Exploring the role of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) in the Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) and their potential for acting as an economic growth driver for local development in the Jordan Valley. To highlight opportunities and challenges in enabling and advancing socio-economic growth in the Jordan Valley through interventions that are focused on Creative and Cultural Industries, which are recognised as one of the main pillars of the Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) as an economic driver. Available data on Jordan’s Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) suggests a sector with measurable presence but limited scale. A 2018 WIPO-based assessment estimated that copyright and creative industries contributed about 2.36% of GDP (Creative Mediterranean). However, more recent figures point to weaker international performance: in 2020, CCI exports accounted for only 0.26% of GDP, with design goods such as architecture, jewellery, and fashion dominating at nearly 77% of export value (Creative Mediterranean).
This contrasts with countries that have strategically invested in their creative economies. In South Korea, cultural exports like K-pop and television drama generate billions annually, supported by clear policy direction, international promotion, and strong private investment (UNCTAD). Turkey has also strengthened its CCI contribution, estimated at around 2% of GDP, through more structured integration into national development planning. In Jordan, the gap lies not only in numbers but in systems. The sector remains fragmented, underfunded, and poorly connected to export markets. Reports note the absence of a dedicated institutional body with full oversight, weak coordination across ministries, and limited access to training, finance, and marketing channels (IDare White Paper on CCI, 2023). There is an urgency to move beyond recognition to action: building coherent institutions, funding mechanisms, and international pathways to unlock Jordan’s creative and cultural potential.
Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) are a necessity for socio-economic development. They generate livelihoods, stimulate growth, and at the same time preserve and enrich heritage. Investing in creativity and culture protects memory while creating futures. Drawing on Ibn Khaldoun’s reflections on the life cycles of cities and communities, CCI can be seen as living systems that adapt, transform, and reroot themselves in new contexts. Bread-making illustrates this cycle: once central to households, later industrialised, and revived during COVID-19 as a communal practice. Storytelling ensures such traditions are not lost but reinterpreted and embedded within modern creative and cultural industries. Communities are shifting from being consumers to becoming producers of meaning and value.
Murals and design motifs can place even small or marginalised towns on the social tourism and cultural map. The mural painting in Zaghatit (Hashmi Shamali, Amman) (Jordan News) demonstrates how local symbols can become cultural and economic assets while strengthening belonging. International lessons highlight this potential. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao repositioned an industrial city as a global cultural hub. In Medellín, Colombia, public art, libraries, and creative interventions transformed areas once defined by violence into spaces of pride and opportunity. These cases show that CCI can re-root communities and reposition entire cities. A sustainable ecosystem requires partnership among local actors, motivated investors, and communities.
The Jordan Valley is not a place of scarcity but a place of possibility. It is a region rich in resources, traditions, and talent, yet its potential remains overlooked. Agriculture continues to dominate, but young people are uncertain how to invest in sectors beyond farming, even though they are both capable and eager to learn. Many are already engaged in sewing, crafts, and other small-scale industries, but these efforts receive little recognition or support. In addition to the issue of low wages, the issue is particularly troubling. Young people often work long hours for incomes that do not reflect their skills, which drives many to leave for Amman in search of better opportunities. Women face even greater constraints, with long days spent in agricultural or household work, leaving little time to explore their talents or pursue new livelihoods. This is not a failure of the Valley’s people but of systems that undervalue their contribution and fail to create diverse economic pathways.
Agriculture itself is under strain. Climate change, water scarcity, and unsustainable pesticide use have disrupted production. Rising temperatures and declining water levels in the Dead Sea are visible warnings of ecological stress (UNDP Climate Change Impact Assessment Report). These challenges expose the limitations of relying solely on agriculture and point to the urgent need for diversification. The Jordan Valley is also a cultural and tourist landscape. Its proximity to the Dead Sea, already a major tourism destination, and its unique traditions and natural assets could make it a model for integrated development if properly recognised (Jordan Tourism Strategy 2021–2025).
To move forward, the Valley must be approached as a living ecosystem. Investment in innovation, creative and cultural industries, and sustainable tourism can create opportunities for young people to remain, thrive, and build futures rooted in their communities. The challenge is not the absence of wealth but the absence of recognition. With imagination and commitment, the Jordan Valley can become a hub that unites economic development with cultural vitality and environmental sustainability.
Suha M. Ayyash
