Morocco’s Slum Free Cities Program Benefits Over 3,500 Families

The “Villes Sans Bidonvilles” (Cities Without Slums) program has assisted 3,516 families and declared 60 cities as slum-free zones, announced Fatima Zahra Mansouri–Minister of National Territory Planning, Land Planning, Housing, and City Policy–on Tuesday.
The government aims to incorporate regional as well as municipal planning departments, and to strengthen quasi-public (i.e., public/private) partnerships to accelerate the program’s implementation, said the Minister.
The initiative–launched by King Mohammed VI in 2004–is a constitutional mandate and a social policy pillar, and with 74% progress thus far, it has improved the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of families, as measured by patronage of local public facilities (i.e., schools, health centers, and administrative services).
However, the program has faced various obstacles–particularly with respect to technical and land use/ zoning constraints–leading to an actual increase in the number of families living in slums, explained Mansouri.
The Ministry also noted that the government has extended by two years the deadline for allowing the regularization of non-regulated constructions, which is essential for economic, social, and urban reasons.