Management of the Public Land in Morocco Actors and Logics

Management of the Public Land in Morocco Actors and Logics

Idrais Abderrahim (Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco), Semlali El Hassan (Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco), Mohamed Ettarid (Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco) and El Idrissi Abdelwahed (National Institute of Urban Planning, Morocco)
Copyright: © 2019 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5939-9.ch014

Abstract

The land heritage held by the public authorities represents an important part of the Moroccan land system. The management of this land heritage obeys various logics arising from its functional, legal, and institutional complexity. The objective of this study is to identify the numerous logics that drive the management of land assets by various actors and to describe the impact of these logics on the land management. The adopted methodology is to analyze the theoretical aspects and functions of the land tenure, study the regulatory framework of the land and the territorial land, and deal with the institutional framework of the land heritage management. The achieved consequences of this study have enabled the authors to distinguish three logics: the conservative logic, the regulatory logic, and the promoting logic. The goal behind the chapter is to provide the stakeholders with a functional paradigm to take into account for creating the conciliation tools reinforcing the coordination to carry out the urban development of the country.
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Material And Methodology

In order to be able to distinguish the logic which animate the actors in the management of the heritage of the land in Morocco, we have opted in the first time to a conceptual analysis on the concepts and functions of land; then, we conducted the legal analysis of the land heritage of Morocco for release the definition and functions of each land status, and finally we have made a legal analysis of the institutional framework of the land in Morocco to distinguish the actors and their responsibilities in the management of land heritage

The Concepts and Functionality of Land

The Concepts of Land

The land refers to the set of social relations that have for support the Earth or the territorial space. The concept of the land can be apprehended under four approaches:

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    An Economic Approach: It considers land as a well-exchangeable and as a commodity. This said, the transactions on the earth as an economic good involve many economic benefits.

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    Approach of Development: Land is a support of agricultural production or support of urban development.

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    A Social Approach: Often used by sociologists and geographers in recital the land as an object of desire (the main issue of communities and individuals) who organizes the social relationships between men and between men and the nature.

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    An Environmental Approach: Land is an absolute environmental fact; the preservation of the land is a condition to the preservation of the environment.

The Functions of Land

The land has neither the same role nor the same functions for all the actors. Of the small farmer in large proponent, the employee at the politician, the land reveals several functions: economic, development, political, social and environmental ones.

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    The Economic Function: Land can play important economic roles as well for the public authorities, businesses, households and individuals. For the public authorities, the land is a way to generate tax revenues. For businesses, it presents an asset which allows access to bank credit and to the financing of investments. Whereas for households and individuals, the land is an important tool for the savings because of the high land values due to urbanization.

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    The Function of Development: In relation to the issues of development, the land can be a set for development projects. In rural areas, the land is the support of the agricultural production for farmers, it presents the raw material for agricultural investment. In urban areas, the field is a base for the policies on urban planning; it is used in the production of urban services (housing, leisure, economic activities).

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    The Social Function: Land plays a social role. Access to land is often conditioned by the social identities. Belonging to the original families and the status in the family weighs in the question of access to the ground and distribution of rights on the land. This access differs according to the status and age. As well, the land can be seen as a continuity of families, of the tribes through the appropriation in undivided shares of the property but also may redistribute the roles through the sharing of rights on the land heritage.

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    The Environmental Function: Land has an environmental function. It is regarded as a support of biodiversity and ecosystem services, the land is the physical space of the environmental resources.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Promoter: A financer and provider of resources.

Management: A way of administration.

Logic: Reasoning conducted based on values.

Conservative: Against change.

Regulatory: Serving to regulate interests.

Land: A part of Earth that is not covered by water.

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