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Chapter 1
The Spatial Development and Urban
Transformation of Colonial and Post-Colonial
Algiers
Karim Hadjri and Mohamed Osmani
Introduction
Algiers is a complex and confused city that is experiencing constant transformations at the
administrative, political, social and economic levels. Its administrative status has changed in 2000 from
that of a region managed by a Governor Minister to that of a simple Wilaya (department). This change
has meant that the new plan proposed by the former Governor of Algiers – the Grand Projet Urbain
(large urban project) – that would lead to the establishment of Algiers as an efficient metropolis, a
regional hub or even a global city, is on hold. That said, for Algiers to achieve the status of a global
city, it must meet several criteria, which up to now seem far from being part of its perceived growth
and objectives. Nevertheless, before embarking on the analysis of Algiers development history and
current challenges, there is a need to define the central topic of this chapter, which is the process of
globalization.
‘Globalization can comprise many processes, such as the spatial integration of economic activities,
movement of capital, migration of people, development of advanced technologies, and changing values
and norms that spread among various parts of the world.’ In other words, Globalization and its effects
are primarily concerned with movement of goods, capital, people, and ideas, and how these affect the
spatial structure and urban form of cities. (Marcuse and Van Kempen, 2001).
Like many international terms, globalization has different interpretations and common
generalizations. ‘Globalization is a controversial concept, whose very definition is unclear’ (Marcuse
and Van Kempen, 2000, p. 261). It is also claimed that globalization is an extension of international
economic activities ‘marked by a radical increased mobility of capital and international integration of
production and control, facilitated by advances in communications and transportation technology’
(Marcuse and Van Kempen, 2000, pp. 261–262).
This chapter sets out to explore the spatial development and urban transformation of colonial and
post-colonial Algiers by examining the pre-colonial medina or Casbah. This exploration reveals the
complexity of the city’s development, its regional and international position and influence, and the
extent to which globalization has affected its urban growth and architectural patterns.
Algiers, like most other Algerian cities, presents at least six stages of urbanization that produced
distinct urban fabrics, namely, the Casbah; the colonial town (Algiers centre and surrounding
neighbourhoods); colonial Grands Ensembles (large urban housing projects); post-colonial “Grands
Ensembles” or ZHUN (Zone d’Habitat Urbaine Nouvelle); urban development by private builders on
individual plots of land; and informal housing (bidonvilles or shanty towns and housing of the poor). It
should be noted that Algiers’ early morphology defined by the medina and the colonial quarters has
been retained.
This chapter will examine the spatial development of Algiers by concentrating on two phases of its
urban growth and transformation, the colonial period, from 1830 to 1962, and the post-colonial period
covering 1962 to nowadays. The influence of colonisation on urban form and architectural tendencies
will be emphasised. In addition, the effect of globalisation on post-colonial Algiers and its impact on
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local identity and urban and architectural models will be discussed. Algiers most complex urban issue
is the restoration and safeguard of the Casbah. A brief account of the Casbah’s decay and renovation
projects will be examined at the end of this chapter.
On 21st May 2003, Algiers and its surroundings experienced a devastating earthquake that put to the
test old and new buildings. The impact of this disaster on urban development actors and existing urban
tissue will be briefly discussed.
Colonial Algiers
Early records of Algiers date back to the fifth century BC when the site attracted the Phoenicians. After
this, no major events were recorded until the first century AD when Algiers became a Roman colony.
Berbers inhabited the region of Sahel for centuries and records of these settlers date back to the first
century AD (Chennaoui, 2000a, p. 16). The Arab period had two stages, first from the sixth century
after the collapse of the Roman empire, and the successive attempts by the Arabs to invade the
settlements, which led to the destruction of the Roman buildings; and second the founding of Algiers
(El Djazair) by prince Bouloughine Ibn Ziri around the middle of the tenth century. During the Middle
Ages, the Europeans attempted to invade the city several times. The fifteenth century saw successful
settlement by the Spanish who started by fortifying the city. In 1518 the Spanish were replaced by the
Turks under the Ottoman naval commander Barbarosa brothers who became the rulers of Algiers.
During the sixteenth century, the city was further fortified and developed by building ramparts and
citadels and a seaport (Chennaoui, 2000b, p. 9). Algiers’ economy blossomed under Turkish rule
mainly within the medina, which itself is inspired by Turkish vernacular architecture, socio-cultural
and religious requirements, and the particular characteristics of the site. Some aspects will be examined
in details throughout the chapter, but this section concentrates on the French occupation of Algiers,
dating from 1830.
During the war-torn eighteenth century in Europe, the French found themselves in great need of
agricultural products. Algeria, a rich producer of cereals at that time, supplied France with large
amounts of wheat, with a long-term credit facility. Quarrels over settlement of these debts helped give
rise to a turbulent relationship between France and Algeria (Laffont, 1981). Specifically, the French
government did not answer letters from the Dey (Governor) of Algiers, concerning the credit. It was
within this climate that the famous ‘fan scene’ took place. In 1827, the Dey Hussain received the
French consul, Pierre Deval, and blamed him for the silence from Paris (Renaudot, 1979). Deval
replied in offensive terms, which resulted in a violent act from the Dey who hit the consul with his fan.
This incident was the driving force behind a political crisis between the two countries. The refusal of
the Dey to offer an apology appeared prima facie to a primary motive for the invasion of Algeria. The
conquest of Algeria was also to form a publicity coup for France, making it a powerful country
competing with other European states. The French army occupied Algiers on the 5th July 1830; this
marked the beginning of a colonization, which lasted 132 years. During this period, the medina of
Algiers was subject to profound social, economic, cultural and physical-spatial changes (Osmani,
1988).
The case of Algiers provides the best example for understanding the colonial urban practices, which
were reproduced, in a variety of forms, in other Algerian cities. Within the broader colonial urban
history of Algiers, five distinct periods may be identified:
(a) 1830–1840: military planning
(b) 1840–1880: the birth of the European city
(c) 1880–1914: extramural expansion and urban growth
(d) 1914–1945: transformation between the two world wars and rural migration
(e) 1945–1962: housing shortage and bidonvilles
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1830–1840: Military Planning
A series of radical transformations, which occurred between 1830 and 1840, had such wide-ranging
impact that any attempt at present day reconstruction of the medina of Algiers has been extremely
difficult. The initial colonial urban intervention in Algiers was characterized by military engineering,
which ‘dominated all urban design operations during this period’ (Çelik, 1997, p. 27). This military
supremacy was stated in a report from this period, ‘the organization of space in Algiers must submit to
the changing of institutions; the Christian commercial town cannot preserve the form of a pirate capital.
A transformation is imminent’ (Miege, 1985, p. 173). Some military officers even declared their desire
to pull down the whole lower city and rebuild it in the French manner (Lespes, 1930). However, the
costs of expropriation and the protest of the indigenous people made it difficult to achieve this aim.
The first decade of colonization was characterized by a cultural approach and a military need.
Culturally, the French colonial policy ‘sought to sanitize what was perceived as unsanitary’ (Stewart,
2001:178). Militarily, there was an eminent need to reuse pre-colonial structures for accommodation
and logistical purposes (Figure 1.1). The troops occupied the Casbah, forts, batteries, and many houses
near the ramparts as well as several mosques. Outside the walls, the funduks (inns and warehouses) and
palaces were converted into military bases.
Figure 1.1: Pre-colonial buildings used by the French army between 1830 and 1840
Source: Osmani, 2003
As a military city, Algiers needed wide roads and large squares for the rapid circulation of troops.
Fulfilment of these requirements came initially in road construction within the walled city. Between
1830 and 1840 the three main pre-colonial streets of Bab Azzoun and Bab el Oued and Rue Bab el
Ghazira (renamed Rue de la Marine) were widened, at the expense of the existing houses, shops and
public buildings. While the original width of streets in the medina had been conceived to allow two
fully-loaded donkeys to pass, it was now determined according to the gauge of military vehicles
(Osmani, 1988).
