Morocco: Urban development shifts from 'tolerant construction' to 'controlled planning' in Rabat

A new study examining urban development in Rabat's western Saniyya district reveals a significant shift in urban planning policies. Researchers observed a transition from a phase characterized by tolerance for informal construction and neighborhood improvements to a new era focused on "controlled construction."

This evolving urban management strategy, according to the study published in the journal Omran for Social Sciences, prioritizes top-down planning. The research, titled "Urban Renewal Policies in Rabat Between Real Estate Commodification and Spatial Exclusion," suggests this approach may signal a qualitative transformation in how urban spaces are managed and could represent a future model for major Moroccan cities.

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The current trend, which characterizes the third phase of the transformations of the urban development logic in Morocco, is based on top-down planning that does not take into account the right to maintain private property or housing in the same area.

The study highlights that the current phase of urban development logic in Morocco is increasingly centered on top-down planning. This model, the researchers argue, does not adequately consider the right to private property or the right to housing within the affected areas. The research involved seven months of fieldwork, from October 2024 to April 2025, documenting morphological changes and accompanying social dynamics.

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The transition from policies of 'tolerant construction' to 'controlled construction' was based on indirect negotiation and preserving the right to relative stability for residents in their neighborhoods.

Lead researcher Omar El Hamdani, an associate professor at the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences at Akdal-Rabat, analyzed official texts and conducted interviews with residents affected by relocation and demolition. His findings indicate a move away from "tolerant construction" towards "controlled construction," which relies on indirect negotiation and aims to maintain relative stability for residents. However, he warns that this top-down planning model is becoming widespread across Morocco, particularly in large cities like Rabat.

El Hamdani posits that this new planning approach re-evaluates private property in line with the demands of local and international investment capital seeking higher profits, referencing concepts like David Harvey's "rent gap" and Henri Lefebvre's "accumulation by dispossession." The study also notes the emergence of new mechanisms for managing urban real estate, including public companies and specialized agencies tasked with developing vast areas, indicating a systematic effort by Moroccan authorities to institutionalize this new development pattern despite its potential for social and spatial exclusion.

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This top-down planning model is now making its way to encompass all of Morocco, and it is becoming more evident in major cities in general and in the western Saniyya area in particular.