The vast majority of participants (85%) in a survey by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) are dissatisfied with the state of development and urbanization of the national coast, indicated the CESE which requested, from 11 to May 24, 2022, the contribution of citizens through its “ouchariko.ma” platform, as part of the development of its opinion on the sustainable development and urbanization of the coast.
“The results of the survey show that a large majority of participants (85%) are dissatisfied with the state of development and urbanization of the national coastline, while the percentage of those who are satisfied does not exceed 11%” , says the Council.
According to the same source, 26% believe that the inconsistency of public policies is a dysfunctional factor in the urbanization of coastal areas.
For the participants in this survey, there are four main factors that explain the dysfunctions in the urbanization of coastal areas. These are respectively the inconsistency of public policies (26%), the mode of governance and the multiplicity of actors intervening on the coast (26%), the ineffectiveness of town planning documents (23%) and land issues (18%).
In addition, 81% of those questioned consider that the action of reforming the urban planning policy is important to implement sustainable urbanization and development of the coast, the same source indicates.
Concerning the measures proposed to implement sustainable urbanization and development of the coast and clean up what already exists, the results of the consultation show the importance given by citizens to a set of actions that they consider “very important”, i.e. the reform of town planning policy (81%), the improvement of the applicability of town planning documents (70%), the promotion of scientific research on the coast (78%) , the strengthening of participatory democracy through the regular and active involvement of citizens and civil society in the urban planning process (66%), land reform (67%) and the simplification of issuance procedures town planning authorizations (48%).
The consultation on the “ouchariko.ma” platform testifies to the interest shown by citizens in issues related to the urbanization of the coast. The opinions expressed show the dysfunctions that mark the process of urbanization and coastal development and recommend actions likely to promote the sustainability of this process, according to the results of this survey.
The number of interactions with the subject is 16,281, including 528 respondents to the survey. These interactions bring out the overall perception of citizens in relation to the challenges and issues of the coast, as well as the prospects for implementing sustainable development and harmonious urbanization of the coastal areas of Morocco. These results were taken into account in the ESEC’s opinion entitled “What urbanization for sustainable coastal development? “.
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