Avenue Royale, This Time It Will Be the Right One !

On hold for more than three decades, the Avenue Royale project is indeed relaunched. On Tuesday, September 2, the Casablanca City Council met for an extraordinary session with a single agenda item: the approval of a convention related to Avenue Royale, signed by the Municipality, the CDG, Sonadac, SDL Iskane and Equipements, and other institutional stakeholders. The convention is particular because behind it is a strong will to overcome the mishaps that marred the implementation of this major structuring project whose initial objective was to contribute to the “renewal of the urban fabric” of the metropolis.

Unlike in the past, there is real clarity in the roles of the different actors with a well-defined timeline. In practice, Sonadac, which was leading the project, transfers its mission to SDL Casablanca Iskane and Equipements, which will henceforth be responsible for the demolition of houses along the Avenue Royale route, the relocation of residents, as well as the compensation aspect. A mission in which SDL has proven itself, especially within the prerogatives that presided over its creation in 2006.

Series of Breaks

About 16,000 households and 2,500 premises for professional use are concerned. The inhabitants are expected to be relocated to a new urban hub of about 400,000 m² under the Hay Hassani prefecture, called “New Annassim II Project”. This recalls the first project which had received some of the first inhabitants at the launch of the first demolitions near the OFEC site. But the comparison stops there, as nothing will be like before for this project, which promises to break with what prevailed previously. Starting with the surroundings of Avenue Royale, which stretches from the Hassan II Mosque to Mohammed V Square.

Indeed, in the new design, a major fact is learned. Contrary to rumors, there will be neither buildings nor skyscrapers along the 1.5-kilometer route. Instead, a large public space will blossom over an area of more than 40 hectares. A new green lung that will graft onto the various parks, much to the delight of Casablanca residents and visitors who have appeared in recent years. This cuts the ground from under the feet of promoters of speculation that fueled the narrative for months, even years.

Annassim II, with its 307 hectares, is understood as a new integrated urban hub. Not only must it accommodate the expropriated households, but it is also designed to constitute an “urban extension of the metropolis” capable of responding to the ever-growing housing needs.

The project, whose execution should be completed by 2029, appears under new auspices. Annassim II will host diversified residential zones including social housing, medium and high-end housing, all local public amenities, as well as green spaces, etc. Additionally, the new project will create an economic activity hub designed to become a lever for socioeconomic development while ensuring a quality living environment for its future inhabitants.

In terms of connectivity, Annassim II will be connected to the metropolis’s major infrastructures, notably the Casa-Anfa TGV station, as well as tram and bus networks, besides the RER, national roads, and the highway network. This is reassuring for the concerned households. On these fronts, there is once again a total break from the “emergency management” that prevailed at the launch of the original project, the results of which triggered the anger of relocated residents.

Moreover, due to the slow process and governance issues of Sonadac, “buried under the weight of financial and land problems”, several former medina residents reversed course by returning to their “old” houses. This, among other things, led potential new arrivals to no longer believe in the opportunity to move, resulting in the delay that marked this large-scale project, even though the pilot relocation operation, conducted in Hay Attacharouk and benefiting a few hundred families, was carried out “smoothly and with widespread enthusiasm”.

Today, a new approach with new execution levers is in place, combined with a new way of managing the territory. This can only accelerate the pace of work to be done.

Modus Operandi

According to the terms of the convention accelerating the Avenue Royale project, SDL Casablanca Iskane and Equipements is now the operational arm, responsible for both the demolition of houses along the route, the relocation of affected households, and compensation where applicable. In this process, SDL takes over all land and other equalization assets from Sonadac. But this does not mean total disengagement from the project, as its expertise as a developer may still be called upon.

From this perspective, the company that launched the project will handle all the necessary urban, technical, and environmental studies. It will also obtain and execute subdivision authorizations, as well as transfer lots intended for social housing to operators. Furthermore, to ensure the smooth progress of operations, two committees have been established: a steering committee and a monitoring committee, chaired respectively by the Interior Ministry and the wali.