AlUla Walkable and Liveable Neighborhoods Program.  Saudi Arabia 

Writing of the entire AlUla Walkable and Liveable Neighborhoods Program Report (127 p.),  with 37 detailed indicators. 

Al Jazan Regional Plan.  Saudi Arabia.

Was in charge of the Housing Sector Strategy.  Scope of work included: 

• Calculation of housing needs (quantitative and qualitative), 

• Housing finance, 

• Housing affordability, 

• Public and private housing supply in the Governorates of Al Jizan, Sebia, Samtah, Abu Arish, Ahd Masharha, and Farasan (Al Jazan region).  

• Writing of the entire report.

Solar Energy Project East of Amman.  Jordan

• Determining potential applicability of IFC Performance Standard 5 (Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement) (“PS5”) related to customary land ownership and use in Jordan.

• Validating IFC Environmental and Social (E&S) requirements.

Vibrant Cities in the Middle East.  Jordan, Egypt, Morocco.

• Worked on employment stimulation through infrastructure, Land Value Capture tools, and public land management in Amman, Cairo and Casablanca. 

Smart and Inclusive Urban Mobility.  Greater Amman Municipality.  Jordan. 

• Worked on ground truthing of GIS informal settlements analysis for the city of Amman (for Hogeun Park).  

Housing Strategy.  Ivory Coast.

Work included:

• Calculation of the housing needs for the Ivory Coast (qualitative and quantitative), 

• Review of land value capture instruments, 

• Land readjustment to upgrade informal areas, 

• Tailoring of PPP to produce plots of land with infrastructure and social services, 

• Mortgage market performance. 

• Housing microfinance. 

Vibrant Cities in the Middle East.  Jordan, Egypt, Morocco.

• Worked on employment stimulation through infrastructure, Land Value Capture tools, and public land management in Amman, Cairo and Casablanca. 

Greater Amman Municipality.  Jordan.

• Worked on Governance and Service Delivery mechanisms and mediation, and PPP and private sector.

LAND in MENA region World Bank Flagship report. 

• Writing of the 15 p. Section on Gender and Housing Land and Property rights

Housing Sector Finance and Stakeholders Mapping .  Jordan.

• Review of public and private housing projects.

• Review of housing projects' finance.

• Assessment of Mortgage Refinance Company.

• Review of subsidies on interest rates. 

• Review of incentives package (serviced land, density bonuses, tax incentives). 

Regional Urban Cooperation Instruments for the MENA cities for GIZ Connective Cities.  Jordan.

• Work involved mapping the European neighbourhood instrument and decentralized cooperation between Arab capital cities and Germany. 

National Urban Policy.  Jordan.

The assignment included: 

• Writing of the complete diagnosis phase report on urban planning, housing needs and finance. 180 p.

• Participation in the UN-Habitat Expert Group Meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on informal housing upgrading, participation, and land readjustment.

Urban Growth Scenarios for Five Cities in Palestine. 

Work on this assignment - for the World Bank - included: 

• Contributing to developing urban growth scenarios for Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron and Gaza. 

• Description of the main urban concerns and political context. 

• Preparation of thematic maps.  

• Housing and transportation TOD.

Climate Plan.  Amman, Jordan.

Responsibilities included: 

• Description of all energy reduction projects conducted by the Greater Amman Municipality in the fields of public transportation, public lighting, green building code, solid waste management, and waste-to-energy. 

• Calculation of demographic projection rates.  

Urban Growth Scenarios for Five Cities in Jordan. 

Work on this assignment - for the World Bank - included: 

• Contributing to developing urban growth scenarios for Amman, Ruseifa, Zarqa, Irbid, and Mafraq. 

• Housing and transportation TOD.

Housing Strategy.  Jordan.

Responsibilities included: 

• Evaluation of formal and unregistered housing poroduction.

• Estimating housing quantitative and qualitative needs, 

• Evaluation of housing finance. 

• Review of land as a factor of housing supply in Jordan. 

Work on this assignment covered the rule of law in the Middle East regarding land and property inheritance and gender in HLP. 

Urban Shelter Program Evaluation.  Jordan.

Was the Lead researcher of the 2015 report "In Search of a Home", which evaluated the impact of rent-free accommodation on the vulnerability of Syrian refugees in host communities (the case of Irbid Governorate, in Jordan). 

Provided data analysis and editing of the Home Visits report 2014.  Work included: 

• Statistical analysis (progress database, with ISO codes for employment) of housing conditions, source of income, type of employment...etc.

• Preparation of a Gulf donors and NGOs Assistance to Syrian Refugees in Jordan report. 

Participated in preparing the report: "Decentralization, Democratization and Service Delivery in the Arab World".  Was in charge of the section on Jordan, 50 p. French and Arabic.

Worked on the European research project: ITAN (Integrated Territorial Analysis of the Neighbourhoods).  Was involved in the preparation of the report on Jordan's demography, social disparities, housing and migrations.

Participated in preparing the Inventory of Initiatives in Making Cities Resilient in the Arab Region.  Responsibilities included: 

• Writing the Assessment for 22 Arab League Countries. 

• Expert in Damascus, 2009, for the Disaster Risk Reduction Office opening.

Worked on academic research on housing, participated in the preparation of public policies, and contributed to academic publications - including supervising 48 contributors to the Atlas of Jordan (Ifpo 2013).  Link >

Participated in a survey of 2,500 Palestinian refugees in 5 countries.  Work involved GIS mapping of the distribution of Palestinian Refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West-Bank, both in camps and in urban settings in 2005 and in 1954 (UNRWA first Census result, digitalized).

