Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Al Mulki announced on Sunday that the government has finalized preliminary designs for the establishment of a new Amman City, set to be the new capital for the kingdom.

"We found the solution to address several pressing issues in Amman; we will create a new Amman city. This project will be offered for implementation on the basis to build, operate and transfer next year," Mulki said at a meeting held in the Prime Ministry and attended by several media representatives.

Mulki said in the meeting that the “new Amman city,” which will be constructed in five phases, will include new government buildings. He added that it will not be attached to the original Amman.

During the meeting, the premier added that "new Amman" tenders will be offered to construct several toll roads between the years 2018-2021. These will include the Amman Ring Road, Irbid-Amman, Ajloun-Salt and the Dead Sea and Aqaba roads.

“The uneven distribution of residents across Amman is the main reason behind all water resources and transportation system faults, and the only solution is to relocate Amman residents,” Anas Azaizeh, an engineer specialising in the new Amman project, told Ro’ya.

While the location of the new city has not been released, Azaizeh confirmed to Ro’ya that the new Amman will be built on government-owned property, and located around 20km from the main airport in Amman.

Few details of the project have been provided, however, Jordanians have already raised concerns following Mulki’s announcement, questioning if a new Amman is a financially and logically feasible solution to Amman’s problems.

Shehadeh Abu Hadeeb, a member of the Senate, queried the actual need for a new Amman when Jordan could more simply launch “logical and realistic” plans to improve the surrounding areas of the city, where there are fewer people and minimal services.

Amman is the political and cultural center of Jordan, with a population of 4,007,526 and a land area of 1,680 square kilometers. The capital city contains about 42% of Jordan's entire population, which has exponentially increased with the inflow of migrants and refugees.