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This research paper aims to shed light on Amman’s stairways and explore the potential of being successful urban spaces. It tries to identify critical design factors that contribute to making these stairs livable urban spaces to help further develop this type of urban space.

Three popular stairs were identified, for which a series of exploratory visits were conducted to document the morphological characteristics and essential activities around each stairway. This was followed by administering a questionnaire to measure users’ satisfaction with four criteria, including protection, comfort, attractiveness and functionality, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each stair.

Results confirmed the presence of essential design aspects that encourage users to come and practice certain activities that enhance urban social life. Aspects of concern include security and protection, aesthetic quality, uniqueness, variety of activities, room to walk, sit and socialize and good management of space.

Results can be taken as a departure frame for future research to conduct deeper analysis to comprehend the stairways’ physical, contextual and social characteristics. Understanding the settings of such vital urban spaces will help revive their roles and bring back their brilliance to restore the city’s liveliness and maintain a better life quality for its residents.

Research interests almost lack studies addressing urban stairways aiming to understand the qualities that enable them to attract people and activities. The manuscript presents beneficial research that tackles the vitality of urban stairways, as an example of linear public spaces. Enhancing the quality of these spaces will help stimulate pedestrian movement and activate walking as an essential sustainable means of commuting at the city level.

This compact case study was developed from secondary sources readily available in the public domain. These secondary sources included websites, videos and articles.

Throughout 2023, social media companies faced a wide range of criticism on several fronts. Critics claimed that the companies were not doing enough to manage content and the algorithms were influencing American public opinion in the Israel-–Hamas war. Others argued that social media was negatively impacting the mental health of American youth. In response, the platforms reiterated their neutrality and emphasized the features, functions and policies that were designed to address the issues and encourage a positive user experience. As generative artificial intelligence (AI) grew in popularity, the impact on social media was inevitable. Was the convergence of social media and AI inspiring progress or exacerbating problems? How would society balance the opposing forces in a rapidly evolving environment?

This case should be used in marketing and management classes at the undergraduate level. Applicable concepts include AI, social media, content and information.