The transformed streets were lined with three storey-arcaded buildings, built for the new European
immigrants. Retailing and commercial functions were concentrated at the ground level and the two
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floors above were given over to flats. Uniform façades characterized the construction along these
streets. The arrangement of windows and balconies further emphasized the vertical regularity of the
façades. Thus, with this initial transformation, the traditional street of Souk el Kebir (the Great Market)
disappeared and was replaced by a monumental street linking the east and west military forts and
allowing soldiers a clear field for parades.
During the same period, a large square, Place d’Armes (initially called Place Royale then Place du
Gouvernement), was created at the meeting point of the three streets (Rue Bab Azzoun, Rue Bab el
Oued and Rue de la Marine). The Place du Gouvernement, one side of which opened to the sea, took a
rectangular shape and was framed by three-storey, arcaded buildings (Figure 1.2). The Hotel du
Gouvernement, which faced the sea, was erected as the focal point of the whole spatial organization of
the new square. The Place du Gouvernement reflected urban design principles developed in France
during the eighteenth century for the planning of the Places Royales: a square connecting long axes
and so giving a sense of space and openness (Osmani, 1988).
Figure 1.2: Place du Gouvernement, Algiers
Source: Osmani, 2003
After the modifications of the original urban structure, the indigenous population, which felt that its
privacy was violated, moved away from the lower city to the upper city or to rural areas; their
departure made room for the new European arrivals. By 1839, 15,000 Europeans (French, Italians,
Spanish and Maltese) were concentrated in the lower part of the city. Between 1830 and 1840, 20,000
Algerians left the city and were replaced by the same number of Europeans (Lespes, 1930). Some of
the newcomers occupied traditional houses that were subsequently transformed with large windows
opening onto streets and by covering the courtyards (Institut Français d’Architecture, 1984). Hence, the
original built form of traditional houses was transformed by accommodating the habits of the new
occupants.
Many traditional houses were destroyed and replaced by blocks of housing. Plot after plot and block
after block, a system of secondary streets was created, thus forming a new urban structure. The façades,
widely opened onto the streets, and the extension of dead-end streets to serve and link the blocks, was
in sharp contrast to the pre-colonial organization of the city characterized by closed residential quarters.
Therefore, a new system based on continuity and the opening of streets interrupted by open spaces was
superimposed.
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1840–1880: Birth of the European City
The continual arrival of European migrants, estimated at 21,000 in 1841, accelerated the rate of
urbanization in Algiers (Comedor, 1972). The need to expand the town outside the walls became an
absolute necessity. In 1840 the process of development of the city began with the creation of a new
urban fabric that was no longer superimposed or reclaimed from the pre-existing urban fabric.
Nonetheless, the latter was not left untouched, for security reasons and because most of the colonial
institutions were located in the lower city, the medina of Algiers had to be connected to the new urban
development by a web of streets and squares. This new linkage system changed the original form of
some traditional parts of Algiers’ medina. Outside the walls the army seized almost all the flat sites and
monopolized the extramural constructions. Consequently, military constructions formed a physical
impediment constraining any process of urban development for the civilian population.
In 1841, the colonial administration established a development plan to allow the expansion of the
city outside the original nucleus (Kecir, 1980). To accommodate the new European city, the
construction of new fortifications started in 1841 and was completed by 1848 (Royer, 1932). The army
opposed any civil constructions and was supported by the French central government in 1844 which
stated that, ‘Algiers must be a war place, which forms the citadel of Algeria, rather than a commercial
city’ (Royer, 1932, p. 33). After lengthy discussions between the military and civil administrations, the
general development plan for the expansion of the city was finally approved in 1846. The layout of
new streets and open spaces was the main concern of this plan. By 1849, the old Turkish fortifications
were ‘replaced by new ones, enclosing an area three times larger than the one occupied by the old
town’ (Çelik, 1997, p. 35). Thus, the main concern was for salubrity, aeration and security. Gardens
with a system of slopes and steps were organized in places where declivity was important (Institut
Français d’Architecture, 1984).
All projects of construction or embellishment had to proceed through endless administrative routes.
For example, even the pavement of several streets, such as the Rue de la Marine, had to be approved
by the Minister of War in Paris (Lespes, 1930). All these bureaucratic processes together with the
previously mentioned military monopolization of the flat sites, retarded the urban development of
Algiers.
In 1850, the creation of the Place Bresson (today Port Said Square) on the site of two small old
squares, Place de Garamantes and Place de Bourneau, bridged the physical gap between the old city
and the new European quarter (Figure 1.3). In fact, details of the new square and concepts used to link
the old urban fabric with the new urban development were almost exact copies of the design of the
Place Royale in Nancy (Osmani, 1988).
Figure 1.3: Plan of Algiers in 1880
Source: Osmani, 2003
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However, the general development plan was not totally achieved. Part of the programme was
executed, but the rest was started belatedly then forsaken for a number of reasons, but particularly the
1846 economic crisis.
The number of houses constructed in the new European quarter was out of proportion to the number
needed. While construction escalated, the population remained almost constant (Lespes, 1930).
Individual buildings were being sold with difficulty. Insolvencies increased and speculators preferred
to invest in the railway construction in the metropolis. Furthermore, the financial crisis in France at that
time, affected the spatial development of Algiers, as more than a quarter of the European population
left the city. Indeed, the foreign population decreased from 42,000 in 1846 to 25,000 in 1853 (Comedor,
1972). In addition to the economic and financial crisis of 1846, a political crisis broke out in France in
1848 with the fall of the monarchy.
In the south of the medina, the less sloping sites along the coast were reserved for the army. Higher
up, a new residential and administrative quarter, the Quartier d’Isly, developed. Two unequal urban
structures separated by a large artery, the Rue d’Isly (Figure 1.6), characterized the physiognomy of the
new quarter:
(a) A low and large part in which streets crossed each other at right angles round a square, the
Place d’Isly;
(b) Beyond the Rue d’Isly, streets were sinuous bending into a broken slope.
The medina of Algiers was clearly separated into two distinct parts by the Rue Bab Azzoun, the
Place du Gouvernement and the Rue Bab el Oued. The first part consisted of a flat area below the
principal artery where the main European institutions were located. These institutions included the
Governor’s Palace, courthouse, theatre and various public buildings. This part was gradually
depopulated of its Algerian residents and became exclusively European. The quarter formed by the
Place du Gouvernement, the Rue Bab el Oued and the coast, had a more regular pattern than the rest of
the old city.
The second part was the slopped district, El Djabel (mountain), where the indigenous residential
quarters terraced up to the citadel. This part of the city kept its traditional urban form. A twisting ramp,
Montee Ravigo, connected the upper town with the new European quarter.
The block formed the basic structural element of the new city; the urban structure was conceived as
a combination of rectangular, square and triangular blocks. The residence-blocks and monument-
blocks characterized the physical form of the new urban quarter. In fact, the same kinds of blocks were
laid out for the reconstruction of Paris, where Haussmann reserved specific blocks for monumental
buildings such as Notre Dame and Hotel-Dieu (Osmani, 1988).
The expansion southwards of Algiers brought about the development of the harbour installation. The
port was to become one of the most important economic factors of Algiers. It was first extended in
1857 in response to establishment of railways in the colony. Algiers’ port became a fundamental link
between the Algerian hinterland and France.
When Napoleon III coming to power, a new impetus was given to the programme of expansion and
embellishment of Algiers. According to Lespes (1930), Napoleon’s personal views concerning the
situation of the city were threefold:
(a) The priority of French colonization was to be given to commercial and industrial activities;
(b) The extent of military institutions, which were impeding the urban development of the city,
were to be limited;
(c) The continual destruction and transformation of the indigenous quarters in the upper town
were to be ended.
The Boulevard Front de Mer, later called de la Republique, was the most significant achievement of
the Napoleonic regime. Fronting the sweep of Algiers’s bay, the Boulevard de la Republique was lined
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with buildings characterized by regular façades with arcades at the ground floor and, above, three or
four storeys with French windows opening onto continuous balconies (Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4: Boulevard de la Republique (today Boulevard Che Guevara), Algiers
Source: Osmani, 2003
The horizontal cutting of the façades on the Boulevard de la Republique emphasized the
monumentality of the architectural composition, reflecting homeland trends. ‘The French architects and
urbanists of the later 19th century turned, automatically, to the architectural style with which they were
familiar back home in Paris and major provincial cities’ (Davis, 1983, p. 15). Similar architectural
features could be seen on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, to which the Boulevard de la Republique bore
close resemblance.
