Alina Zafar & Beatriz Cardoso Braz
Erasmus University Rotterdam
From the bustling port of Casablanca to the high-tech terminals of Tanger Med, Morocco is reshaping the landscape of global port city territories. The country has positioned itself as a regional trade hub, hosting major global investment forums (Hein, Messous, De Martino, & Hanna, 2024). Ambitious projects like the high-speed rail developments linking Tangier, Casablanca, and Agadir aim to connect Morocco more closely to West Africa and Europe (TBY, 2025). These developments reflect the country’s broader trajectory of rapid urbanization and infrastructural expansion (Hein & Luning, 2024). However, as Morocco strengthens its role in global supply chains, it faces ambiguous dynamics. This article delves into the trajectories of Casablanca and Tangier to unpack their contributions to Morocco's ambitions and analyse the hurdles they face in achieving balanced growth.
Casablanca: The Economic Heart of Morocco
The Casablanca-Settat region is widely recognized as one of Africa's leading financial hubs. The status is largely driven by Casablanca itself as it contributed an impressive 32% to Morocco’s national GDP in 2019 (Darmame et al., 2024). This economic significance is further amplified by the city's diversified industrial landscape, spanning key sectors such as automotive, aerospace, textiles, and agri-food (Haj Asaad & Darmame, 2024). Yet, the backbone of the city's economic dominance remains maritime: over 95% of Morocco’s trade passes through seaports, and the Port of Casablanca is central to this flow (El Idrissi & Chegri, 2021).
The French Protectorate (1912–1956) established the Casablanca Port with a clear vision: to create a centralized trade gateway, replacing a less efficient network of smaller ports. Its mid-Atlantic location, rail access, and closeness to both rich agricultural areas and the Khouribga phosphate mines made it ideally suited for exporting agricultural and mineral resources. By 1930, these exports represented the vast majority of 92% of Morocco's outgoing goods passing through Casablanca (Suárez Bosa & Maziane, 2014).
Yet, Casablanca is more than just a port. It is the most populous city in the Maghreb region, with 3.84 million residents in the municipality and over 6 million in the greater metropolitan area as of 2022—already surpassing predictions for 2030 (Haj Asaad & Darmame, 2024). This accelerated demographic and economic expansion has generated both opportunity and strain. On the one hand, the city anchors Morocco’s finance, manufacturing, and service sectors. On the other, it exhibits entrenched socio-spatial inequalities. Wealth and infrastructure are concentrated in coastal neighborhoods and business districts like Sidi Maârouf, while peripheral zones such as Médiouna and Lahraouiyine suffer from underinvestment, limited public transport, and informal housing expansion. The port-industrial highway, simultaneously a physical and social barrier, reinforces segregation. This division has manifested in three distinct urban rings defined by Darmame et al. (2024): a fragmented central zone combining informal housing and concealed warehouses; semi-regulated peripheries defined by industrial activity and uneven planning; and outer areas, where inadequate infrastructure disproportionately affects low-income households. This fragmented growth contributes to a widening gap in socio-spatial equity, as affluent districts accumulate resources while marginalized populations are pushed away.
Although multiple national frameworks have emphasized decentralization, local reform has been limited in scope and uneven in execution. Over 50 years of administrative and territorial reforms have failed to establish clear responsibilities or empower municipal actors. Ultimately, they lack fiscal autonomy and regulatory control over key policy domains. Instead, institutional overlaps and weak local participation persist, creating what Darmame et al. (2024) call a “deficit of governance.” Industrial and logistics strategies, for instance, are steered by national entities such as the Ministry of Equipment and Logistics and the National Ports Agency. As a result, large-scale logistics projects, like the expansion of the Casablanca-Mohammedia corridor, are implemented with little coordination with urban planning or housing policy, deepening congestion and social displacement in nearby communes (Mans, 2014). City council members have little room to maneuver, and their chronic difficulties in reaching workable decisions further weaken local agency.
The Casablanca-Settat region invites us to rethink logistics not only as infrastructure but as a territorial governance issue. Strategies to boost competitiveness—from dry ports to hinterland corridors (Jawab & Mokaddem, 2018)—aim to streamline trade flows and attract investment. But implementation has not been smooth: too many actors, too little coordination, and governance structures that struggle to bridge institutional divides have hampered progress (Haj Asaad & Darmame, 2024). Logistics, in this sense, is not only about containers and trucks; it is about aligning institutions and integrating spatial planning. Ultimately, Casablanca’s experience illustrates how fragmented authority and top-down decision-making can reproduce urban exclusion, even amid investment-driven transformation.
