The urban planning practice in Morocco is rich in teachings. It remains intimately linked to a centuries-old urban tradition, while gradually renewing itself. The historic fabric of some thirty medina of great heritage value has been enriched by a modern and hierarchical urban framework. The legal arsenal and the management institutions are constantly developing and rehabilitating.

Indeed, from an urbanization rate of just 8%, Morocco rose to 55% in 2004. In one century, the urban population in Morocco has risen from 440,000 in 1912 to 18 million in 2012. This Evolution takes the form of an irreversible trend, and it is expected that the rate of urbanization will reach 70% by 2025.

This evolution is not without impact on the functional framework of the Moroccan urban system, since cities have known and will probably experience changes in their socio-spatial configurations and will increasingly face problems Spatial, social and environmental issues. Faced with these challenges, renewal of approaches and the mobilization of land and the necessary budgets for the realization of infrastructures and equipment of all categories must be considered. As a result, the urban system under its various components (structures, tools and approaches) must be constantly challenged, with a view to a continuous re-adaptation to the requirements of each economic situation.

In this sense, it must be able to avoid the sterilizing standardization of cities, the negative consequences of the nesting of territories of different scales and the diversities characterizing urban life.

The real challenge in urban planning is to reconcile the technical, political, economic, social, environmental and cultural aspects of urban life. This multi-dimensional bet can only be won by means of operational and contractual acts inscribed in a renewed practice, if not exceeded.

This seminar of reflection on the urban system is an opportunity to challenge the different urban approaches and models with a view to rethinking urbanism as it is practiced until today. This is where all the difficulty lies, for the city can not be eternally apprehended through a single prism. Only the confrontation of varied perspectives, belonging to different professional fields and disciplines, is able to rethink the urban as a whole and in a way as renewing as innovative.

The urban system: some notable achievements

Evoking the urban system in Morocco amounts to going back in history. It was already a century since the promulgation in 1914 of the first founding law of urban planning; It is indeed a century of institutional, legal and urban developments that must be revisited. Scoping note of Federation Urban Agencies, Sept. 2014. Throughout the 20th century, the urban system was built in a progressive way and each time the public authorities injected reforms and action programs Which contribute to the long-term correcting of the dysfunctions affecting the agglomerations and the adaptations dictated by the dynamics of the territories and the evolutions of political, economic and social conditions.

Indeed, a dedicated institutional landscape (urban agencies, regional inspections), an increasingly refined legal arsenal, proven expertise, renewed governance and strategies, sharp financial resources, Catch-up policies to a strategy to promote sustainable urban development, a sustainable development charter, and a National Land Use Plan (SNAT). . . Are all assets that characterize the Moroccan urban system. In this sense, the Moroccan urban system has to accompany the reforms in progress and contribute to the success of the major projects launched by the country.

The urban system: challenges to be met

All the efforts made over the last few decades have not been sufficient to curb urban deficiency, urbanization slippages, different forms of exclusion and spatial and social segregation, and consequently the achievements of Urban systems are now being put to the test.

As a result, urban sprawl, unsanitary habitat, sustained hybridisation of architecture, appropriation of public space, aggravation of heritage challenges, environmental carelessness, urban poverty, etc. Are the most salient challenges to be faced.

Faced with all these challenges, the legislation in force in the field of urban planning is constantly demonstrating its limits to mastering a multi-stage evolution and thus responding to the social, economic and spatial developments underway.

It is time for the country to be endowed with an urban system, not only performing territorially, economically and socially, but also up to the aspirations of change efforts. And that is where the major challenge lies.

For a renewed and more efficient urban system

It seems essential today that new perspectives be drawn up for an urban public policy that takes priority account of the institutional and societal changes that Morocco has undergone, in order to better guarantee to our urban society a solidarity-based and inclusive urbanism.

Moreover, the choice of the theme of this seminar reinforces the vision of the reforms undertaken by public authorities, in particular:

• The new mode of governance. His Majesty King Mohammed VI inaugurated his reign by advocating a new way of exercising authority, a new conception of authority, and a new principle of the exercise of power. Scouting Note of Federation Urban Agencies, Seven, 2014 Principle that it has constantly recalled and put at the center of the guidelines given to the leaders at all levels. This principle aims at establishing the rule of law and a democracy aimed at reforming the logics of public action. This must be realized by accelerating the upgrading of the administration and its interventions. In this sense, this change must be reflected in the improvement of urban governance, the raising of the profitability of public interventions, the re-qualification of urban policy, and the increase in the efficiency of urban planning.
• The new Constitution of 2011 (Articles 12, 13, 31, 136 and 142) is the foundation of the fundamental principles underlying the planning of tomorrow, in particular participation in the co-construction of public policies, development Sustainable housing, the right to decent housing, social justice, the reduction of spatial disparities.

It thus constitutes an opening up of the country to change and a real change through its contributions.

• Morocco's major projects. Throughout the last three decades, Morocco has opened a large number of projects which have led to changes in all fields. Thus, the snowball effect of these changes is reflected in the initiation of a large number of dynamics requiring a continuous rehabilitation of the country's structures and modes of operation, in particular with regard to the international integration of Morocco, major Government programs (Green Morocco Plan, Emergence Plan, 2020 Tourism Vision, Rawaj Plan, Halieutis Strategy, National Logistics Competitiveness Strategy, Digital Morocco Strategy, VSB Program, New Cities Program, etc.).

  To all these projects are added other achievements in various fields which are not the least. This is the case for programs to develop road, motorway, port and airport infrastructure, dams, socio-cultural facilities, electrification and drinking water supply. . . Which primarily benefit urban agglomerations.