As a result of the economic crisis the programme of Algiers’ expansion saw a stagnation that lasted
several years. It was not until 1855 that different projects for the urban development of the city were
proposed. Three projects designed by Vigoureux and Callat, MacCarthy and Genevay, and Chausseriau
were taken into consideration. All of these proposed the creation of a new city outside the walled area.
If the reasons justifying this new idea were numerous, their common denominator seemed to be the
impossibility of adapting the indigenous city to the needs of the French colony. Most significant was
the project of Chausseriau designed in 1858.
Chausseriau’s ideal of the new city was based upon hygiene, comfort and aesthetic (Beguin et al.,
1983). To achieve his aims, he proposed a city plan for 60,000 inhabitants with large axes, numerous
gardens, fountains and squares. Medium-rise buildings provided with spacious galleries framed the
streets and open spaces.
1880–1914: Extramural Expansion and Urban Growth
Starting in 1880, wine production was the main driving force of colonial urban development in Algeria.
After the total destruction of the vineyards in France by Phylloxera in 1875, the French government
encouraged large-scale planting of vineyards in Algeria (Comedor, 1972). For better exploitation of the
hinterland, a railway network was developed linking the rural areas with different ports, so enabling the
export of agricultural products to metropolitan markets. Therefore, colonization, development of
cultivation, the increase in wealth and urbanization were all closely linked.
The success of viticulture resulted in an economic ‘boom’. Algiers, as the administrative capital,
took the lion’s share of this economic effervescence. The port was enlarged and new administrative
and commercial institutions were established. The population increased considerably. It jumped from
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84,000 inhabitants in 1880 to 172,000 in 1911 (Miege, 1985). In 1881, the population of Algiers was
distributed as follows: 46,482 inhabitants in the old city; 6,061 in Bab el Oued; 13,050 in the Quartier
d’Isly, and 12,279 in Mustapha (Comedor, 1972). This distribution of population shows that the
development of the city originally took place towards the zone situated south of the old core, rather
than the northern part where Bab el Oued quarter was of limited importance. Housing construction
became one of the most reliable and profitable investments. The establishment of the tramway in the
1880s helped to link the northern and southern suburbs with the city (Institut Français d’Architecture,
1984).
In 1891, after lengthy discussions between the military authorities and the municipality, a series of
concessions concerning the southern and northern sites, were obtained for the expansion of the city.
The main hindrance, fortifications and military zones, which stood in the way of the physical
integration of the intramural city and the new quarters, were finally removed Between 1880 and 1914
the city burgeoned, stretching southwards along the sea (Figure 1.5).
The plan of embellishment and expansion of Algiers imposed certain modifications on the urban
structure of the medina by creating new streets in the upper city, linking the indigenous city and the
European quarters.
Figure 1.5: Plan of Algiers in 1895
Source: Osmani, 2003
The most remarkable development was towards the south. Here, the main focus was the creation of
the commercial centre of Algiers. This had to be worked out through the development of the port and
the construction of the railway station, harbour and warehouses. Large arteries connected this new
centre with the rest of the city. The northern part of the city developed from scattered constructions to
an industrial zone. Avenues 12, 18 and 20 metres wide were laid out and flanked by arcaded buildings
(Institut Francais d’Architecture, 1984). A large artery, the Boulevard du General Farre (now
Boulevard Abelrahmane Taleb) was constructed on the ruins of the old fortifications. It extended from
the sea up to the citadel, and was intersected by several streets connecting the northern part with the
centre.
Attesting to the gradual displacement of the hub of the city towards the south, two monumental
buildings in neo-Moorish style were erected: the Prefecture (today the Wilaya) along the sea front and
the main post office, articulating the city with its suburbs and emphasizing the location of the new
centre.
The image of the city changed. Gradually, old buildings with plain façades were pulled down and
replaced by new ones incorporating balconies and bow-windows (Figure 1.6).
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Figure 1.6: Rue D’Isly, Algiers
Source: Osmani, 2003
The architectural aspect of Algiers was firmly established by the end of the nineteenth century. In
some cases, the topography of the site contributed to the variety and multiplicity of building types. In
short, the idea of Algiers as a military centre and a naval port had become completely obsolete and the
capital of French Africa developed new functions and became a commercial emporium.
1914–1945: Transformations between the Two World Wars and Rural Migration
By beginning of the twentieth century, Algiers’ urban structure was almost in its final form,
characterized by a sharp dichotomy between the medina and the new European quarters (Figure 1.7).
The peripheral quarters were articulated around the new city centre surrounding the main post office.
The effects of the First World War were felt in many aspects of Algiers’ urban situation, including a
decrease in European immigration, stagnation of construction, and the postponement of the
enlargement of the port.
In 1930 the colonial administration instituted a law that, even today, rules most of Algerian urban
centres. This required the formulation of a Plan d’Urbanisme (general development plan) for any city
of more than 10,000 inhabitants (Deluz, 1980). The first Plans d’Urbanismes that were prepared
showed a transition from the alignment planning of the nineteenth century to the zoning of the
twentieth century.
Two major phenomena characterized the period preceding the Second World War:
(a) The appearance of ‘modern’ architecture in Algiers. Indeed, many buildings such as the
Palais du Gouvernement were erected reflecting new architectural trends;
(b) The emergence of the first social housing in Algeria. Poor Europeans (Italians, Spanish and
Maltese) lived in unhealthy houses in semi-industrial suburbs and inside the Quartier de la
Marine.
Also during the inter-war period, the high residential density in the Casbah forced some inhabitants
to move towards the suburbs, forming spontaneous and anarchic constructions. To solve housing
problems, l’Office Public des Habitations à Bon Marche (HBM) (Public Office for Low Cost Housing)
was created in 1921 (Deluz, 1980).
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Figure 1.7: Satellite Image of Casbah, 2002s
Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe, www.digitalglobe.com
The municipality decided on the destruction of the insalubrious Quartier de la Marine. In 1940,
almost all of the old buildings in the area were razed and a new programme of redevelopment was
launched. The local authorities appealed to many architects and planners for advice. These included
Prost, who designed most of master plans of the Moroccan cities, Greber, Rotival and finally Le
Corbusier (Emery, 1980). ‘The problem was to define an order capable of growth and change, but with
certain fixed points of monumentality appropriate to Algiers increasing importance in the French
colonial order’ (Curtis, 1986, p. 122). Le Corbusier arrived in Algiers in 1931, he visited the Casbah as
well as other Algerian medinas, such as Ghardaia (Miquel, 1980). In his proposals, known as
the Plan Obus, Le Corbusier conceived four main elements ‘orchestrated into a sculptural whole’
(Curtis, 1986, p. 123; Alsayyad, 1992:11);
(a) A monumental skyscraper for a new business centre intended to regulate the scale of the
city;
(b) A structure of concave and convex apartment buildings, on the model of l’Unite
d’Habitation to be built for the middle class;
(c) An elevated roadway running north-south above the medina;
(d) A serpentine viaduct for working classes, running along the bay, and providing walkways;
and
(e) Shops.
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The Plan Obus, the new bombardment of Algiers’ as some observers called it, was a reflection of
ville radieuse principles, intended to fit into different cultural and environmental contexts. Le
Corbusier’s proposals for the redevelopment of the Quartier de la Marine were purely utopian, and his
project was not realized, instead the site saw a huge development of speculative nature. High- and
medium-rise blocks were erected facing the sea. This new concrete screen blocked the views to the bay,
which the pre-colonial Moorish houses had enjoyed. This last operation speeded the decay of Algiers’
medina, which subsequently became an overcrowded ghetto.