While Casablanca highlights the challenges of fragmented governance and weak local coordination, let us turn to Tangier to explore a contrasting model—one where the Moroccan state has pursued a more centralized and state-led approach of port-city development. The Tanger-Med complex reflects a coordinated national vision, yet it also raises deeper questions about local participation, environmental sustainability, and spatial justice.
Tangier: Morocco’s Gateway to Global Trade
At the heart of the transformation of Tangier is Tanger Med, the country’s largest port. Tanger Med has emerged as one of Africa’s leading transshipment hubs, handling over 7 million TEUs annually (Statista, 2024). But Tangier’s journey to becoming a key player in global trade hasn’t always been smooth. In fact, the Moroccan government once saw Tangier as more of a barrier than a corridor (Ducruet et al., 2011). Tangier has proven its potential for growth and modernization and that perception changed dramatically.
Thanks to its strategic location at the Strait of Gibraltar—right where Europe and Africa meet, Tangier has steadily expanded its influence. Between 1995 and 2001, the city experienced consistent growth, laying the groundwork for future development. When the massive Tangier Med Port opened in 2007, the commercial shipping traffic opened up the old harbour right in the city centre. Another key turning point came with the partnership between Renault and Veolia (Ducruet et al., 2011), which focused on the green transition, enhancing energy efficiency and integrating renewable energy sources into port operations. This shift has also positioned Tangier as a regional innovation hub (Belaziz & Makkaoui, 2022).
Although about 80% of Morocco’s container traffic is concentrated in Casablanca, Tangier has emerged as a crucial transshipment hub, efficiently redistributing cargo across global trade routes (Ducruet et al., 2011, p. 10). The port’s modernization, especially following the MMED project and upgrades completed in 2021, has significantly boosted its economic impact (Belaziz & Makkaoui, 2022). Tangier is now home to thriving industrial zones like Tanger Automotive City, Tanger Shore, and Tanger Park (Belaziz & Makkaoui, 2022).
Furthermore, in the last decade, Tangier Port City had been heavily investing in the tourism infrastructure, such as the emergence of PortVille. This area is the product of a reconversion project launched in 2010 by His Majesty King Mohammed VI (Tanger Med Port Authority, n.d.). As Bogaert (2017) noted the main goal of this project was to convert the former inner city harbour into a waterfront for leisure and consumerism. Since then, investments have poured into developing golf clubs, beach resorts, and upscale housing along the coast.
However, Tangier’s rapid transformation has generated new pressures. Traffic congestion, environmental strain, and uneven urban development have emerged as pressing issues (Belaziz & Makkaoui, 2022). According to Garrido (2016), Tangier’s coastal landscape poses development challenges, especially with port expansion projects threatening the environment. There’s also a cultural gap—Western tourists sometimes feel unsafe and due to misunderstanding in what concerns the cultural differences, which can potentially hold back the city’s tourism. Furthermore, urban management remains an issue that needs serious attention (Garrido et al., 2016).
Tangier offers a powerful example of Morocco’s ambition to integrate into global trade networks as a logistic hub and a tourist magnet. Yet the city’s evolution also underscores the importance of inclusive planning and environmental care.
Conclusion
In 2024, Tangier City Port won the AIVP Prize Antoin e Rufenacht, which recognized the city as a leading example of how a port can innovate while staying grounded in its identity—turning its waterfront into a space of connection rather than division. Morocco’s port cities are at the heart of the country’s economic transformation, playing a vital role in global trade and investment. However, rapid industrialization and port expansion come with challenges, particularly regarding environmental sustainability and social dynamics. As the country navigates these complexities, a more integrated and people-oriented approach will be necessary to ensure that economic growth does not come at the cost of environmental degradation and social inequality. Morocco’s future as a global port powerhouse will depend on its ability to strike this balance and create a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient port infrastructure.
The lesson Morocco offers is not just about scale or speed, but about the stakes of coordination. Its experience shows how port infrastructure can be a powerful tool for national positioning—but only if aligned with inclusive governance and long-term sustainability. True progress lies in balancing between tradition and transformation—a nation can open its port cities and coastal heritage to the world without turning its back on its people, tradition and culture, even amid ongoing challenges.
Acknowledgment
This blog post has been written in the context of discussions in the LDE PortCityFutures research community. It reflects the evolving thoughts of the author and expresses the discussions between researchers on the socio-economic, spatial and cultural questions surrounding port city relationships. This blog was edited by the PortCityFutures editorial team: Yi Kwan Chan and Wenjun Feng. In particular, we thank Carola Hein for her valuable input and comments.
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