Rabat Residents Fear Displacement as Urban Renewal Plan Unveiled

In Rabat, the time is for concern. The residents of the Yaacoub Al Mansour neighborhood have not been reassured by the new urban planning project for the city, currently undergoing a public consultation process. Several residents have said that "the officials recently knocked on their doors to inform them of renovation and embellishment work that will affect the popular neighborhoods, especially those near the sea, without mentioning demolitions or relocations."

According to them, no municipal official was able to clarify their minds. In the absence of communication on the project, the issue of demolition and relocation is the subject of discussions in several circles of the Yaacoub Al Mansour neighborhood. This reinforces the fears of the inhabitants. Fears that are justified, as it had been mentioned that the restructuring of these neighborhoods would first involve the relocation of a significant part of the inhabitants to other areas, then the restructuring and gradual rehousing of each part on the same sites.

Many people also deplore the non-consideration of several of the remarks made by the inhabitants and voted by the elected councils, as well as the lack of efforts to dispel certain fears and uncertainties among important segments of citizens as well as economic and social actors regarding certain provisions of the project.