The new nature of the colonial economy encouraged European immigrants to settle in the
countryside. To facilitate their settlement, a law codified in 1863 permitted property sales to Europeans
(Lawless, 1979). The newcomers appropriated vast fertile lands, given over to cash crops relevant only
for export and foreign consumption. ‘Squeezed off their traditional lands and experiencing population
pressure as a result of galloping demography, a growing number of Muslims were forced to seek jobs
as labourers on European farms or in the mines’ (Lawless, 1979, p. 83). Looking for a better income,
rural and nomadic people from the interior were drawn towards the urban centres. ‘They provided a
cheap labor pool used to construct the housing and infrastructure of the new cities, to man factories
capitalized from abroad and oriented toward Europe, and to serve the imported “elite” as domestics,
gardeners, and porters.’ (Abu-Lughod, 1976, p. 193).
There was a striking increase in the Algerian population in the big cities between 1930 and 1960.
Algiers saw its population grow from 100,000 to more than half a million people in thirty years
(Lawless, 1979). The continual influx from the rural areas was particularly speeded by the
establishment of industries in these cities. High-density Muslim populations were found around the
major coastal cities. These cities were socially and economically unable to cope with the continual
internal migration. From this situation two major problems arose. Firstly, the interior towns became
resource centres with exclusive focus on the metropole. Secondly, the high population of the major
cities created many economic and social problems, such as the high rate of urban unemployment
among the Algerian population and housing shortages. ‘Poorly integrated into the colonial urban
economy, the new Muslim proletariat lived apart from the European residents – separate as well as
unequal’ (Lawless, 1979, p. 84). This was particularly true in Algiers where the medina concentrated
the early migrants. By 1949, it became rapidly overcrowded, reaching 3,500 inhabitants per hectare
(Çelik, 1997).
1945-1962: Housing Shortage and Bidonvilles
The post-war period did not emerge with any evident changes. Unlike the European experience of
bombing and destruction necessitating huge programmes of reconstruction and development, the urban
situation of Algiers seemed unchanged (Osmani, 1988). The same architects continued to produce the
same type of architecture and the city slowly expanded towards the south and southwest.
The year 1954 was a key date in the history of Algeria and specifically Algiers. An earthquake hit
Orleanville (today Chelef) destroying the city, ironically acting as a catalyst for a new approach just as
had the bombing in Europe. In the same year two political-economic determinants in the history of
modern Algeria emerged: the outbreak of the Algerian War of Liberation and the discovery of oil.
The 1950s saw a decisive reversal in the population growth. The Algerian population, a minority
until the beginning of the War of Liberation, experienced a major increase. In 1906 it represented no
more than 23 per cent of the total, by 1954 it made up 51.4 per cent of the whole population. Thus, in
one generation, the Algerian ‘re-conquest’ of the city occurred. The ‘population explosion’ was chiefly
the result of massive migration from the countryside, strongly felt after the war. The first newcomers
settled in the medina, ‘filling the funduks and wakalas (dormitories for itinerant merchants and
travellers in the early days) and then piling up in the existing structures’ (Abu-Lughod, 1976, p. 208).
The continuous pressure on dwellings led to the rapid overpopulation of the medina, which could no
longer absorb the accelerating rural flow. Most of the later migrants settled in spontaneous quarters,
consisting of self-built housing created using any available materials. These squatter settlements, which
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developed primarily on the periphery of the big cities and in some cases reached the heart of modern
quarters, were known as bidonvilles (shanty-towns).
In Algiers, there were only a few bidonvilles around the European quarters, whilst they mushroomed
in and around the Muslim quarters. As noted by Miege (1985, p. 178), ‘a high proportion of Algerians
lived in these bidonvilles, as opposed to half in the Casbah, ten per cent in Bab el Oued and less than 5
per cent spread over the remainder of the town’. The number of the Algerian population living in
bidonvilles jumped from 85,500 inhabitants in 1954 to 144,000 in 1962 (Institut Français
d’Architecture, 1984).
Thus, the number of bidonvilles increased dramatically, occupying unbuilt areas of the city and
many sloping sites. These scattered spots cramped the urban development of the city. To combat to this
spatial problem, the municipality worked out a programme for housing development in which two
separate operations were launched (Institut Français d’Architecture, 1984). The first concerned the
construction of new quarters for Europeans resembling the big housing estates in the outskirts of
French cities, though the green spaces and the different facilities originally planned were never realized.
The second operation was associated with the creation of cités de recasement for Algerians, in which
even minimal facilities required were not conceived – no asphalt for roads and footways, no facing for
façades and an area of just 30 to 35 m2 for any dwelling.
With the intensification of the War of Independence, the Constantine Plan was an ultimate attempt
by the French to retain their position in Algeria. ‘Attempts to re-house some of the occupants of the
bidonvilles during the last decade of the colonial rule as part of the counterinsurgency measures
adopted by the French, represented a classic case of too little too late’ (Lawless, 1979, pp. 84–85).
In 1959, a large-scale economic and social development plan was launched. It was the major cities,
which largely benefited from the investments of the Constantine Plan whose objectives
were twofold:
(a) The long term with a policy of regional planning, with special interest in the creation of new
industrial enterprises;
(b) The short term with development of housing estates for both French and Algerian populations.
The plan also developed a set of guidelines concerning the industrialization of the interior towns.
These industrial zones, which were conceived to accompany important housing programmes, formed
cordons sanitaires and remparts urbains so as to avoid the overpopulation of European urban centres
by rural migrants (Mutin, 1982).
The Constantine Plan was a short-lived programme due to the process of decolonization, which
began with Independence in 1962. Nevertheless, its legacies were strongly felt during the first decades
of Independence. Almost all the projects, which were not finished during the colonial period, were
completed later and the main objectives of the plan were, in general, respected in the post-colonial
development of Algerian cities. By the end of colonial rule, almost all the colonial cities showed the
same spatial organization: industrial zones, areas of social facilities, administrative sectors, and
commercial quarters (Deluz, 1980).
The extended growth of Algiers and the large, economic and social projects did not solve the
problem of housing shortage. On the contrary, the situation was worsened with the installation of
industry in the cities attracting more rural migrants.
On the eve of Independence the plan of Algiers showed three antithetical patterns:
(a) The dense urban fabric of the medina;
(b) The grid structure of European quarters;
(c) The scattered bidonvilles.
Çelik (2003) in her paper about Learning from the Bidonvilles reviews the work of CIAM-Alger in
1953. The team of architects founded in 1951, carried out a study on Algiers bidonvilles and presented
it at the Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). The study revealed some interesting
13
patterns that were used to propose guidelines at the settlement level for cheap housing for the
indigenous population. It was an interesting study that at the time was also fascinated by the social
patterns taking place in bidonvilles.
In summary, the medina of Algiers, unlike the pre-colonial cities in Tunisia and Morocco, was
subject to considerable physical and functional alteration and distortion. After a long period of
settlement, characterized by military intervention in which new streets were cut through the old urban
fabric, squares created and multi-storey apartment blocks erected replacing traditional houses, new
extensions occurred north and, especially, south of the old nucleus. The northern part of Bab el Oued
was developed as a semi-industrial sector populated chiefly by poor Europeans (Figure 1.8).
Figure 1.8: Spatial development of Algiers during the colonial period: 1830-1962
Source: Osmani, 2003
The southern expansion, Quartier d’Isly, constituted the first part of the ‘dual city’ in which the
main administrative and cultural activities were concentrated. A further development, which stretched
southwards and in which commercial functions were assembled, emphasized the dichotomy of the two
urban structures.
Several satellite quarters (for example, Belcourt, Hussein Dey, Kouba) were articulated around the
administrative and commercial centre. Each quarter embodied a central core of activities and European
residential areas. Around some of these urban units industrial activities developed, attracting migrants
from the countryside. Without any spatial organization, the newcomers settled in and around peripheral
quarters forming bidonvilles, the most enduring colonial legacy, impeding the spatial development of
the city towards the south and south-east. A system of streets, linear whenever possible, was
established to link the satellite quarters with the centre.
14
Post-Colonial Algiers
Having discussed colonial Algiers, the second part of this chapter will concentrate on the post-colonial
period. The city’s urban growth and development patterns are examined in order to assess the effects of
globalization on the city and the impact of globalization on local identity and urban and architectural
models.
Given that architecture and urban form are important elements that define local culture and identity,
emphasis will be on the influence of colonization on the globalization process of Algiers. There is no
doubt that colonization had tremendous effects on social and cultural perceptions of the colonized.
