Abstract

The goal of this study is the critical analysis of demographic changes in rural and urban populations in Morocco. This project involves both the historical analysis of urban development and how past trends are fueling future ideologies of city planning. This study looks at migration data and population demographics in order to examine how the built environment of renewed and expanded urban centers can maintain the cultural identities of their inhabitants. The integration of heterogeneous populations in one urban environment will necessarily include the erecting and renewal of the built environment that corresponds to disparate traditional value systems. The project’s principal research questions include: What is the projected increase in population over the coming two decades in North Africa, and how will the population shift from rural areas to urban centers during that timeframe? As a result, how will urban infrastructure need to be adapted, developed, or built to fit the demand of future internal migrations from rural to urban centers in North Africa? Do past experiences of internally displaced people give insight into the challenges faced by future migrants and, beyond the gathering of data, how do people react to internal migration and to a newly developed urban environment? Lastly, how can civil engineers take into consideration cultural heritage while creating new urban infrastructure?

Presenters

Wright Donald
Professor of French and Arabic, Director of Middle Eastern Studies, Global Languages and Cultures, Hood College, Maryland, United States

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Social Realities

KEYWORDS

North Africa, Cultural Heritage, Urban Development, Sustainability, Human Migration

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