Reading the Urban Morphology of the Mining Towns (Villes Minières) in the Moroccan Phosphate Plateau

The system of villes minières – defined by the small villages of Boujniba, Boulanouare and Hattane, and the main district of Khouribga – and the connecting infrastructure supporting the mining exploitation of the Oud-Zem region, bear witness to a crucial period in the history of the Moroccan country, which began with the discovery of the first phosphate deposits at the beginning of the last century. By addressing the trasversal and specific characteristics of the mining towns, their settlement, urban structure and habitat formation, the essay aims to describe the results of research and application of a project-oriented methodology of critical mapping, developed on the system of cities that, starting in the 1920s, led to the urbanisation of the so-called Moroccan “phosphate plateau”, in direct relation to the discovery and exploitation of mineral resources. A territory profoundly transformed by the mining industry, which, under the leadership of the OCP – almost the only key player in shaping the organization of territorial, social and cultural space – has indelibly marked its economic, demographic and socio-spatial structure.