The aim here is to examine the post-colonial period through five stages that fortuitously fit within
decades, because most crucial events such as the 1965 coup d’état, the death of president Houari
Boumediene in 1978, dramatic decrease in oil revenues in 1986, and social unrest and terrorism since
1988, happened during the second half or at the end of each decade.
These are:
(a) Colonial continuity: 1960s
(b) The Socialist Period: 1970s
(c) The Transition Period: 1980s
(d) The Free Market Period: 1990s
(e) Algiers in the New Millennium.
Colonial Continuity: the 1960s
This period starts with the independence of Algeria in July 1962. City planning discourse at the time
concentrated on the renovation of the Casbah, the housing shortage due to rural migration, and the
bidonvilles.
Since the 1920s, the French were concerned with the need to house the Algerians. As a result, the
idea of Grands Ensembles (large projects) was born and housing projects started to appear in Algiers as
well as other cities in Algeria (Çelik, 1997, p. 131). (Figure 1.9) Algiers and its region became
important since 1959 when the Grand Alger idea was introduced and a new administrative entity that
manages the metropolis was established (GGA, ND, p. 8). The 1966 population census revealed that
there were about 500,000 people living in Algiers. Soon after Independence, more than 400,000
Europeans left Algiers, while, between 1966 and 1970, more than 440,000 people moved to Algiers
from neighbouring villages, and as a result Algiers quickly became saturated (GGA, ND, p. 7).
It was thought that the housing left by the French was going to be sufficient to meet the Algerian
population needs. This was also not the case as a large part of the Algerian population continued to live
in derelict housing for many years. In the whole of Algeria, more than 700,000 housing units changed
hands. While decent housing continued to be a major need for a large part of the population, the newly
established government was giving priority to economic development. Housing was not a priority for
almost a decade representing only 3.7 percent and 5.4 percent of public investment during the first and
second development plans respectively. (Chaline, 1990:93)
During the early years of Independence, the young and inexperienced Algerian government was
confronted by a multitude of problems ranging from political instability to the running of a new
country. This can be very well illustrated by the political struggle within the Algerian leadership that
culminated by the coup d’état of 1965, and the establishment of a new leadership headed by president
Houari Boumediene.
At that time, away from the political scene, the Casbah of Algiers was the embodiment of Algerian
cultural and local identity, and therefore needed special attention (Çelik, 1997, p. 185). Deluz (1988)
argues that post-colonial Algiers experienced two phases of urban development. The first phase lasted
until 1968 and was characterized by a straightforward adoption of colonial plans and projects namely
15
Constantine Plan. The second phase however concentrated on construction of new buildings and the
development of a master plan for Algiers. (Figure 1.10)
Figure 1.9:View towards the bay of Algiers and the Casbah
Source: Hadjri, 2003
Figure 1.10:Satellite View of parts of Algiers Centre, 2002
Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe, www.digitalglobe.com
Algiers outskirts were transformed by the amount of new buildings which architecture was
influenced by Le Corbusier’s ideas. During the 1950s and 1960s, architects such as Zehrfuss, Miquel
and Pouillon established a new chapter in the urban history of Algiers by creating new building
typologies. These appeared to be acceptable to the local population in terms of comfort but where out
of scale and did not fit very well within the existing urban fabric that was dominated by low-rise
buildings. However, housing projects designed by Pouillon such as Diar El Mahcoul, Diar Es Saada
and Climat de France, had a different impact on the urban tissue and outdoor spaces.
16
The Socialist Period: the 1970s
The plans devised during the end of 1960s aimed at stopping rural exodus, and the creation of
peripheral settlements around Algiers in order to establish the city as the capital of the country with all
government function. (Deluz, 1988; Çelik, 1997)
This period was better known as the country’s socialist era which experienced many projects such as
the Socialist Villages, large industrial projects, important facilities or urban landmarks (universities,
hospitals, government institutions), and housing through the ZHUN (Zone d’Habitat Urbaine
Nouvelle) or new urban housing areas.
The country also implemented the idea of industrialization by building large-scale factories and by
introducing prefabrication to the building industry particularly for the production of housing. Housing
continued to be the main source of concern and social malaise. Not only because of its shortage but
also its inadequacy. In addition, other problems were added to the daily struggle of most Algiers’
population, namely shortage of water, unemployment, lack of political freedom, poor services, and the
strengthening of religious groups (Çelik, 1997, p. 189; Hadjri, 1989).
During this decade, Algiers started to become a metropolis, particularly after the building of
important facilities such as le Palais des Nations, Hotel El Aurassi, and the Olympic Complex. (Figure
1.11)
Famous architects such as Oscar Niemeyer, Kenzo Tange, Skidmore and Fernand Pouillon were all
invited to design universities, and Ricardo Bofill was hired to design new housing projects. In addition,
there were cooperation agreements between Algeria and other states, such as the one that led to the
construction of La Foire d’Alger (Exhibition Hall), which was built with the help of the Chinese
government.
Oscar Niemeyer had probably the most impact on Algiers urban growth since he was involved in the
building of many large-scale projects such as universities and institutes (Bab Ezzouar and Faculty of
Law at, Ben Aknoun), and the Olympic complex 5th July. A great emphasis was given to educational
buildings particularly higher education therefore strengthening the capital position as a growing
metropolis with all services of international standing. His development plan for Algiers was followed
up by COMEDOR’s plan of 1975, which ensured a continuous urbanisation of Algiers peripheries.
Figure 1.11:View of Hotel El Aurassi
Source: Hadjri, 2003
Algiers then became the scene of important national and international events and gatherings. At the
same time, there were many unfortunate experiences, particularly those concerned with turnkey
projects that were faced with considerable technical and financial problems. In addition, the reliance on
foreign architects and construction expertise and labour particularly during the 1970s meant that risks
were great and results were generally unsuccessful. (Deluz, 1988, pp. 134–137)
17
In terms of planning tools, the creation, in 1968, of Comité Permanent d’Etude et d’Organisation du
Grand Alger (COMEDOR) to develop a plan for the development and planning of Algiers resulted in a
plan on Algiers’ urban structures achievable by 1985, which was later abandoned.
In 1975, the Plan d’Organisation General (POG) was adopted by decree. This aimed at developing
Algiers’ structure by the year 2000 and was the first attempt to create a major urban project for Algiers
in order to strengthen its image as a capital and a metropolis. Four years later, this plan suffered the
same fate as the previous one and was shelved. The Centre National d’Etudes et de Recherches
Appliquées en Urbanisme (CNERU) was asked to develop yet another plan for Algiers; the Plan
d’Urbanisme Directeur (PUD). As a result, Algiers experienced unplanned and chaotic development,
mainly guided by the interests of local and regional governments (GGA, ND).
By the end of the 1970s, Algiers’ colonial urban fabric was becoming overcrowded and deteriorated,
which led to the spreading out of its periphery and the growth of rural areas such as Mitidja and Sahel.
On the political scene, the death of president Houari Boumediene in 1978 brought up yet another
challenge to the leadership after thirteen years of stability and continuous economic and social
development.
The Transition Period: the 1980s
This decade was particularly critical because of the change in leadership after the death of president
Houari Boumediene. By the mid 1980s, there was a sharp drop in oil revenues that immediately
affected the purchasing power of the majority of the population, reduced employment opportunities,
and led to dramatic riots in October 1988.
The development of the Plan d’Urbanisme Directeur (PUD) took much of this decade. During the
first five years, a number of important projects were started: namely, many ZHUN areas, highways and
roads, renovation of Hamma area, the building of Riadh El Feth, and the allocation of plots for self-
building. The building of the Riadh El Feth (War memorial and shopping centre) was one of the
biggest urban renewal projects in Algeria and was completed in 1984. (Figure 1.12)
It is unfortunate that most of Algiers’ urban growth has taken place on agricultural land on the
peripheries. Little attention has been given to the rehabilitation of the Casbah and the colonial urban
fabric. The only attempt was that of the renovation of the Hamma district. Other renovation projects
were only small-scale urban in-fills (Hammache, 2000a, p. 13). (Figure 1.13)
The complex decision procedures and processes associated with the approval of the PUD by the
parties concerned meant that its implementation would only complicate and slow down the
development of the city. This was the view of the government that decided to ignore the plan and
instead allowed Algiers to develop in a piecemeal fashion thus causing anarchical developments in all
directions. This chaotic urbanization resulted in the creation of expensive, heterogeneous urban
settlements and the consumption of considerable areas of land (GGA, ND, p. 24).
