Coastal Urbanisation: Between Historical Legacies, Demographic Dynamics and Territorial Strategies – The Case of Morocco

By Ahmed Khalid Benomar, Adviser to the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco

The City as a Civilisational Phenomenon

Beyond technical or functional approaches, the city carries a deeply historical and symbolic dimension in many regions of the world. In the Arab-Muslim world in particular, it is inseparable from a broader civilisational construct.

The very word for city — madīna (مدينة) — originally refers to al-Madīna al-Munawwara, the Prophet’s City. In this tradition, the city is seen as the place where both individuals and society achieve their fulfilment.

This perspective helps explain a reality that remains highly relevant today: the enduring attractiveness of cities, extending far beyond purely economic considerations. In many African and Mediterranean contexts, the city continues to be associated with social success, access to services and opportunities for personal advancement.

This perception is shared by Morocco’s historic medinas as well as by the major urban centres of the Sahel and the Middle East. In cities as diverse as Cairo, Dakar and Casablanca, the city embodies a collective aspiration, a promise of integration and social mobility that transcends economic rationality alone.

A Coastline Under Pressure: Urban Dynamics and Rural Exodus

Morocco fully illustrates these dynamics. The country is still experiencing an active phase of urbanisation, with a significant share of its population — around 30 per cent — continuing to live in rural areas.

This situation translates into sustained pressure on cities, particularly coastal cities, which concentrate economic opportunities, international connectivity and residential attractiveness.

In the northern regions, close to Europe, this trend is especially pronounced. Long considered peripheral, these territories have now become strategic development areas.

Tangier provides a particularly striking example. The city is experiencing rapid demographic growth, with districts such as Fahs Beni Makada undergoing exceptionally fast transformations.

According to the 2024 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH) conducted by Morocco’s High Commission for Planning, Tangier has become the country’s second-largest city, with a population of 1.27 million inhabitants. Between 2014 and 2024, the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region recorded an average annual growth rate of 1.26 per cent, nearly 50 per cent above the national average of 0.85 per cent. In urban areas, this figure reaches 2.16 per cent per year. Beni Makada ranks among the four Moroccan municipalities that gained more than 100,000 inhabitants over the decade, illustrating the speed of peri-urban transformation. Across the entire Safi–Tetouan corridor, coastalisation is progressing at a rate twice the national average.

The Limits of Conventional Urbanisation Approaches

Several planning models have revealed their limitations. Urban growth driven primarily by infrastructure provision, new towns lacking genuine attractiveness, and fragmented sectoral planning have often resulted in uncontrolled urban expansion, infrastructure deficits and limited local ownership by residents. These shortcomings are particularly evident in coastal areas, where urban dynamics are rapid and often difficult to manage.

In Morocco, some northern urban centres illustrate these challenges. Al Hoceima lost 11 per cent of its population between 2014 and 2024, while Berkane experienced a decline of 9 per cent. These cities suffer from insufficient economic diversification and an inadequate service offering to retain residents. Internationally, similar patterns can be observed in several Mediterranean and African countries, where the creation of new towns has not been supported by coherent economic strategies, resulting in urbanised areas lacking their own economic dynamism.

The Coastline as a Lever for Territorial Competitiveness

Northern Morocco today offers a compelling example of successful territorial reconfiguration driven by coastal development. However, coastal development cannot be pursued without taking rural areas into account. Supporting rural communities helps reduce migratory pressures, improve living conditions and maintain territorial balance.

Integrated urban development plans, based on contractual commitments and defined implementation timeframes, also make it possible to concentrate resources, ensure investment coherence and strengthen delivery capacity.

Connectivity is another major structuring factor. Port infrastructure, transport networks and multimodal systems enable coastal cities to become fully integrated into global economic networks.

Finally, the experience of new towns demonstrates that they cannot succeed without a critical mass of population, economic attractiveness and adequate services. The Moroccan experience highlights the importance of proactive launch phases and sustained public support.

Tangier Med perfectly illustrates this structuring role. Ranked as the leading port in the Mediterranean and Africa, and the world's 17th largest container port according to Alphaliner, the complex handled nearly 187 million tonnes of cargo and 11.44 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) in 2024. It generated consolidated revenues of MAD 11.23 billion, representing a 12.3 per cent increase compared with 2023. The Group manages more than 3,000 hectares of economic activity zones hosting over 1,400 companies in the automotive, aerospace and logistics sectors. This infrastructure has profoundly reshaped the economic geography of northern Morocco and integrated the region into global value chains.

Coastlines, Attractiveness and Ways of Living

Today, coastal areas concentrate a wide range of functions—economic, logistical, tourism-related and residential. They have become spaces where different forms of mobility and land uses converge, but also where tensions emerge, particularly regarding land pressure, territorial inequalities and environmental challenges.

Environmental concerns now lie at the heart of coastal planning strategies. Coastal erosion, water stress and vulnerability to extreme climate events raise fundamental questions about the long-term sustainability of urbanisation models. The new planning schemes currently being finalised for Tangier Medina, Beni Makada and the Fahs Anjra coastline (approved in 2024) increasingly incorporate these concerns, seeking to reconcile urban densification, environmental preservation and climate resilience.

Crises, Reconstruction and Urban Resilience

Episodes of crisis serve as a reminder that cities are inherently fragile systems. In Morocco, events such as the Al Hoceima and Al Haouz earthquakes have prompted a rethinking of urban strategies, public facilities and development models.

In some cases, these crises have created opportunities for territorial transformation and renewal.

The September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake provides a recent example. Beyond the reconstruction of damaged buildings, the recovery process has opened a broader agenda encompassing the revision of seismic standards, the strengthening of rural infrastructure and services, and the testing of new construction materials adapted to local conditions. The crisis has thus become a catalyst for revising urban standards and accelerating the mobilisation of territorial engineering and planning capacities.

Conclusion

Coastal urbanisation cannot be understood solely through a technical lens. It requires an integrated vision of territories, stronger linkages between rural and urban areas, and the capacity to adapt to global dynamics.

The Moroccan experience demonstrates that coastlines can become powerful drivers of economic and territorial transformation, provided they are embedded within a coherent, inclusive and long-term development strategy.

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Translated with ai Chat GPT.