to the participants of the workshop in which a set of multiple choice questions and answers were asked. 

What do you think the name of this market should be called?

Who do you think should manage it?

Do you think that the tourism sector should be ‘paid’ to include it within their program?

(Automatically it insinuated that the space should be a market.)

The conversation was inaugurated with input from the people involved in the crafts industry who presented their experiences -specifically in the form of problems- in craft markets. The tourism representatives proceeded to discuss their problems in tourism in the city of Amman. 

Between the questionnaire and the problems of the different industries, the ‘brainstorming’ session quickly came to resemble an episode of ‘Barnamej Ureedou Hallan’ and the dreams presented by Turath of possibilities for the space were clouded by the angry problems of the different sectors. The session ended with a promise to meet again and continue discussion.

The gesture from the Municipality to involve people in making decisions about their city is an excellent one, and is clearly part of the new strategy of the mayor to give ownership of the city to its’ people. Yet the brainstorming session didn’t seemed to accomplish what is set out to. This, in my opinion, was a result of a few very influential aspects. 

Initially, the questionnaire presented to the attendees immediately after the presentation didn’t allow space to set the imagination free. It automatically assumed that a market was the best option for the conversion of the building. Another factor, which I believe is a very difficult and worrying, which is the centralized way in which people approach a discussion. Meaning that the discussion wasn’t directed at how to use the space in a way that would best suit the location, demographics, as well as the city’s needs. The conversations rotated around the individual problems and needs of each industry separately, and all the while being very focused on how to create a tourist attraction within the city centre. Yet if we continue to think that we can create a tourist attraction -in perhaps the same fashion as is seen in Dubai- we would play a part in ruining the authenticity of what our city offers and in what tourists who choose to visit Jordan for its historical heritage and genuineness.

The examples presented by Turath were excellent starting points, but there was no consideration that these examples in affluent cities worldwide were born of a city’s and community’s internal needs; they were presented with the local people in mind, and not the tourist. Naturally a successful cultural project will attract tourism.

It is vital to take advantage of the current attitude of the Municipality to involve the relevant people in decision-making, so as to develop projects that present solutions based on careful research and consideration. Meanwhile, involving the right people to research the possibilities who are guided by mediators and facilitators help carry such workshops towards the mission they set off to accomplish. These would guarantee the birth of a project that has longevity and character that will benefit the city and its people, as well as entertain the tourist.