Ait-Cherkit (2000a) presents a very critical view of modern urban planning in Algeria, which saw
the introduction of ZHUN as part of the PUD. He argues that these new zones, conceived as
independent housing areas, had to meet a maximum density of fifty apartments per hectare. This
resulted in the production of inflexible plan typologies and block configurations, which could only be
cheaply built using industrialized construction methods. This, of course, resulted in monotonous
housing environments without furnished open areas or adequate car parking spaces. Climatic and
cultural requirements were not considered thus leading to the production of even more inadequate and
inappropriate housing. Further, given that only limited public facilities are available, the housing
estates are completely deserted during the day. This situation is worsened when people that once
resided a bidonville or derelict area are relocated to these estates, therefore leading to social isolation
and exclusion and the spread of delinquency. (Hadjri, 1992)
18
Figure 1.12: Riadh El Feth and the Martyrs’ Memorial
Source: Hadjri, 2003
Figure 1.13: Hamma Twin Towers, part of the Renovation Project
Source: Hadjri, 2003
The need for more housing pushed the government to consider mass production in order to meet the
target of 100,000 units a year quickly. This saw the proliferation of many inadequate industrialized
construction systems that achieved the quantitative requirements, but produced expensive and
19
inadequate living environments (Hadjri, 1989). This figure was achieved only a few times due to many
problems associated with the building technology used, namely industrialized systems and turn-key
projects.
As a result, the government decided to encourage self-building in order to produce a noticeable
increase in housing numbers. Communes were involved in the subdivision of land available for
urbanization, and the building of the basic infrastructure. In parallel, considerable land speculation took
place and private agricultural land was subdivided and sold illegally leading to the building of illicit
housing. These new developments, whether legal or not, lacked the basic infrastructure, public
amenities and open spaces. In addition, their infrastructure, if completed, did not have the necessary
maintenance or improvement (Ait Cherkit, 2000b, p. 27).
Unfortunately, this is a pattern across Algerian cities due to lack of funding, mismanagement, and
ineffectiveness of some sectors within local public institutions such as the Communes.
The Free Market Period: the 1990s
This was a very disturbing decade in Algerian history, dominated by the rise of terrorism and political
instability. As a result, there were no noticeable urban renewal projects within Algiers apart from
localized small-scale development. However, by the end of this decade, Algiers was given a new status
to improve its image and to effectively guide its urban and economic growth.
The Plan d’Urbanisme Directeur (PUD), which took years to develop, was never adopted and was
replaced in 1990 by the Plan Directeur d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme (PDAU), which is currently
the only development tool available. The PUD was introduced in 1974 and was based on the French
urban legislation of the 1960s. It does not take into consideration the urban development as a changing
process influenced by other intangible factors, and assumes that most if not all urban interventions are
the responsibility of the government (Ait-Cherkit, 2000a, p. 21).
The PDAU introduced new measures such as respect for urban economies, ecological balance, and
the protection of natural and archaeological sites. It also states that size and location of new
construction should take into account existing buildings. Further, the plan stipulates that the State is not
the only actor involved in the creation of new urban environments, and it also identifies existing urban
fabrics in need of urban renewal (Ait-Cherkit, 2000a, p. 22).
A considerable amount of Algiers development was informal and uncontrolled, which resulted in a
shocking growth of the urban area: from 7,500 ha in 1970 to 25,000 ha in 1990. (GGA, ND, p. iv)
In addition, most of old the buildings in Algiers (Bab El Oued, Belouizdad, Al Madania) are in a
poor state, particularly the Casbah, which is overpopulated and in need of urgent action. These
neighbourhoods are restricting the social development of the population and encouraging the spread of
poverty. There are also many large formal and informal areas that have grown on the peripheries
including the new ZHUN. (Figure 1.14)
At the global level, it can be said that Algiers, with its decaying and inadequate built environment
and its anarchic urban development, is contributing to the increase of social discontent and spatial
segregation, a situation worsened by the lack of effective urban planning and development control.
(GGA, ND, p. 30)
Due to these factors and the political instability at the time, it was difficult for Algiers to change
from being a disorganized and unplanned metropolis into an international hub at the gate of Africa. It
was claimed that Algiers should establish an urban growth plan that would encourage expansion and
development at the metropolitan scale and not at the local (commune) scale as had been happening.
This growth had resulted in a clash of interests between the local authorities and a lack of funding, in
addition to unprecedented mismanagement, speculation and corruption. The idea was for Algiers to
attract national and international investment and become competitive during this era of free market and
tough competition. In this respect, Algiers needed to improve its urban infrastructure and public
amenities, resolve the access to national and regional institutions located in the city centre, and to start
considering the bay as an area for future development for public and commercial buildings.
20
Figure 1.14: Casbah derelict
Source: Hadjri, 2003
In order to implement the new planning strategies, a new institution called the Gouvernorat of
Algiers was created in 1997, and the idea to re-conquer the centre of Algiers was born. The new project
was called the Grand Projet Urbain (Large Urban Project). This consisted of the introduction of three
aspects:
A development scheme that would protect land use appropriation and the creation of new urban
centres to balance the metropolitan city;
The establishment of a new agency called Agence d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme (Agency for
Planning and Urbanism) to ensure a harmonious and lasting urban development strategy;
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to improve management and decision-
making and obtain up-to-date information.
Planning strategies of the 1990s were proposing the establishment of a green belt around the city to
control its urban extension and offer open space for recreation and sport.
21
In fact, the Gouvernorat of Algiers established a new urban planning policy, which centred around
six objectives:
The Grand Projet Urbain, with emphasis on economic development;
Valorization of neighbourhoods;
Re-launch of the urban economy;
Strengthening of road and other infrastructure;
Preservation and protection of the environment;
Modernization of public institutions. (GGA, ND, p. 47; Hammache, 2000b, p. 30)
It was clear that Algiers felt the need for a substantial change in its planning and development in
order to reach the level of a regional metropolis. It is interesting to note that the city played a more
international role in the 1970s than it did in the 1980s and 1990s, and this despite the globalization
effect that many cities in the Mediterranean and Africa have experienced during the last three decades.
The internationalisation of the economy and the introduction of free markets, had not affected Algiers
either as a global or metropolitan city (GGA, ND, p. 53). Indeed, while Algiers could easily have
become the hub or headquarters for many international companies, and a venue for international and
regional events, instead internationalisation passed the city by.
In order to overcome this problem, the new administration attempted to strengthen the city’s role by
attributing it three new functions, which are a) metropolitan functions; b) international functions; and
c) valorisation of cultural, scientific and technological functions.
Six major urban projects were then suggested as follows:
(a) The Casbah and La Marina quarter, the colonial urban fabric within the city centre, and the
seaport were to become a central urban area with commercial emphasis. Special attention would
be given to the port to integrate it into the city through new economic activities, recreational
spaces and functions, transportation and fishing;
(b) To identify specific location(s) for a business centre(s);
(c) To combine existing universities with recreational activities;
(d) To develop a tourism activity and recreation centre or axis;
(e) To improve the western sea front in order to strengthen its tourism attraction;
(f) To develop a national and international business centre west of Algiers. (Hammache, 2000b, p.
30) (Figure 1.15)
22
Figure 1.15: Algiers Plan
Source: (will be redrawn in colours)
It can be said that the emphasis of the new urban projects was economic and recreational; economic
in the sense that tourism should be introduced in some areas and strengthened in others at the same
time as the establishment of business centres. However, these objectives fell short of their expected
outcome due to recurring political and financial complications. Algiers thus remained an incomplete
metropolis like many other cities of the developing world. These cities have experienced a fast and
largely uncontrolled urbanization process, and are unable to offer the necessary public amenities due to
lack of financial resources and poor organizational planning.
