Un bilan intermédiaire du Programme de villes nouvelles au Maroc

A kingdom of new cities: Morocco’s national Villes Nouvelles strategy

“…A handful of primarily French language publications examine Tamesna and Tamansourt, the earliest government-led new city projects, and their implementation (Ballout, 2017;Harroud, 2017aHarroud, , 2017bRousseau and Harroud, 2019), yet no research to date examines more recent projects, provides a broad portrait of Morocco's city-building activities, or connects the kingdom's new cities to the global new city-building trend. Our analysis is informed by 29 interviews with planners, architects, senior government officials, and new city directors conducted by the first author in summer 2016 and fall 2018, as well as fieldwork in three new cities: Tamesna, Zenata Eco-City, and Benguerir Green City.…”

“…Although Morocco's city-building strategy is frequently referred to as a 'national policy' in public discourse and by new city-building actors and stakeholders, city-building activities underway across the kingdom are not currently supported by a formal state policy or specific legislation for new city development, despite several attempts to develop regulations. 11 The national Villes Nouvelles strategy originated through a simple ministerial circular, the least restrictive administrative document, and does not outline practical aspects of the national initiative, offering only vague, yet ambitious and far-reaching objectives for new city development (Ballout, 2017). New city projects themselves are not legally defined nor are they currently differentiated from other (smaller) types of real estate developments, which poses significant challenges for their financing and construction (interview, 28 September 2018).…”

Leveraging Urbanization to Promote a New Growth Model While Reducing Territorial Disparities in Morocco: Urban and Regional Development Policy Note

“…Such a framework is needed to modernize and provide greater flexibility to urban planning rules. Subsidies on social housing construction through tax exemptions and the ad hoc mobilization of public land at low prices in the outskirts of cities have encouraged leapfrogging since the 2000 s. Similarly, the New Towns Program (Programme de villes nouvelles) launched by the Ministry of Housing in 2004 (designed to provide structures and services likely to meet people's expectations regarding housing and infrastructure) also have contributed to urban dedensification and compounded the lack of connectivity infrastructure linking new town residents to jobs and economic opportunities in established centers (Ballout 2017). These policies have come at a price and generated negative externalities for cities (including Greater Casablanca, Marrakesh, and Rabat-Salé-Temara).…”