Social and spatial integration of the Guélizneighbourhood in the contemporary Marrakesh (Morocco)

Laura Verdelli (1) , Romeo Carabelli (1)

1 CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés

Nowadays, attention and interest in the development of ‘recent’ patrimonial spaces are rising. We are in a stage in which the statute of these assets is being reorganised, sometimes towards an awareness of the potential heritage value, sometimes not. In this article, we wish to take into consideration the complex regional approach to the spatialisation of the heritage, question which underlines the subjects of the appropriation of spaces by contemporary societies, the links between tourism and heritage, but also the interaction between spatial entities and collective imagination. We will try not to forget that, by its nature, the heritage we observe has direct links with urban policies – both those of heritage management and those of effective (sustainable) urban management – and the will of development. Beginning by picturing Marrakesh under its’ unconscious touristic light, we will progressively discover what the concept of historic urban landscape has given to enlarge the heritage panorama of that city. Using the example of the Guéliz neighbourhood, we aim to analyse the relationship and possible interactions between the specific spatiality of the so called ‘recent heritage’ and the one of the current city. The relationship, not yet fully assumed, between historicity and contemporaneity is the main topic of the existing quarters, which deal with the difference between the spatial order that produced them and the one they currently experience every day.

Mots clés: Marrakech; Morocco; heritage; Gueliz; urban planning

Domaines: Géographie

Laura Verdelli, Romeo Carabelli. Social and spatial integration of the Guélizneighbourhood in the contemporary Marrakesh (Morocco). Spanderel, 2013. ⟨halshs-01259789⟩