Algiers in the New Millennium
Algiers, apart from spreading beyond its established urban perimeter, has shown a considerable delay
in meeting its population’s needs in terms of public services such as transportation and housing supply.
Current estimates show that the city has a population of around 2,600,000 distributed within fifty-seven
communes. Algiers has experienced a population increase of about half a million every decade.
Designation RGPH 1966 RGPH 1977 RGPH 1987 RGPH 1998
Algiers 10 communes 13 communes 28 communes 28 communes
Inhabitants 943,551 1,353,826 1,507,241 1,585,609
Gouvernorat of
Algiers (57
communes)
1,094,851 1,641,521 2,015,374 2,562,428
Table 1: Population Growth within Algiers
(Source: Evolution des Agglomerations 1966-1977-1987, Collections Statistiques no. 38 ONS, June 1992; RGPH
1998 Preliminary Results, ONS bulletin no. 270)
23
The Gouvernorat d’Alger created in 1997 aimed at turning Algiers into an international metropolis
by strengthening its role regionally and internationally. This was particularly encouraging given that
Algiers’ geo-strategic location should enable it become an important destination linking the Arab
world and Africa to Europe and the Mediterranean region. Why this has not been achieved is a
complex matter that can be linked to several reasons, which are discussed below.
Algiers growth has been the result of a combination at least three factors:
(a) A dramatic increase in its population. Table 1 above shows the increase in population over the
last four decades;
(b) Increased economic activity particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, which saw the building of
important industrial installations; and
(c) Algiers’ status as capital of the country, which meant that all the institutional and government
facilities are located within the city, therefore requiring more infrastructure (Hammache, 2000a,
p. 12).
The Gouvernorat d’Alger was suspended in 2000 by the new President of the Republic, who
claimed that its creation was anti-constitutional, since it was functioning like a ministry, with the
Governor acting as a minister for Algiers. As a result, the Wilaya of Algiers took over as the sole
administrative and political decision-maker. These consecutive changes in management and decision-
making have been counterproductive and only slowed down the development of the city and its
establishment as an important metropolis in the area.
The EPAU & SIAAL study (2000) concluded that the Grands Projets initiative would not be
successful unless Algiers’ urban fabric has evolved. The study compared Algiers with a number of
European cities in order to develop some performance criteria. It concluded by setting out a number of
recommendations at both regional and urban levels. At the regional level, the emphasis was on
environmental planning and land registry and control. At the urban level, the study stressed the
importance of improving economic activity, strengthening the image of the city, improving the existing
urban fabric and promoting tourism.
Algiers and its metropolitan region have grown incoherently around a potentially efficient vehicular
network. This network, which seems to work at the city level, has never been effectively connected at
the neighbourhood level. This is due to considerable urban development characterized by the fact that
ZHUN estates and spontaneous and anarchic constructions are all disconnected and inadequately laid
out. As a result, a considerable amount of land is wasted, and the road network is fragmented and
inefficient.
Figure 1.16: View of Algiers centre
Source: Hadjri, 2003
24
The current decrease of interest in public health, which is illustrated by the increasing lack of
cleanliness (little rubbish collection), that Algiers is experiencing, shows a clear institutional
disorganization, added to complex social and cultural transformations. In addition, the state of decay of
the colonial built environment could have been brought about by overcrowding and its inability to
accommodate this. (De Ameyar, 2002).
It was hoped that the globalization of the economy, and the increased flow of ideas and information
and, to a lesser degree in the case of Algeria, investment, would help achieve these goals.
Unfortunately, there are still considerable administrative and political hurdles and complications
blocking or discouraging the coming of foreign capital and investment.
The Casbah Challenge:
Another agonizing problem facing Algiers nowadays is the rehabilitation of the Casbah. Once a
symbol of resistance to occupation and later a place of art and responsive architecture and planning, it
has now fallen to a state of neglect and attracted large numbers of temporary informal settlers whose
only aim is to obtain decent accommodation elsewhere.
The Casbah of Algiers is a national historic monument that, in 1990, was classified by UNESCO as
a World Heritage site, therefore putting pressure on the Algerian authorities to restore it and avoid its
destruction. As a result, a number of attempts have been made to rehabilitate the site to its former
magnificence. (Figures 1.17 & 1.18)
In addition, post-colonial urban development concentrated on the improving and expanding the
colonial built environment, and somehow abandoned the Casbah. Original building owners, some of
whom belonged to the old bourgeoisie, decided to leave the Casbah for better and more prosperous
areas.
In 1962, the Casbah had 1,700 buildings, of which 1,200 were vernacular houses. In 1992, the
Casbah had about 1,000 historic houses, which can be restored, and at least 750 buildings in need of
urgent intervention. During the last thirty years, more than 250 vernacular houses were demolished,
and 450 were evacuated and isolated as ruins. About 50 houses were restored, and 200 are in a dire
state of repair due to neglect and overcrowding (GGA, ND, pp. 86–87). Since the authorities were
resolving the Casbah’s rehabilitation in a very technical manner, by emptying the buildings in order to
restore them and therefore re-housing the inhabitants, this resulted in people moving into demolished
houses in order to be given a new flat. This, of course, complicated the restoration process and created
serious setbacks to the several attempts to revive the site.
Figure 1.17:Satellite View of parts of Casbah, 2002
Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe, www.digitalglobe.com
25
Figure 1.18: Views of Casbah
Source: Hadjri, 2003
Unfortunately most actions taken so far have failed to achieve their goals despite the will of the
institutions and NGOs involved. This has been partly due to the lack of participation of the inhabitants,
which led to a feeling of disappointment and frustration on the part of those involved. It is clearly a
complicated case of both trying to restore an important cultural heritage and to find decent
accommodation for the inhabitants (GGA, ND, p. 86).
This has been further complicated by a growing sense of frustration of the inhabitants towards the
authorities and the government and was the scene of violent clashes particularly during the 1990s. The
state of repair of the whole site continues to deteriorate, adding to increasingly filthy conditions that
have become a serious threat to public health. It is in fact very difficult to move around with all the
refuse that is lying everywhere. It seems as if the inhabitants have reached a state of hopelessness and
no longer care even about their well-being. There is also an increase in social problems and
delinquency, due to the fact that the youth who live there have little chance to access an educational
system that has become increasingly inaccessible. In addition, the area has one of the highest
population densities in Algiers, which is about 1,600 inhabitants per hectare, almost double the
permissible rate.
Furthermore, the economic development of the Casbah is insignificant, given the lack of interest by
both Algiers’ business class and the Casbah’s inhabitants in setting up businesses there. This has been
further complicated by the disappearance of traditional craftsmanship in the area (GGA, ND, p. 88).
During the last decade, a growing number of people resorted to informal trading (contraband) and
criminal organizations that trade in currencies and prohibited products. In addition, there is the
emergence of child labour owing to the growing number of children dropping out of school and the
lack of social and recreational activities within the neighbourhood. Overcrowding (6 to 12 people per
room) is another important factor that is keeping children outdoors for very long periods of time.
The Gouvernorat d’Alger proposed a number of measures for the rescue of the Casbah as part of its
Grand Projet Urbain:
(a) To reduce the population density by moving out at least 5,000 inhabitants;
(b) To preserve the existing open spaces;
26
(c) To introduce local urban businesses;
(d) To promote the rehabilitation of arts and crafts activities and businesses that should benefit the
Casbah and ensure its sustainability;
(e) To develop a policy that will take into account the youth and offer them opportunities for
employment and vocational training;
(f) To offer opportunities to delinquents for reintegration into normal life.
It is therefore stressed that the Casbah of Algiers should be rehabilitated both physically and socially.
The mere renovation of its physical condition will not improve its reputation and attract national and
international visitors and investors unless the social and cultural problems are tackled and resolved in
full.
The earthquake that shook Algiers area in May 2003 has revived the discourse on the
responsibilities of the local authorities and the purpose of building control, as it appeared that old
buildings stood much better the earthquake than the new ones. New housing built by cooperatives and
individual builders were reduced to rubble. The architectural profession has also been put to the test
and criticised for failing to address critical issues facing Algerian cities, for producing inadequate
building forms, and for the lack of involvement in the improvement of building quality and safety.
