Heritage Conservation and Tourism Development in Vernacular Settlements: The Case of Dana Village in Jordan

The recent development of tourism in Jordan is considered a catalyst for the regeneration of the country’s vernacular settlements. Long abandoned, many of these settlements are in poor condition, and their reinvention as tourist venues has recently been considered a way of saving their architectural heritage (Haddad and Fakhoury, 2016). One of the best examples of this phenomenon is Dana village, undergoing dramatic and rapid changes. The

rehabilitation project launched by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) provided new tourist accommodations within the settlement. The existing dwellings were repaired and transformed while the demolished buildings were rebuilt. The impact of this transformation on the settlement’s heritage has not yet been assessed. This lack of information is not only typical of Dana. There is a general lack of information about assessing the

transformation of vernacular settlements into tourist accommodation. This thesis aims to fill this lacuna. Investigating Dana’s transformation, the thesis aims to develop a methodology for assessing the regeneration of abandoned vernacular settlements. This methodology uses Dana as a case study, and starts from a comparative investigation of the original and rebuilt dwellings to understand the architectural, urban, and thermal impact of the adopted restoration approaches. Currently, the original and rebuilt buildings stand side by side, offering a unique opportunity to compare their physical conditions and thermal performance. Combining architectural and urban assessment with thermal assessment is not common in the bibliography, but it is deemed essential to provide an integrated framework for assessing development projects in vernacular settlements, especially in the era of climate change.

Field surveys, thermal monitoring, and post occupancy evaluation (POE) interviews were used to collect data, and this is the first attempt to combine these methods in the field of heritage conservation, offering an interdisciplinary study. The study has demonstrated an integrated assessment framework for assessing the transformation of vernacular settlements into tourist accommodations, including the architectural, urban, and thermal aspects. The framework will help local authorities and stakeholders assess the impacts of different transformations, identify challenges, and establish recommendations for professionals in the field of construction who are considering tourism development as a solution for regenerating abandoned villages.