Urbanisation, Land Resources and Social Change in Tinghir

Abstract

From its initial tribal environment, the city of Tinghir underwent intense and rapid socio-spatial changes during the second half of the 20th century that facilitated the spread of an urban way of life among its inhabitants. The transformation of social relations and their diversification, the evolution of social institutions, and the upheaval of the old spatial logics that had reigned in the Todgha valley for centuries have all accompanied the transformation of the ksour of the valley into the polynuclear pre-Saharan city that we know today. By adopting the historical approach, the study highlights the tension between the different elements composing the urban landscape of Tinghir: those imported, following globalisation, and the substrates of a very ancient local culture.