Financing Demand-side Urbanism: Lessons from the ‘Spatial Fix’ in Tangier, Morocco

This study offers a demand-side analysis of the individuals and institutions involved in a ‘spatial fix’ in Tangier, Morocco. Tangier’s urban economy is distinguished by a high level of foreign investment from southern Spain in the residential and commercial real estate markets. Until the 2000s, Spanish investment to Morocco was marginal. Since the 2007- 2008 crisis, Tangier has become a vital terrain for economic expansion. The growth of these and other investments have led to the proliferation of real estate construction throughout the city-region, primarily in low-income housing projects to halt the proliferation of informal settlement construction. Nevertheless, home sales have stagnated and informal settlement construction continues to rise. Using the theory of the ‘spatial fix’ from urban political economy, three broad questions frame the scope of the research at three scales of analysis: (i) how has Tangier’s governance transformed to meet the challenges of the economic crisis; (ii) what impact has this transformed governance had on the long-standing pattern of urban development in the city, and; (iii) how do residents negotiate with, and are incorporated, into these fields that are designed to enact a ‘spatial fix.’ Fieldwork was undertaken in 2012, and was comprised of two primary sources. The first was in-depth, semi-structured interviews with real estate developers, city planners, and local residents from across the city. The second source was an archival sample from the Tangier newspaper, La Chronique du Nord, for the years 2001-2012. The argument furthered in the dissertation is that Tangier’s spatial fix has been driven by a geographic capital switch from Spain into Morocco. This switch has been made possible through the financialization of demand-side urbanism in Tangier. Specifically, parallel to wider neoliberal shifts in the Moroccan economy, local development relies upon the expansion of housing finance for private construction and acquisition. These institutions have facilitated international investment and the growth of the local construction industry. However, this growth relies upon marketizing low-income housing institutions, whose values and practices toward the home and home ownership depart significantly from the traditional market. Amid this regional development, the rise of informal settlements indicates local resistance to the volatility and instability wrought by the financialization of urban-economic development.