How Has the Jordanian City of Aqaba Developed in Economic and Urban Terms?
Since its declaration as a special economic zone in 2001, the Jordanian city of Aqaba has undergone sweeping economic, urban, and tourism transformations that have strengthened its role as the Kingdom's maritime gateway and an integrated hub for trade, industry, and logistics services. This transformation has rested on a royal vision aimed at capitalizing on the city's location and natural endowments and establishing an attractive environment for investment, in parallel with developing infrastructure and services and improving the quality of life. Nearly a quarter of a century after this experiment was launched, Aqaba has become a multifunctional city combining port, industrial, tourism, and service activities, alongside population growth and urban development.
Among the indicators of the success of the Aqaba development plan adopted by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority is population growth, as the population of the Qasaba district of Aqaba has surpassed 200,000, compared with around 70,000 in 2000, while the population of the governorate is estimated at around 245,000 compared with roughly 95,000 in 2000, according to data announced by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority at the end of 2025. On the urban front, the zone's authority launched in August 2024, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency ("JICA"), the updated comprehensive master plan for the period from 2024 to 2040. The plan covers land-use regulation and sectoral planning, smart-city applications, and disaster prevention, alongside identifying capital projects that support sustainable development and green growth. Developing the city's assets has also encompassed specialized healthcare services: on February 27, 2025, King Abdullah II inaugurated the King Hussein Cancer Center building in Aqaba, at an estimated cost of 15 million dinars and spanning an area of nearly 6,740 square meters. That comes in addition to 5 hospitals and 21 health centers, 4 of which provide comprehensive services, bolstering Aqaba's medical treatment role across the southern region. In the tourism sector, the number of hotels rose by the end of 2025 to 101, comprising more than 6,500 rooms, compared with 43 hotels and around 2,300 rooms when the city's development plan was launched. Aqaba welcomed nearly two million visitors in 2024. This strengthened the connection between Aqaba and the region's famous international filming locations in Petra and Wadi Rum, which in 2025 served as a tourism driver that contributed to integrating the tourism dimension of the "Golden Triangle", bringing together beach, heritage, and desert. In parallel, Aqaba is moving to expand its presence in sports tourism through an international motor-racing circuit project designed to meet the requirements of "Formula 3" races and higher categories, alongside the Aqaba Equestrian Club project and horse-riding facilities. These projects are set to diversify tourism events and products, attract new segments of visitors, and support demand for accommodation, services, and recreational activities. In this context, the "Marsa Zayed" project represents one of the flagship tracks of waterfront development. Its first phase was inaugurated in January 2025 as part of a project aimed at developing around 3.2 million square meters for tourism, leisure, and residential uses. The announced components of the first phase include four residential towers, a residential complex, a hotel and serviced apartments, an old market area, and the renovation of the port lighthouse, in addition to a yacht club and marina and a cruise ship terminal.
The environmental dimension gained added significance during 2026 with the inscription of the Aqaba Marine Reserve on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in recognition of its natural value and marine biodiversity. This recognition makes it possible to bolster ecotourism and scientific research, yet it simultaneously entails a responsibility to protect marine ecosystems and regulate related activities. The natural resources that give Aqaba its tourist appeal constitute an economic asset that requires preservation, especially as waterfront investment expands. The ports and logistics sector, meanwhile, is one of the most prominent indicators of this growth, particularly since the number of ports rose from 8 in 2001 to 12 specialized ports and 30 equipped berths. During the first nine months of 2026, the Aqaba Container Terminal recorded the handling of around 787,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, an increase of 6.6% compared with the same period of 2025. Transit containers surged by 151.8% to around 116,000 containers, reflecting the growing use of Aqaba as a gateway for transit trade into neighboring markets, particularly Iraq. Handling in August 2026 surpassed the threshold of 104,000 twenty-foot equivalent units across 58 vessels, after recording around 101,900 containers in July. Transit containers during August also exceeded 20,000 containers, more than half of which were bound for Iraq. This activity gives the transport, warehousing, customs clearance, and ancillary services sectors a regional function and additional opportunities for growth, strengthening linkages among ports, industrial zones, and regional markets alongside its role in serving the Jordanian economy.
In parallel, the city's industrial and training base has expanded: according to the authority's tally at the end of 2025, work was under way to develop six industrial zones in the Quweira district, along with four logistics zones and six logistics yards. Companies registered with the authority reached 1,764, compared with 700 in 2014, creating more than ten thousand jobs in the private sector since 2018. These transformations are complemented by transport infrastructure development: King Hussein International Airport was rehabilitated to accommodate all types of aircraft, with upgrades covering the passenger terminal, facades, operational systems, and baggage handling, thereby raising its capacity. In parallel, the airport's management concluded agreements to operate direct flights to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other destinations, boosting tourism and business traffic in the region. The highway network linking Aqaba with the rest of the Kingdom's governorates, border crossings, and neighboring markets has likewise witnessed a qualitative leap and comprehensive, continuous upgrades since 2001, coinciding with the declaration of Aqaba as a special economic zone and the establishment of the Aqaba Development Corporation in 2004. This network facilitates the movement of people and goods, reinforcing the integration of land, sea, and air transport. The launch of the fifteenth edition of the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference, SOFEX, at the Aqaba International Exhibition and Conference Center, AIEC, inaugurated by King Abdullah II on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, underscored the city's growing role and its encompassment of economic, technical, and tourism dimensions, especially as the event drew the participation of more than 400 official delegations representing 75 countries and 350 exhibiting companies from 38 countries, strengthening the city's profile in hosting specialized international events. Hosting such events derives its economic significance from the demand it generates for hotels, transport, restaurants, and organizational services, in addition to networking opportunities among participating institutions, companies, and delegations. It also enables the diversification of tourism activity so that business and conference tourism integrates with beach, eco, and cultural tourism, supporting the operation of facilities across broader stretches of the year. Aqaba's experience thus reflects the capacity of planning and investment to broaden a city's economic function and tie its urban development to its maritime, tourism, and service roles. Consolidating this transformation, however, depends on turning investments into sustainable job opportunities and better services, and on ensuring that growth is balanced with the protection of the marine environment and the needs of residents. To the extent that Aqaba succeeds in achieving this balance, its standing as an economic gateway for Jordan and a regional hub combining business efficiency with quality of life will be reinforced.
Translated from Arabic with AI. Read it in Arabic