Morocco/Oujda: The Urban Agency approves its action plan for 2025

The 21st Board of Directors of the Agence Urbaine d'Oujda, meeting on Tuesday, approved the moral and financial reports for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the agency's action plan for the year 2025 and its provisional program covering the period 2025-2027.

Chaired by Badria Benjelloun, Director of Urban Planning at the Ministry of National Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy, the session reviewed the agency's main achievements over the past two years.

Under the theme "22 years of royal initiative for the development of the Oriental region", the meeting took place in the presence of the wali of the Oriental region de l'Oriental and Governor of the Oujda-Angad prefecture, Khatib El Hebil, as well as governors of several provinces, elected officials and representatives of ministerial departments.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Benjelloun stressed that this session was taking place against a backdrop of far-reaching economic, social and territorial change, driven by the major projects initiated by HM King Mohammed VI.s by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, stressing the need for a collective mobilization of urban planning stakeholders to create an investment-friendly environment that generates wealth and jobs.

She also pointed out that the meeting coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the Royal Initiative for the Development of the Oriental Region, which has strengthened economic and social infrastructures, while developing the region's administrative, hospital, service and university functions.

This initiative has profoundly transformed the regional landscape, structuring the area while improving competitiveness and services for citizens. In this respect, she praised the efforts made within the framework of the regional land-use planning scheme, aimed at realizing the development vision for Oriental by 2045.

The director also highlighted the actions of the Urban Agency in the fields of planning, rural development and the simplification of construction procedures, particularly in rural areas.

For his part, Mr. El Hebil emphasized efforts to develop a new approach to territorial planning, adapted to the region's profound transformations. He recalled the Ministry's commitment to structuring regional projects, as a key player in urban governance.

He called for urban planning documents to become genuine technical and legal levers in the service of investment, stressing that the Oriental region, buoyed by major projects such as the Nador West Med port, is now a strategic destination for investors.

For his part, Said Lahbil, Director of the Oujda Urban Development Agency, underlined, during a presentation of the agency's activities and its forward-looking program, that his institution had recorded a "positive balance sheet" over the years 2023 and 2024.

He pointed out that, thanks to its partners, the agency had increased the rate of coverage by urban planning documents to 98.5%, with a cumulative total of 137 documents, having opened up more than 11.000 hectares for urban development (including 6,932 hectares for business parks and 1,088 hectares for project zones), as well as the programming of over 1,500 public facilities and services.

He added that 3 of the 5 major cities and 22 of the 25 high-pressure conurbations are now covered by approved urban planning documents.

He also mentioned the agency's support, with its partners, for national, regional and local prospective studies, serving as a basis and reference for planning and development.These include studies on the development of emerging centers and small and medium-sized towns, and the national urban development plan.

With regard to the regularization of non-equipped housing, the director specified that the agency had drawn up 484 recovery plans since the launch of the operation, targeting more than 721.000 inhabitants on an area estimated at 4,262 hectares, with the programming and realization of numerous local facilities and infrastructures, as well as connection to the various networks.

In addition, he reported that the Agency, committed to promoting investment, had examined, with its partners, 14,316 files during the years 2023 and 2024 (including 7,526 in 2024), with an approval rate of 86% (including 3,369 projects in rural areas).

These projects have had a positive impact, mobilizing an estimated investment volume of 10.4 billion dirhams (MMDH), in addition to the approval of 297 investment projects that have mobilized 14 MMDH and created over 16,000 jobs, he points out.

Other speakers addressed a number of issues, including the fight against squatter settlements, the rural exodus, flood prevention, and the resolution of land and architectural issues, particularly in rural areas.

The session was punctuated by the signing of a cooperation and partnership agreement between the Agence Urbaine d'Oujda, the city's National School of Architecture, and the Ecole Nationale d'Architecture.architecture de la ville, and the Ordre régional des architectes d'Oujda, concerning the design of a digital scenographic museum space for built heritage.

Source: www.mapexpress.ma/