While still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lasting shock it had caused to social and economic life, the city of Amman decided to create the first VLR in the Arab region in 2021. The pandemic had strengthened the commitment of citizens and the local government to find innovative solutions to environmental and social challenges. This was also a good opportunity, as the national government had started to draft its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the same time.

Around 60 representatives from the administration and around 40 selected stakeholders from science, business and civil society as well as experts from UN-Habitat and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) were invited to a first major kick-off workshop:

Six SDGs were prioritised for the creation of the VLR:

• SDG 3: Good health and well-being
• SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
• SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
• SDG 13: Climate action
• SDG 17: Partnership to achieve the goals

The selection criteria were relevance for political development, the city's priorities and challenges, consideration of the city's competences and the availability of data.

Parallel focus groups were formed to underpin the goals in various areas with activities/projects, milestones and indicators and also to estimate the financial impact. The expert knowledge and guidelines of UN-Habitat and UCLG for the creation of VLRs were taken into account, as were the objectives of the VNR.

In regelmäßigen Teamsitzungen, online wie offline, wurde der VLR weiterentwickelt und alle GAM-Partner*innen für die Bedeutung der SDGs weiter sensibilisiert.

Strong political support from the local government as well as the active participation of civil society organisations contributed significantly to the creation of the VLR.

Co-operation with the central government through joint committees also proved to be very helpful. It enabled better access to national statistical data as well as harmonisation of the objectives of the VNR and VLR.

The administrative department ‘Amman Urban Observatory’ has existed since 2009 and has since developed many indicators and gained experience in the validation of data. An ‘ecosystem’ for data has been established through cooperation with the national statistics authority, the private sector, for example electricity and water suppliers, and other data providers. Questionnaires were developed to fill data gaps and validate existing data.

Benchmarking with other cities in Europe that have already created VLRs, in particular Helsinki, and with expert support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA), UN-Habitat and UCLG served to enhance quality assurance and the international exchange of experience.

In summer 2022, those responsible from Amman jointly presented the VNR and VLR at the High-Level Political Forum in New York.

Overall, the VLR can be seen as a great success for the urban development of Amman, both as a tool and as a process. Ongoing projects were strategically interlinked and new projects with new partnerships were initiated. Financial resources from international initiatives and UN organisations have also been acquired as a result. The international exchange has proven to be very important for the transfer of knowledge.

The GAM is also encouraged to test and further develop innovative methods of citizen participation and civic engagement that involve women, young people and children. Existing good practices in the field of urban planning and in various municipal sectors are being expanded.

The increased production of high-quality urban data using international standards became a development priority. An ‘ecosystem’ for urban data with various data providers was developed under the coordination of the Urban Observatory. This contributes to improving the quality of evidence-based decision-making processes and increasing the accountability and transparency of the public sector.

The implementation status of the VLR is currently being analysed and a second VLR is being prepared, which will outline the planned development up to 2030 and integrate the SDGs even more strongly into the city's master plan and municipal work.

The skills and knowledge gained within the local government institutions improve the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs and increase long-term resilience on Amman's declared path to becoming climate neutral by 2050.