An investigation of Palestinian refugees and their housing in Amman, Jordan.

Abu Helwa, Mussallam Fayiz Mussallam (1989) An investigation of Palestinian refugees and their housing in Amman, Jordan. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Jordan's capital city, Amman, has a population of about three-quarters of a million people, many of whom originated from Palestine. 13 per cent of these inhabitants - mainly the poorer ones - still live in refugee camps situated on the perimeter of the central-city area. Another 14 per cent live in crowded slum and squatter areas mainly located near the camps. Much of the rapid growth of Amman in recent decades has resulted from its continuing attractiveness, as a result of the job opportunties and cheap accommodation it has been able to offer the refugees. To date there has been little investigation of the refugees and their housing in the camps and their fringing areas, either in the form of official surveys or in more academic studies. This is partly because there is a lack of detailed data on the camps and their residents. Part One deals generally with the camps and the Palestinian refugee population. In Parts Two and Three the study investigates in some detail three camps and their fringing areas, in terms of their demographic, socio-economic and housing characteristics. Much of the data used was derived from a questionnaire survey of some one thousand households. Information was also gathered about levels of housing satisfaction and the mobility intentions of refugees. Only limited variety was found in the characteristics of residents and their housing conditions across the case study areas. But the analysis revealed widespread household overcrowding resulting from large family size and small, often makeshift housing. Although there has been much improvement of housing since the camps and their fringes were first built and the city authorities have also provided services, much of the housing still lacks more than the basic amenities. The low skill levels, the low levels of education, and the high dependency levels all confirm the poverty of the residents in this housing. In spite of these poor conditions, levels of expressed housing satisfaction were quite high. But many of those who said they were satisfied still expressed an intention to move. The quality of the residential environment characteristics seemed to be more important than poor quality housing in influencing housing satisfaction and the intention to move. The study concludes that there is an urgent need for a refugee housing policy which takes into account the expressed needs of the residents and deals with their dissatisfaction with neighbourhood conditions and overcrowding.

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