Worked as a teaching assistant while pursuing PhD. Taught: urban geography, social and physical geography, writing for undergraduates.

Books 

• Ababsa M. and V. Napolitano (ed.), 2025, Syrian Society in Revolution and War (2011-2024). Ifpo, Beirut.  Link >

• Ababsa M. (dir), 2013, Atlas of Jordan. History, Territories and Society. Atlas al Urdunn. Al-tarikh, al-ardh, al-mujtama`, IFPO, Beirut, 485 p.  Link >

• Ababsa M., Denis E., Dupret B., 2012, Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East. Case Studies from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, The American University in Cairo Press, 352 p.

• Ababsa M., Daher R., 2011, Villes, pratiques urbaines et construction nationale en Jordanie. Cities, Urban Practices and Nation Building in Jordan, IFPO, Beyrouth, 327 p. Link >

• Ababsa M., 2009, Raqqa : territoires et pratiques sociales d’une ville syrienne, IFPO, Beyrouth, 300 p.  Link >

• Ababsa M., 2007, Amman. De pierre et de paix, Paris : Editions Autrement, 304 p. 

World Bank Publications

• Kaw, Jon Kher; Park, Hogeun; Edilbi, Ban. 2024. Future Amman Positioned at a Juncture: Three Strategies Toward Climate-Smart Spatial Transformation. © Washington, DC: World Bank.  Link >

• Ababsa, M., 2023, Chapter 3 of Land Matters: Can Better Governance and Management of Scarcity Prevent a Looming Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa? Pp. 49-66, Directed by Anna Corsi and Harris Selod, Washington, DC: World Bank. © World Bank. Link >

• Harris Selod, Anna Corsi, Myriam Ababsa, and Caleb Johnson, 2022, “Chapter 9: The Land Sector in the Middle East and North Africa Governance Challenges and Opportunities”, in Ferid Belhaj, Roberta Gatti, Daniel Lederman, Ernest John Sergenti, Hoda Assem, Rana Lotfi, Mennatallah Emam Mousa (ed.) A New State Of Mind: Greater Transparency And Accountability In The Middle East And North Africa.  Link >

• Ababsa, M., et A. Abu Hussein, 2020, "Case Study 2: Metropolitan Amman. Comprehensive Climate Plan", in Mehrotra, Shagun, Lincoln L. Lewis, Mariana Orloff, and Beth Olberding, eds. 2020. Volume I of Greater Than Parts: A Metropolitan Opportunity. Washington, DC: World Bank.  Link >

• World Bank. 2019. Amman Climate Plan. Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group.  Link >

• Hamilton, Ellen; Mints, Victor; Acero Vergel, Jose Luis; Ababsa, Myriam; Tammaa, Waad; Xiao, Yuan; Molfetas-Lygkiaris, Aris; Wille, John R.. 2018. Jordan - Housing Sector Assessment - Housing Sector Review (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group.

• World Bank. 2018. Urban Growth Model and Sustainable Urban Expansion for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group.  Link >

• World Bank. 2017. Cities of refuge in the Middle East: bringing an urban lens to the forced displacement challenge (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group.

• Ababsa, M., 2016, «Exclusion and Norms : Enforcing Women’s Rights to Property in Jordan », in Al-Dahdah, Edouard; Corduneanu Huci, Cristina; Raballand, Gael J. R. F.; Ababsa, Myriam; Sergenti, Ernest John. 2016. Rules on paper, rules in practice: enforcing laws and policies in the Middle East and North Africa (English). Direction in development. Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. Link >

Other Development Agencies Reports

• Jalal Al Husseini, Myriam Ababsa. Étude des modèles d’inclusion et des représentations des réfugiés syriens en Jordanie. 2024. Ifpo - Institut français du Proche-Orient; AFD - Agence française de développement. 2024. hal-04648572

• Ababsa M., Kalaldeh M., 2023, Les processus de conversions foncières à Amman. Le cas des coopératives privées de logement, in Bon Bérénice, Simonneau Claire et Denis Éric (coord.), Conversions des usages des sols liées à l’urbanisation dans les Suds : études de cas, Regards sur le foncier N° 13, Comité technique « Foncier & développement », AFD, MEAE, Paris, juin 2023.  Link >

• Ababsa, M., Olga Koukoui, Irène Salenson, 2021, Policy Brief n°7, AFD, "The Crisis of Affordable Housing in Jordan", "La crise du logement abordable en Jordanie", 2 p.  Link >

• Ababsa, M., 2020, Diagnostic du secteur du logement abordable en Jordanie, pour l'AFD-Ifpo, 89 p.  Link >

• NRC 2015, In Search of a Home. Access to Adequate Housing in Jordan, 36 p.

• Hallaj, O. A., Ababsa, M., Karam, K. and Knox, R. 2015. “Decentralization in the Mashrek Region: Challenges and Opportunities”, Platforma. Link >

• Ababsa, M., 2014. Gulf donors and NGOs’ assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan. UNHCR.  Link >

• Associate researcher at the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo, Amman) and CAREP Paris. 

• Since 2026.  Member of LUGARIT's Consulting Network.  Melbourne, Australia.

• Since 2022. Member of the scientific committee, Revue Mondes Arabes (CNRS France)

• Since 2021. Member of the Editorial committee, Bidaya Journal, CAREP Paris

• Since 2016 : Member of the Editorial committee, Arab Council for Social Sciences (Beyrouth).

• Journal Reviewer: Housing and Society, Immigrant and Refugee Studies, REMMM, Echo Géo.

• Member of the Syrian Studies Association (Washington).