Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Urban Politics of the Bouregreg Project in the Madinas of Rabat and Sale in Morocco

博士论文研究：摩洛哥拉巴特麦地那和塞尔的 Bouregreg 项目的城市政治

• 批准号: 1031060
• 负责人: William Doolittle
• 金额: $ 0.85万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2012-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1031060&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Urban; Politics

Contemporary discussions of neoliberal urbanism have tended to concentrate on the developed countries of the western world. Significant neoliberal urban renewal now is under way in historic cities of the Middle East, however. The events of September 11, 2001, effectively have caused an influx of Gulf petrodollars into the Arab world and a consequent increase in investment in Arab countries, which helps account for the creation of these renewal projects. The Bouregreg Project (Le Project d'Amenagement de la Vallee du Bouregreg), a large-scale urban regeneration project in Rabat, the capital city of the Kingdom of Morocco, which was launched in 2006 by King Mohammed VI, exemplifies major characteristics of a number of neoliberal urban renewal enterprises in the region. This project has had "top-down" leadership by the powerful monarchial state with a vision of an "integrated" and "modern but historical" capital. The project therefore is underwritten not only by neoliberal investment capital's interests but also the region's authoritarian state-led urban development practices. One of its key aims is to advance the integration (Les Agglomerations) of the two neighboring but quite different cities of Rabat and Sale, whose historical development trajectories have diverged significantly since the French colonial authorities chose Rabat as the capital for the protectorate. In its investigation of the full implications of the project for the two cities, this doctoral dissertation research project will concentrate on two major questions: (1) What information and insights does this project provide regarding the politics behind the urban developmental impulse of Morocco's monarchy? (2) What is the dynamic historical trajectory of the two cities of Rabat and Sale in this evolving "metroplex"? The doctoral candidate will rely heavily on qualitative research methods, including preliminary documentary research using articles from the Moroccan and French press and academia, and interviews. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with key informants at l'Agence Bouregreg (AAVB), governmental officials in municipalities, Moroccan urban professionals from local associations, politicians from major political parties, and academics and journalists. In-depth interviews will be conducted with medina inhabitants, particularly from the more traditional and conservative Sale medina.The results of this study will improve basic understanding regarding how the many royal-initiated urban renewal projects in Morocco contribute to the survival and increasing power of the Moroccan monarchy in an era of neoliberal capitalism as well as how urban "modernization" projects engage with traditional built environments and traditional societies represented here by the medina communities. Although focusing on Morocco, the project addresses topics associated with a number of contemporary large urban projects in the Middle East. It will contribute to scholarship on neoliberal urbanism in Arab cities of the Maghreb and scholarship on Arab authoritarianism in modern Middle Eastern politics. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

当代关于新自由主义城市主义的讨论往往集中在西方世界的发达国家。 然而，中东历史名城目前正在进行重大的新自由主义城市更新。 2001 年 9 月 11 日的事件实际上导致海湾石油美元大量涌入阿拉伯世界，从而增加了对阿拉伯国家的投资，这有助于解释这些复兴项目的创建。 布勒格雷格项目（Le Project d'Amenagement de la Vallee du Bouregreg）是摩洛哥王国首都拉巴特的一个大型城市更新项目，由国王穆罕默德六世于 2006 年启动，体现了摩洛哥王国首都拉巴特的大型城市更新项目的主要特点。该地区新自由主义城市更新企业的数量。 该项目得到了强大君主国家“自上而下”的领导，其愿景是建设一个“一体化”和“现代但历史悠久”的首都。 因此，该项目不仅受到新自由主义投资资本利益的支持，而且受到该地区专制国家主导的城市发展实践的支持。 其主要目标之一是促进拉巴特和塞尔这两个相邻但截然不同的城市的一体化（Les Agglomerations），自从法国殖民当局选择拉巴特作为保护国首都以来，这两个城市的历史发展轨迹出现了显着差异。 在调查该项目对两个城市的全面影响时，该博士论文研究项目将集中于两个主要问题：（1）该项目为摩洛哥君主制城市发展冲动背后的政治提供了哪些信息和见解？ （2）拉巴特和萨勒两座城市在这个不断演变的“大都市”中的动态历史轨迹是怎样的？ 博士生将严重依赖定性研究方法，包括使用摩洛哥和法国媒体和学术界的文章进行初步文献研究以及访谈。 半结构化访谈将与 l'Agence Bouregreg (AAVB) 的主要知情人、各市政府官员、当地协会的摩洛哥城市专业人士、主要政党的政治家以及学者和记者进行。 我们将对麦地那居民进行深入访谈，特别是来自较为传统和保守的萨莱麦地那的居民。这项研究的结果将提高人们对摩洛哥许多王室发起的城市更新项目如何为生存和增强力量做出贡献的基本了解。新自由主义资本主义时代的摩洛哥君主制，以及城市“现代化”项目如何与传统建筑环境和以麦地那社区为代表的传统社会相结合。 尽管该项目的重点是摩洛哥，但它涉及与中东许多当代大型城市项目相关的主题。 它将有助于马格里布阿拉伯城市新自由主义城市主义的学术研究和现代中东政治中阿拉伯威权主义的学术研究。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生建立强大的独立研究生涯提供支持。