LARHYSS Journal
Volume 19, Numéro 2, Pages 91-114
2022-06-20

Long Term City Development Vs Water Strategy In Al-maghreb

Authors : Aroua Najet .

Abstract

It is commonly agreed that water availability critically influences the selection of sites for settlements and urban growth patterns. Nonetheless, this paper argues that it would be weakly involved in its later destiny. Its main objective is to discuss the issue in cities founded ex nihilo between the VIIth and XIth centuries over al-Maghreb based on an assessment of the water strategy efficiency, relevance, and consistency according to the hydro-geological context and the urban growth process. Qayrawan (VIIthc) from Tunisia, Fas (VIIIthc) from Morocco and Qalat Bani-Hamad (XIthc) from Algeria are formulated as demonstrative cases for this study. Results show although those cities did regularly face extreme hydro-meteorological hazards, their later development rather has been constrained by acute political causes and economic changes over the Mediterranean region

Keywords

al-Maghreb ; city longevity ; urban water strategy