Resettling Residents of Shantytowns: Between the Development Bet and Sociocultural Reality Douar Skouila as a Model

Abstract

The Kingdom of Morocco is working to implement the five-year plan extending from 2024 to 2028 in order to accelerate the fight against shantytown housing and permanently eliminate “shantytowns.” This government plan targets more than 120,000 Moroccan families living in inadequate housing areas represented by tin and sheet-metal dwellings, with the aim of establishing urban areas that meet the aesthetic and architectural standards of Moroccan cities.
Within the national “Cities Without Shantytowns” program in the Casablanca-Settat region, and in order to reduce inequality and social exclusion in the Sidi Bernoussi districts, housing and urban development institutions launched an important initiative to eliminate shantytowns in the Sidi Moumen district and provide residents with decent housing that preserves their dignity. Among the targeted shantytown neighborhoods is Douar Skouila, one of the most important of these areas.
The study asks: How was the urban space prepared to receive this population? How do the residents perceive the new space? And what are the effects of the new urban and social structure on the community’s collective memory?