Resettlement and Persisting Informality in Casablanca [article]

Raffael Beier, Universitäts- Und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, Martin-Luther Universität
2022
Based on a black-and-white understanding of formality/informality, many resettlement projects targeting dwellers of informal settlements include the issuing of formal ownership rights as a central element. While the state aims at integrating residents into formal property markets, residents themselves may consider access to housing with de jure security of tenure as a long-awaited recognition of citizenship. However, this paper provides empirical evidence questioning the implicit dichotomy of
more » ... rmality and informality behind such resettlement programmes. Discussing a specific sites-and-services project in Casablanca, Morocco, this paper shows how informality of tenure persists after resettlement and the related attempt to grant formal property rights to relocated residents. Being primarily concerned with the eradication of undesired, visible forms of informality, authorities have kept people in a legal limbo – an urban grey space that denies the full recognition of citizenship.
doi:10.25673/92116 fatcat:nwi27fsgwfb2xf4xsinoqmf3wy