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.

当代对新自由主义城市主义的讨论往往集中在西方发达国家。 然而，中东的历史名城正在进行重大的新自由主义城市重建。 2001年9月11日的事件实际上导致海湾石油美元流入阿拉伯世界，从而增加了对阿拉伯国家的投资，这有助于解释这些重建项目的创建。 Bouregreg项目是摩洛哥王国首都拉巴特的一个大规模城市更新项目，由国王穆罕默德六世于2006年启动，体现了该地区一些新自由主义城市更新企业的主要特点。 这个项目由强大的君主制国家“自上而下”领导，其愿景是建立一个“综合”和“现代但具有历史意义”的首都。 因此，该项目不仅得到了新自由主义投资资本的利益支持，也得到了该地区威权国家主导的城市发展实践的支持。 它的主要目标之一是促进拉巴特和销售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的首都以来，这两个城市的历史发展轨迹发生了重大变化。 在调查该项目对这两个城市的全面影响时，本博士论文研究项目将集中在两个主要问题上：（1）该项目提供了哪些信息和见解，以了解摩洛哥君主制城市发展动力背后的政治？ (2)在这个不断发展的“大都市”中，拉巴特和销售这两个城市的动态历史轨迹是什么？ 博士候选人将在很大程度上依赖于定性研究方法，包括使用摩洛哥和法国新闻界和学术界的文章进行初步的文献研究，以及采访。 将对下列人员进行半结构化访谈：布雷格机构的主要信息提供者、市政当局的政府官员、来自地方协会的摩洛哥城市专业人员、主要政党的政治家以及学者和记者。 将对麦地那居民进行深入访谈，特别是从更传统和保守的销售麦地那。这项研究的结果将提高有关如何在摩洛哥的许多皇家发起的城市更新项目的基本理解有助于生存和摩洛哥君主制在新自由主义资本主义时代的权力增加，以及如何城市“现代化”项目涉及传统建筑环境和以麦地那社区为代表的传统社会。 虽然该项目的重点是摩洛哥，但它涉及与中东一些当代大型城市项目有关的主题。 它将有助于马格里布阿拉伯城市的新自由主义城市主义和现代中东政治中的阿拉伯威权主义的学术研究。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。