The new “generation” of rail stations in Morocco: from equipment to urban projects, what changes and what urban integration?
Over the past two decades, rail infrastructure in Morocco has undergone profound restructuring aimed at turning stations into real places of urban life and animation.
Whereas in the past train stations in major Moroccan cities were mainly responsible for mobility and transport, today they are most often part of large urban projects where great ambitions for animation are displayed, diversity, sustainability and urban attractiveness. The recent implementation of LGV lines in Morocco was the trigger for these “urban” projects that seek to display new images of Morocco on an international scale.
Studying the process of carrying out a major urban project around a station at the Rabat level, the contribution analyses the application of the sustainability principles displayed in this project (social and functional diversity, energy transition, etc.) and how they are integrated into its geographical, social and cultural context. On the basis of dense observations made outside and inside this railway equipment combined with interviews with station managers and some passenger users, the contribution shows the great difficulties encountered in reconciling economic profitability, environmental performance and social and cultural reality. It points to the major differences between the often imported sustainability practices and the social, spatial and cultural realities of the project’s integration environments
Mots clés : Rail Station|urban project|sustainability|Integration |Rabat
A103186TH