(Boudaoud, A., 2003)
This is yet another challenge to be added to the complex list of problems facing Algiers
development and growth control. It is a wake up call for the Algerian government, the local authorities
and the urban and architectural professions. It is time Algiers compares itself to successful African and
Arab cities that were able to establish themselves as regional hubs by attracting businesses and
ensuring a sustainable economic and social development.
At the metropolis level, there are urgent needs such as more adequate housing, public amenities,
public transportation such as the Metro, and even a new airport. In addition, the Casbah renovation
project should be effectively addressed and quickly implemented, otherwise the continuous decay and
abuse that is taking place in the Casbah will only speed up its disappearance.
27
Conclusion
The Algerian colonial enterprise was founded on a double conviction: the superiority of the Western
civilization and the inferiority of the indigenous civilization. This conviction justified the substitution
of ‘modern’ European planning, based upon regularity and large perspectives, onto a spatial
organization considered chaotic and anarchic. Thus, with colonization, a spatial upheaval occurred
leading to the imposition of the European city on the old pre-colonial structures, which gradually
suffocated under alien planning and architectural concepts.
As the colonial capital of Algeria, Algiers underwent the most profound transformation in its basic
functions and structures. Within this scope Algiers’ colonial urban history saw five dominant periods,
during which it evolved from a medium-sized North African medina, to an African metropolis.
The analysis above shows that the first decade of colonial rule in Algiers was a period of uncertainty.
The political status of colonial Algeria was not clearly defined and the French were still wondering
whether to settle. The French did not originally consider the possibility of creating a new urban
structure next to the pre-existing urban fabric, which was typical of French colonization in other
countries. The destruction of various parts of the Casbah, when vast sites outside the walls existed,
upon which it would have been easy to construct, reflected the military character of the intervention.
The first spatial modifications took place in the lower, relatively flat, pre-colonial city. Hence, a Place
d’Armes was created to allow the gathering and parades of troops. Many streets were straightened and
widened and various buildings were transformed and adapted for new needs. For a long time, military
zones were spatial hindrances to the development of the city. No civil constructions were allowed
outside the walled city and the army monopolized the flat sites. The result was an incoherent policy
leading to a continual conflict between the concept of Algiers as a military centre and the idea of
developing the city into a commercial emporium.
The transformation of the conquest into colonization attracted new immigrants who settled in the
‘Westernized’ part of the Casbah, almost depopulated of its Muslim citizens. New living spaces were
urgently needed. A first spatial expansion of the city occurred with the construction of new ramparts
and a new layout of streets characterized by large arteries connecting the Casbah and the newly
developed European quarter. The arcaded Boulevard de la Republique was incontestably the apex of
the large axes, conceived as a continuous perspective. With its monumental façades, it became a
symbol of colonial Algiers for the people coming by sea from France reassuring them of being home.
In fact it was only an architectural screen hiding uncontrolled development behind.
The linking of the two urban fabrics required the opening up of new streets and squares inside the
old core. Military institutions dominated the flat sites within the intramural city. Thus, the available
land for city expansion was limited, forcing the civil authorities gradually to destroy the old city in
order to rebuild it to meet their new needs. It resulted in contiguity of the two types of space. This
confrontation though carried out through violent processes, by destruction and population transfers,
could not overcome the original Casbah and the French, therefore, were contented to conserve, but
dominate it.
Three main features characterized the urban development of Algiers between 1880 and 1914. Firstly,
the success of viticulture in Algeria generated considerable wealth. Funds, insufficient during the
preceding decades, became abundant giving an impulse to the process of urbanization in the whole
colony. Secondly, many military sites were given to the city allowing its expansion southwards.
Thirdly, there was the tendency towards the gradual displacement of the urban centre, from its original
location, southwards to the new European quarters. Gradually, the Casbah of Algiers was emptied of
its original functions and then of its position as an urban centre, becoming a marginal quarter,
dilapidated and crowded with an indigenous proletarian population. An important number of the
wealthy Algerians abandoned the Casbah to live in other new European quarters.
In contrast to what happened in French cities in the late eighteenth century, where sites available
after the destruction of the medieval fortifications were used to create a peaceful area between the old
nucleus and the new urban development, those of Algiers became building-yards invaded by
speculators and constructors.
28
The period between the two World Wars can be best summarized as the ‘ruralization’ of cities.
Rural and nomadic people were squeezed off their land and flocked to the city of Algiers where no
provision had been made for them. The Casbah which traditionally represented a balanced social and
economic milieu, tended to become a social ghetto for proletarian and rural people. In the 1930s,
Algiers saw a rapid and extensive increase of the Muslim population, worsening the process of
urbanization. The high population growth created a drastic housing shortage. Migrants from the
countryside who could not find living spaces inside the Casbah, started to construct their own shelters
on unbuilt areas, mostly on sloping sites. These spontaneous houses, which did not follow either the
Casbah’s pattern or the European model, formed bidonvilles, which gradually ringed the city.
In short, Algiers ‘dilated’ from a single core, the Casbah, to a complex conglomerate of urban
units, stretching out in a long curve along the coastline. It is clear from the information discussed so far
that Algiers has all the potential to be one of the most important metropolises in the region, but needs
to strengthen its urban planning and management institutions and implement a project that would raise
it to that level.
The second part of this chapter discussed post-colonial urban transformations of Algiers, and
revealed that the city needs to strengthen its urban development policies and implement them
effectively. It is believed that the planning tools are available, but only need to be used with the right
instruments to ensure that the city grows under control by tackling existing urban issues. There are
many challenges facing Algiers particularly the safeguard of the Casbah, but at the same time, Algiers
needs to improve its infrastructure, provide more housing, and public facilities and ensure a sustainable
economic and social development for its population.
In order for Algiers to achieve its goal of becoming a regional metropolis, there is a need to meet the
following requirements:
(a) To decide on an efficient urban planning and management tool, which should have as a priority
the establishment of Algiers as a regional metropolis in the western Mediterranean region;
(b) To produce a heritage conservation policy that should ensure the rehabilitation of the Casbah
which is a World Heritage site in need of urgent intervention;
(c) To carry out urban renewal within the colonial neighbourhoods that are becoming derelict;
(d) To improve the city’s transportation facilities (road infrastructure, public transportation, seaport
and airport facilities);
(e) To complete the new airport to allow an increase in numbers of visitors and to offer more
comfortable facilities;
(f) To improve the financial institutions by the strengthening of the banking system and facilities;
(g) To encourage foreign investment and joint ventures, particularly to re-establish its tourism
industry by building, for instance hotels, and leisure centres;
(h) To promote the city in regional and international events by offering its services (financial,
administrative, transportation, cultural, tourism etc.);
(i) To produce an environmental protection act with the necessary implementation measures and
means that should protect the environment and public health.
In addition, educational aspects related to sustainability, cleanliness and hygiene, and anti-social
behaviour and crime targeting public and private properties as well as citizens should be addressed.
On the other hand, it interesting to note that globalization did not affect Algiers in the way it did in
other African and Arab conurbations. Algiers has retained its ‘corner shop’ culture and did not open
fully its doors to multi-nationals and the movement of capital. In addition, tourism never really
blossomed in either Algiers or the rest of Algeria for many reasons, which has greatly contributed to
the decline of the Casbah and the poor financial facilities.
Algiers continues to grow as a group of large independent neighbourhoods rather than as a global
entity. The city needs to concentrate on its global urban development and management, the protection
of the Casbah, and the sanitation of the natural and built environments. Global urbanism has also
29
affected the development of Algiers, which has been complicated by the fact that basic population’s
needs such as transportation and housing have not been resolved so far by the city’s urban development.
The lack of reliable information about the city’s urbanization and its assessment is one of the major
causes for concern. This is primarily because scarcity of funds and political instability have led to a
shortage of resources that should be allocated for research and consulting studies.
From Gouvernorat d’Alger to the Wilaya of Algiers, it is hoped that the new administration will
attempt to strengthen the city’s image and would ensure that the capital will regain its regional and
international reputation, and become an attractive destination for investors and visitors alike.
30
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