Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions

Fluvial reclamation to facilitate urban development leads to culverting, hence, a loss of urban streams. Using the palimpsest analogy, we examine how the Amman Stream in Amman (Jordan) historically provided regulatory and socio-cultural ecosystem services through its socio-spatial (longitudinal, lat...

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Autores principales:	Luna Khirfan, Niloofar Mohtat, Ben Daub
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	the Amman Stream (Seil Amman) Jordan regulatory ecosystem services socio-cultural ecosystem services urban form ecosystem loss Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6f8cf711ddac4fcf9a055d840a569bc0
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:6f8cf711ddac4fcf9a055d840a569bc0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6f8cf711ddac4fcf9a055d840a569bc02021-12-02T10:01:35ZReading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions2624-937510.3389/frwa.2021.754679https://doaj.org/article/6f8cf711ddac4fcf9a055d840a569bc02021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2021.754679/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2624-9375Fluvial reclamation to facilitate urban development leads to culverting, hence, a loss of urban streams. Using the palimpsest analogy, we examine how the Amman Stream in Amman (Jordan) historically provided regulatory and socio-cultural ecosystem services through its socio-spatial (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical) connections. We then explore the impact of the stream's culverting, partially in 1967 then completely in 1997, on these connections and, consequently, on ecosystem services. To overcome data paucity, our methodology relied on constructing spatial data by georeferencing and digitizing aerial photos and satellite images (from 1953, 1975, 1992, and 2000) using ArcGIS. We augmented our data with archival research (historic and contemporary documents and maps), an online survey among Amman's residents, and in situ observations and photography. The results reveal striking contrasts between the historic and contemporary configuration of urban form vis-à-vis the Amman Stream. Throughout its early urban history during the Classical and early Islamic periods, the urban form elements reflected reverence and prudence toward the Amman Stream as manifested in the investment in water infrastructure and the alignment of thoroughfares, civic monuments, and bridges that collectively capitalized on the land relief (the strath) and established strong connections with the Amman Stream, maximizing, in the process, its regulatory and socio-cultural services. In contrast, the contemporary urban form replaced the stream with car-oriented roads, hence, eradicated its regulatory services and replaced its socio-spatial connections with urban socio-economic and cultural fissures. Accordingly, we propose to daylight (de-culvert) the Amman Stream to restore its regulatory and socio-cultural services and its socio-spatial connections. We substantiate the feasibility of daylighting through: (1) morphological analysis that reveals that roads cover most of the stream; (2) the survey's findings that indicate public support; and (3) the cascading benefits for the larger watershed in a water insecure region.Luna KhirfanNiloofar MohtatBen DaubFrontiers Media S.A.articlethe Amman Stream (Seil Amman)Jordanregulatory ecosystem servicessocio-cultural ecosystem servicesurban formecosystem lossEnvironmental technology. Sanitary engineeringTD1-1066ENFrontiers in Water, Vol 3 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	the Amman Stream (Seil Amman) Jordan regulatory ecosystem services socio-cultural ecosystem services urban form ecosystem loss Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
spellingShingle	the Amman Stream (Seil Amman) Jordan regulatory ecosystem services socio-cultural ecosystem services urban form ecosystem loss Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Luna Khirfan Niloofar Mohtat Ben Daub Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
description	Fluvial reclamation to facilitate urban development leads to culverting, hence, a loss of urban streams. Using the palimpsest analogy, we examine how the Amman Stream in Amman (Jordan) historically provided regulatory and socio-cultural ecosystem services through its socio-spatial (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical) connections. We then explore the impact of the stream's culverting, partially in 1967 then completely in 1997, on these connections and, consequently, on ecosystem services. To overcome data paucity, our methodology relied on constructing spatial data by georeferencing and digitizing aerial photos and satellite images (from 1953, 1975, 1992, and 2000) using ArcGIS. We augmented our data with archival research (historic and contemporary documents and maps), an online survey among Amman's residents, and in situ observations and photography. The results reveal striking contrasts between the historic and contemporary configuration of urban form vis-à-vis the Amman Stream. Throughout its early urban history during the Classical and early Islamic periods, the urban form elements reflected reverence and prudence toward the Amman Stream as manifested in the investment in water infrastructure and the alignment of thoroughfares, civic monuments, and bridges that collectively capitalized on the land relief (the strath) and established strong connections with the Amman Stream, maximizing, in the process, its regulatory and socio-cultural services. In contrast, the contemporary urban form replaced the stream with car-oriented roads, hence, eradicated its regulatory services and replaced its socio-spatial connections with urban socio-economic and cultural fissures. Accordingly, we propose to daylight (de-culvert) the Amman Stream to restore its regulatory and socio-cultural services and its socio-spatial connections. We substantiate the feasibility of daylighting through: (1) morphological analysis that reveals that roads cover most of the stream; (2) the survey's findings that indicate public support; and (3) the cascading benefits for the larger watershed in a water insecure region.
format	article
author	Luna Khirfan Niloofar Mohtat Ben Daub
author_facet	Luna Khirfan Niloofar Mohtat Ben Daub
author_sort	Luna Khirfan
title	Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
title_short	Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
title_full	Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
title_fullStr	Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
title_full_unstemmed	Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions
title_sort	reading an urban palimpsest: how the gradual loss of an urban stream impacts urban form's connections and ecosystem functions
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6f8cf711ddac4fcf9a055d840a569bc0
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Reading an Urban Palimpsest: How the Gradual Loss of an Urban Stream Impacts Urban Form's Connections and Ecosystem Functions

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