Paper short abstract:

I will address the site of Petra, Jordan, as an interesting case of conflicts arising over historic preservation. By focusing on varying interests of locals, stakeholders and tourists, I will explore the dynamics of conflicts occurring between heritagization, tourism development and housing struggle.

Paper long abstract:

In 1985, the historical town of Petra in Jordan was included as a world heritage site in the list of the UNESCO. In preparation for this inscription, a master plan was prepared. It focused on a forced relocation of the Bedouins living within the historic site. Their habitation of the historic town was said to destroy the old tombs and the Bedouins were considered to be an inconvenience for an expected growing number of tourists. The relocation process started in the 1970ies and resulted in an armed resistance on the part of the Bedouins. As no single Bedouin family had moved into the settlement for relocation in the 1980ies, the government put pressure on the families with the result that most of the Bedouins had moved into the new village in the 1990ies. After the Bedouins had been resettled into the urban surrounding, the question of land rights had emerged because the village was built on the land of the neighboring tribe resulting in various conflicts. Furthermore, due to rising tourist numbers, increased construction of hotels was required and the newly inhabited village of the Bedouins was considered a location for new hotels or a tourist village. However, the question was where to resettle the Bedouins a second time. The historical site of Petra in Jordan which is visited by up to 3000 international tourists daily, provides a very interesting case for addressing different points of conflict which may occur over the linkage between heritagization, tourism development and housing struggle.