Le commerce transnational « informel », vecteur d’une nouvelle hiérarchie de lieux. L’exemple de la périphérie urbaine de Salé (Maroc)

Abstract

This article examines the spatial consequences of transnational trade in middle-income countries such as Morocco. Increasing neoliberal reforms entail new retail outlets, malls, and franchised stores, but they do not signify the end of informal trade circuits, themselves equally globalized. First, I argue that transnational trade creates a new hierarchy of places, an issue not often tackled in the literature on informal trade in the Moroccan context. Second, the case study of an informal trade centrality in the popular neighborhood of Salé shows how trade activities reconfigure the urban fabric. The broad clientele of Souq Toub (fabric market) undermines the idea that informal marketplaces are for the poor, and highlights the positive impact of urban planning (the setting up of an industrial park) on the growth of an informal marketplace. The slum market Souq Salihine was initially located at the outskirts of the city in an area that has become strategic with the Bouregreg Valley Project. Consequently, the slum market is jeopardized by the focus of Morrocan urban politics on promoting an image of an attractive global city. Thus, two processes of urban centrality-making are in competition, one official and planned, the other emanating from private trade initiatives.

Keywords

• Morocco
• Informal
• Sale
• Bouregreg Valley Project
• Gobal Trade
• Slum Market