32 images Created 4 Nov 2009
Jordan, Aqaba the new gate on the Red Sea
AQABA, THE NEW LIFE OF THE JORDAN'S GATE ON THE RED SEA
Aqaba, a small city at the southern tip of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan would seem to be an out-of-the-way place to be attracting global economic attention. Early in the twentieth century, Aqaba was ruled by the Ottoman Turks until T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia) captured the town in 1917.
Aqaba entered the twenty-first century on an entirely different note because in 2000 the Jordanian government declared the city a Special Economic Zone, a tax- and duty-free site designed to attract international investment and businesses. From a sleepy back-door gate into Jordan known mainly for its proximity to stunning coral reefs and the archaeological wonders of Petra, Aqaba has become one of the most important development sites in the Middle East, altering in the next future, perhaps irrevocably, the city's appearance, and his inhabitants. The vehicle for Aqaba's transformation was the establishment of 375 square kilometers of southern Jordan around Aqaba as a Special Economic Zone run by ASEZA (Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority). Downtown Aqaba still thrives, though new centers of activity are starting to erode its economic centrality. Another point of friction is public access to the beaches. Twenty years ago the public could access most of the coast, now with a string of hotels and luxury developments the only public beach can go to is small and dirty, and the hotel beaches can charge 25 dinar ($35) to enter. But till today Aqaba's downtown is the only tourist spot on the Red Sea that still felt like a living Middle Eastern city, full of coffee houses and night markets.
Aqaba, a small city at the southern tip of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan would seem to be an out-of-the-way place to be attracting global economic attention. Early in the twentieth century, Aqaba was ruled by the Ottoman Turks until T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia) captured the town in 1917.
Aqaba entered the twenty-first century on an entirely different note because in 2000 the Jordanian government declared the city a Special Economic Zone, a tax- and duty-free site designed to attract international investment and businesses. From a sleepy back-door gate into Jordan known mainly for its proximity to stunning coral reefs and the archaeological wonders of Petra, Aqaba has become one of the most important development sites in the Middle East, altering in the next future, perhaps irrevocably, the city's appearance, and his inhabitants. The vehicle for Aqaba's transformation was the establishment of 375 square kilometers of southern Jordan around Aqaba as a Special Economic Zone run by ASEZA (Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority). Downtown Aqaba still thrives, though new centers of activity are starting to erode its economic centrality. Another point of friction is public access to the beaches. Twenty years ago the public could access most of the coast, now with a string of hotels and luxury developments the only public beach can go to is small and dirty, and the hotel beaches can charge 25 dinar ($35) to enter. But till today Aqaba's downtown is the only tourist spot on the Red Sea that still felt like a living Middle Eastern city, full of coffee houses and night markets.
