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

当代关于新自由主义城市化的讨论往往集中在西方世界的发达国家。然而，中东历史悠久的城市正在进行重大的新自由主义城市复兴。2001年9月11日的事件实际上导致海湾石油美元涌入阿拉伯世界，并因此增加了对阿拉伯国家的投资，这有助于解释这些更新项目的创建。布雷雷格项目是2006年由国王穆罕默德六世在摩洛哥王国首都拉巴特发起的一个大型城市重建项目，体现了该区域一些新自由主义城市重建企业的主要特点。这个项目得到了这个强大的君主制国家的“自上而下”的领导，其愿景是一个“综合的”和“现代的但具有历史意义的”首都。因此，该项目不仅得到了新自由主义投资资本的利益的支持，也得到了该地区威权的国家主导的城市发展实践的支持。其主要目标之一是推进拉巴特和赛尔这两个相邻但截然不同的城市的一体化，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已经明显背道而驰。在调查该项目对这两个城市的全部影响时，这一博士论文研究项目将集中在两个主要问题上：(1)该项目提供了关于摩洛哥君主制城市发展冲动背后的政治方面的哪些信息和见解？(2)拉巴特和赛尔这两个城市在这个不断演变的“大都市”中的动态历史轨迹是什么？博士生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媒体和学术界的文章进行的初步文献研究，以及访谈。将对L布瑞格通讯社的主要线人、市政当局的政府官员、当地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进行半结构化采访。将对麦地那居民进行深入访谈，特别是来自更传统和保守的Sale Medina的居民。这项研究的结果将增进对以下问题的基本了解：摩洛哥许多由王室发起的城市重建项目如何有助于摩洛哥君主制在新自由主义资本主义时代的生存和日益增长的权力，以及城市“现代化”项目如何与麦地那社区所代表的传统建筑环境和传统社会相结合。该项目虽然侧重于摩洛哥，但涉及与中东当代一些大城市项目有关的主题。它将有助于马格里布阿拉伯城市新自由主义城市化的学术研究，以及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，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

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.