The Minister of National Territorial Development, Urbanism, Housing, and City Policy, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, called on Monday in Rabat to establish water resilience as a national standard and to make it “a fundamental requirement” in urban planning.
Speaking at a working workshop organized by the Ministry of National Territorial Development, Urbanism, Housing, and City Policy, in partnership with the “Majal” Federation of Urban Agencies, under the theme “Water between Abundance and Scarcity: From Territorial Planning to Urban Resilience,” Ms. El Mansouri noted that Morocco is currently facing a new climatic reality marked by a structural water scarcity, compounded by increasing episodes of intense flooding.
In a speech delivered on her behalf by the ministry’s Secretary-General, Youssef El Hosni, the minister highlighted that this double pressure necessitates a profound change in paradigms, emphasizing that the next generation of urban planning documents must inevitably integrate hydrological constraints, watersheds, and flood zones.
She specified that any urban planning document that ignores water risk or contributes to soil sealing constitutes “an incomplete document,” even “a generator of vulnerability for the territory in question.”
On this occasion, the minister emphasized the anticipation of territorial vulnerabilities and the strengthening of the resilience capacity of territories in the face of climatic risks, which have become an urgent necessity driven by a strong and committed public actor.
In this context, Ms. El Mansouri clarified that the reform of urban agencies and their transformation into regional agencies for urbanism and housing is not merely an administrative reform, but indeed a strategic reform. The goal, according to her, is to have agencies capable of integrating risk maps into urban planning documents, utilizing climatic data, and responsibly guiding territorial choices.
Moreover, Ms. El Mansouri assessed that the exemplary management of recent floods has demonstrated the state’s ability to act with responsibility and efficiency, sending a clear message that “anticipation must now take precedence over reaction.”
For his part, the president of the Federation of Urban Agencies of Morocco, Said Lahbil, underscored the importance for urban agencies to consider flooding data and integrate it into urban planning, calling for the adoption of anticipatory measures, both in terms of preliminary studies and specialized accompanying studies, to ensure effective management of these risks.
Mr. Lahbil indicated that this strategic workshop aims to harmonize visions regarding current issues related to urbanism and housing, in a territorial and urban context marked by profound climatic transformations that necessitate new approaches to adaptation and resilience.
The workshop’s discussions particularly focused on the institutional approach to territorial resilience in the face of flooding risks, the territorial diagnosis of water resources in the context of climate change, the integration of water risk into urban planning tools, as well as the presentation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool.
As part of the “Rabat Declaration,” made public at the end of this meeting, urban agencies reaffirmed their full mobilization for the implementation of the High Orientations of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, calling for responsible, sustainable, and anticipatory management of water resources, as well as for proactive adaptation of territories in response to climatic changes.
The participants also expressed their determination to make water resilience a structuring principle of territorial planning and to assist, within the framework of the transformation dynamics of urban agencies into regional agencies for urbanism and housing, the construction of more resilient, sustainable, and safer territories for future generations.
In light of this collective commitment, the agencies further pledged to encourage resource-efficient urbanism in the use of water, by supporting water efficiency in housing projects, strengthening anticipation and territorial expertise capacities, and developing digital decision-support tools, particularly GIS systems dedicated to monitoring water risks and prospective analysis of territorial dynamics.
In the same spirit, various participants reaffirmed their commitment to developing adaptive planning that can incorporate climate projections and adjust urbanism rules, while ensuring the strengthening of water governance through improved coordination among ministerial departments, hydraulic basin agencies, local authorities, and urban agencies.
This meeting was also marked by the presentation of the “Water Efficiency in Housing Award,” launched by the ministry in partnership with the Al Omrane Group, aimed at promoting the adoption of innovative technical solutions for water efficiency in housing and disseminating best practices to reduce water consumption in construction or renovation projects.
The first prize of the “Ideas Competition,” in the professional category, was awarded to Younes Salami, a teacher and engineer at the National School of Architecture in Fes, while it was jointly awarded, in the student category, to two groups from the National School of Architecture of Rabat and Agadir. Additionally, encouragement awards were given to several students.
The organization of this workshop is part of an institutional and territorial context characterized by accelerated transformations, notably the transformation of urban agencies into regional agencies for urbanism and housing, the updating of the legal framework for urbanism, and the intensification of climate constraints specific to each territory.
MAP