**1. Introduction**

Throughout history, humans have altered streams, corridors, rivers and other hydro-systems to serve urban areas. Waterways as the kernel for urban settlements and development also affect the artistic quality of urban forms, as well as the functionality and size of cities. In many cases, rapid urbanization and growing cities increased demands on services and pressure on the growth of infrastructure, jeopardizing waterways and ecological characteristics in general [1–3]. While serving the growing demand for transportation systems, many ecosystems are slowly vanishing from urban areas, and at the end are affecting the city character and sustainability [2,3]. Changes in land cover and land use, biodiversity, ecosystems and hydro-systems are also affecting the climate, both locally and regionally [4,5]. Impervious surfaces of asphalt and concrete will reduce areas covered by water and vegetation, decrease evapotranspiration, increase both runoff and the surfaces absorbing solar energy, and increase temperature of the city especially in semiarid environments [3].

In order to gain more urban surfaces, some policies adopt the coverage of natural waterways impacting ecology, health, and socioeconomic factors, causing serious flood risk due to the increased likelihood of blockages, changing the city character and reducing recreational value [6].

This study is a longitudinal temporal study of the Amman Stream corridor, focusing on the life-course developments, the land use and city character changes. It concentrates on exploring the impact of stream coverage and its conversion to a culvert in the downtown. Implementing this policy took the municipality a number of years (1960s–1990s). As a result, the city lost its ecological green corridor, with the flowing stream diminishing any connotations to its ancient character as the "*City of Waters*" [7,8]. This study will clarify the vision of the city, the nature of its morphology, the changes in land use and the perception of the city. In addition, it will explore opinions towards the stream revival issue. It may encourage public commitment to a city character reversal. The following sections will cover the history of the stream, policies associated with developing Amman and the impact of covering the stream on the city.
