A development model is part of any country's identity, and you can discern it through its infrastructure and the solutions it offers to improve citizens' lives. There is no one-size-fits-all development model: some countries showcase towering buildings as a statement of their development approach, while in a country like Switzerland—advanced across various measures of economic prosperity and quality of life—it is almost rare to find a high-rise building, perhaps because it has moved beyond development as an ongoing "present action," turning development into an established "existing condition."
This idea may become essential to reflect upon when discussing the recent Throne Speech delivered by His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein at the opening of the ordinary session of the Parliament, where the concept of human-centered development emerges—meaning that its benchmark becomes the tangible return for citizens, measured implicitly through various pillars such as standard of living, employment opportunities, participation, education, and healthcare. The royal speech adds the dimension of sustainability, meaning that future generations must also benefit from the fruits and outcomes of development, ensuring that today’s gains are not achieved at the expense of their future opportunities.
Jordan has not entered a race for monumental structures, nor has it ever been preoccupied with building the tallest or widest edifices. On the contrary, the focus has been on reaching remote villages through education services and providing healthcare infrastructure as close as possible to citizens, making development tied to the state’s ability to reach people before constructing major landmarks. This approach has formed a significant aspect of Jordan’s developmental model identity. Yet today, this model also appears to require reevaluation in light of the major challenges confronting the economy and society.
The royal speech shifts toward the idea of major projects in a way that serves the fundamental goal tied to citizens’ livelihoods and their children’s future, as it has become essential to move forward with these strategic projects—not as displays of superficial achievement, but as genuine responses to the challenges currently facing Jordan.
This vision aims to pave the way for economic expansion and strengthen the sustainability of services provided to citizens. Enhancing the urban landscape is the last thing on its mind. The criterion for prioritizing projects is their economic and social return and their capacity to generate added value over the coming decades. Thus, water takes center stage in this agenda, with the King repeating the word "water" three times, reflecting its pivotal role in Jordan’s development equation.
Water is not merely a basic service; it is one of the key constraints determining the economy’s growth potential, affecting investment, agriculture, industry, and the future of cities, in addition to its direct impact on citizens’ lives. The new development here is not just the scarcity of water resources, which Jordan has long suffered from, but the growing demand amid this scarcity, accompanied by the urgent need to secure additional resources to ensure sustainable water supply in the future.
The issue becomes more complex as water resources are tied to a geopolitical system that Jordan seeks to navigate in the future, avoiding any opportunity for it to become a tool of pressure against the country.
Here, investment in water goes beyond merely meeting a service need; it becomes an investment in national decision-making independence and in the economy’s ability to sustain growth without its core resources remaining vulnerable to constraints and pressures.
Within this vision, large-scale projects aimed at securing water cease to be seen merely as financial burdens, instead representing investments in the sustainability of the development model itself. Therefore, this model faces the necessity of review—not of its core goals and human-centered assumptions—but of the tools and investments required to ensure its sustainability.
Reaching citizens through education, healthcare, and basic services remains an ongoing necessity. However, preserving and advancing these achievements requires investment in strategic infrastructure that enables the state to continue delivering services and grants the economy greater capacity to generate jobs and income.
The government, in turn, has embraced the content and essence of this speech. Its Prime Minister, who worked closely with the King for years, has long emphasized the need to review the development model. Yet what is currently required from the executive authority is translating this speech into practical steps—some of which must be genuinely innovative, not just a clichéd response to the phrase "thinking outside the box." The needed review is completed by redefining priorities, identifying projects worthy of investment, assessing their returns and costs, securing appropriate funding, linking their implementation to a clear timeline, and measuring their actual impact on citizens’ lives and the economy’s growth capacity.
Jordan must therefore draw again on its accumulated expertise developed within its own development model, through Jordanian consultants and professionals across various sectors, and leverage its strong relations with partner and friendly countries to obtain knowledge-based support alongside financial aid. Often, the problem is not merely a lack of funding, but the ability to transform funding into viable projects, and the possession of necessary knowledge to design, manage, and evaluate their outcomes. Jordan’s accumulated expertise—both within national institutions and beyond—can form a vital asset in this field, provided it is deployed within a clear vision that moves beyond ad hoc consultations toward an integrated system of coordinated governmental and civil efforts aimed at serving Jordan and Jordanians.
The royal speech is a renewed message directed at the government, placing it squarely before its responsibilities, alongside the duties and calls it conveyed to Parliament—urging elevated conduct and discourse, openness to broad participation with citizens and various national bodies, whether within government, the opposition, or Jordanian society in all its human development richness.