• The project of advanced regionalization which aims to give new dimensions to the regional body, in the management of the country's affairs as well as in socio-economic development, through a strong involvement in the planning and implementation of urban projects having A direct impact on the population.

• The SNAT of 2004 which aims to restructure the national territory on a solid and lasting basis. This document, bearing a new vision of the organization and development of the urban phenomenon, is positioned as a global reference for the development of the urban landscape as a whole.

• Support for public policy, with a strong focus on the supervision of urban systems under urban pressure, and the interest given by the public authorities to urban problems long shelved from urban factors (urban mobility, urban mix , Urban renewal, sustainable urban planning, territorial competitiveness, territorial equity, etc.).

• Mega urban projects. Major projects in urban areas have gained increasing weight in urban development as well as in the repositioning of cities, especially large cities, both nationally and internationally. In this sense, some large cities have attracted major projects of national or even international dimensions. This is the case of :

  • The new city of Zenata, the Nouaceur Technopole, the royal avenue, the Casa-city-Center, the Casa-Anfa urban center, the Rahma city, the Tramway. . . in Casablanca ;
  • Technopolis, the Bouregreg Valley, the new town of Tamesna, the Tramway, the Corniche. . . in Rabat ;
  • The Tangier-Med complex, the new city of Chrafat, the airport free zone, the TGV. . . In Tangier;
  • The two new towns of Tamansourt and Chouitter, the commercial Malls, the congress center and the new railway station. . . in Marrakech ;
  • Halieupolis, the tourist resort of Taghazout, the new town of Tagadirt, the renewal of the city center of Agadir, the motorway connection. . . In Agadir;

Thus, urbanization confirms its vocation as a catalyst for economic development and as a factor of territorial restructuring, in relation to the hierarchy of urban poles introduced by major national projects.

For this purpose, this seminar is intended as an opportunity to develop, on the tracks of renewal of an urban system which has accumulated, at the same time, achievements that are not the least, and difficulties that require a thorough reflection And a clearer and more relevant vision for the future.

It is in this context, and with a view to deepening the reflection on the urban system, that the MAJAL Federation proposes this framing of the questions submitted to the debate, within the framework of this thematic seminar commemorating urbanism in Morocco: Theme: "The urban system: the achievements, constraints and challenges for renewed urban planning"

The cardinal objective is both to challenge the urban system to its limits and constraints and to seek pertinent and practical responses capable of putting in place the conditions necessary for the emergence, in this second decade of the XXI Century, territorially sustainable and socio-economically viable.

THE AXES OF REFLECTION

This seminar commemorating the centenary of modern urbanism in Morocco is backed by a central question: What kind of urban development do we want for the coming years? It is based on the following axes,

To dwell on the institutional contexts of the genesis of the urban system since the adoption of the first founding law of modern urban planning

In a retrospective exercise, this axis aims to highlight the main phases of the evolution of the Moroccan urban system.

It is essentially a question of dwelling on the different political contexts of the genesis of the urban system, of becoming aware of the specificity of the system, and of measuring the long time required for its consolidation. And this comes back to the founding laws of urbanism, the institutional changes and the major reforms adopted.

To this end, the interventions envisaged and the debate they are supposed to generate are expected to take stock of:

• How was the urban system constructed since the adoption of the first founding law of urban planning in 1914? And what are the highlights of this journey?
• What factors have affected the different stages of the urban process? And what are the structuring changes that characterized this process?
• From a regal urbanism to an urbanization of intermediation, what place for the urban planning of proximity?

2.2 To elucidate the great achievements in terms of urban planning, legal, institutional and operational

• What are the great achievements of the urban system? And can we speak of a capitalization capable of underpinning a process of strategic planning and efficient urban management?
• Is the expertise of local and regional planning institutions capable of initiating a coordinated urbanization policy and responding effectively to the different expectations of the city, Urban planning?
• Is the effort made in terms of redesigning the foundations of urban planning sufficient to succeed in the various state programs that have been set up and to generate the necessary spin-offs for the implementation of Local level, such as public-private partnership?

2.3 Focus on the constraints and challenges faced by the urban system in order to better understand the urban planning of tomorrow

This axis proposes to draw up a picture of the different challenges to be met and the constraints to be neutralized by the urban system in order to better understand the urban planning of tomorrow. Consequently, relevant answers must be submitted to the debate on the conditions for the overhaul of the urban system at institutional, legal and operational levels.

The following questions help to move in this direction:

• What are the institutional, spatial and social constraints faced by the urban system?
• What are the reforms to be introduced in terms of technical, financial and human (expertise) for the emergence of the urbanism of tomorrow, capable of engendering the dynamics and competitiveness of the permanent and renewed territories?
• Which new organizations and missions of the institutions in charge of urban planning to set up, for the enhancement of the performance of urban governance, the capacity building of the actors and decision-makers of the planning, and the transcending of the traditional forms of communication ?

3 - ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE SEMINAR

Livened up by national and international experts, this seminary carried by the Federation MAJAL in partnership with the Ministry of the Town planning and the Town and country planning, will be organized in three phases:

3.1 Introductory session

It articulates around an introductory intervention, in the form of a conference of general theoretical and conceptual framework over the strong moments which marked the town planning since the promulgation in 1914 with the first founding law of the modern urbanism in Morocco.

3.2 Plenary session

It is about a session containing three interventions which report three axes redrawn by the present argument, worth knowing the experiences of the urban system, the constraints to be raised and the ways to mobilize for arresting better the urbanism of tomorrow.

3.3 Closure session

This 3rd time the seminary will establish an opportunity to make the synthesis of the main discussed points, matched by cleared recommendations of the debate.