Urban projects in Casablanca: New Urban forms in experimentation

Abstract

Casablanca, the economic capital of the country, is a city where several urban forms coexist. Casablanca has specificities compared to other cities in Morocco, but like many of them, this metropolis has varied urban forms that bear witness to the economic, social, and urban history of the city. These urban forms, including the old medieval core ‘Medina’, the city center, the new medina ‘Habous’ and the worker housing estates of colonial heritage, as well as the modern urban cores resulting from post-protectorate regulatory town planning, are the result of the successive transformations of the city. The city of Casablanca is currently experiencing an urban development marked by the emergence of major urban projects to international standards which mark the transition from purely regulatory urban planning to operational town planning. These urban projects produce new urban forms that are part of a ‘dense and varied city’ approach. This approach advocates a typological diversity that is combined with a great diversity of urban and architectural quality. These new urban morphologies are new tools for urban planning, health-friendly urban planning, and climate change urban planning. This communication deals with the evolution of the urbanization modes of the city of Casablanca and highlights the different characteristics and contributions of these new urban forms experimented in Casablanca, through the case study of the urban renewal of Casa Anfa.