Architectural monuments in the urban structure as a factor in the humanization of a city: The case of Jordan

• Main Authors: Haddad, Mwfeq Al, Linda, Svitlana
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accessibility; Built environment; Cities; Historic sites; Monuments; Urban environments; Urban planning; Visual aspects
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0124537

Today, the humanization of the city is one of the most important tasks of the theory and practice of modern urban planning. We interpret the concept of “humanization” as a set of certain actions and tools aimed at creating an environment comfortable for a person to stay in it. One of the most important factors shaping the comfort of the environment are the factors of physical and visual accessibility for both city residents and tourists. The territory occupied today by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been on the verge of a clash of great civilizations of the past for thousands of years, and almost all participants in the long historical process have left their mark here. Today, Jordan’s architectural heritage sites are either integrated into the structure of modern cities or are closely intertwined. Therefore, it is important to understand the meaning of architectural heritage sites integrated into the structure of our cities in addressing the humanization of the city. The theoretical approach is based on the concept of Universal Design and the criteria of the analysis of architectural heritage sites formulated by the authors. The methodological basis of the article was a full-scale survey of the architectural heritage sites of Amman and Madaba for physical and visual accessibility for people of different ages, social and national groups. The authors also analyzed how historical heritage sites affect the humanization of Jordanian cities in terms of a barrier -free built environment. It is established that architectural monuments are an important factor that stimulates the process of humanization of the city. The need to ensure free physical and visual access to the monument necessitates the adoption of measures by the city authorities, which at the same time improve the environment of the city outside the architectural monuments. These measures increase the level of humanization of the city as a whole and promote equal rights and opportunities for people with different physical needs, different age and social groups.