Demolitions along Casablanca’s future Royal Avenue are set to resume next month, with 60% of the buildings covered by the clearance and expropriation program already brought down.
Around 15,000 buildings are concerned overall, including informal housing and structures deemed unsafe, sources with knowledge of the project told Le360.
The new round will push ahead with the clearance needed for a project that has been on the books since 1989 and is now targeted for completion in 2029.
Before work on the avenue itself can begin, several property and technical issues still have to be settled.
Sidi Belyout District Council president Kenza Chraibi said authorities are completing the transfer of some properties, private roads and passages to the municipality, alongside other legal and technical procedures.
From Oued El Makhazine Square to Hassan II Mosque
The Royal Avenue is expected to run across 50 to 57 hectares between Oued El Makhazine Square and Hassan II Mosque, with gardens and open spaces making up a major part of the project.
Exactly what it will look like is still being worked out.
The final urban plan and model have yet to be approved, municipal sources told Le360, with architects still working on the design.
The demolitions have so far reached several derbs in the Old Medina, including Derb Lengliz, Mouha Ousaid, Derb Rmad, Derb El Haidaoui, Nezala, Derb Khalifa and Derb Boutouil.
Two-thirds of 2,000 families rehoused
Of 2,000 families identified in the current operation, around two-thirds have already been rehoused or compensated, Chraibi said.
Those covered by the program have been offered apartments in Nassim, Dar Bouazza or Lissasfa, or direct compensation of MAD 100,000.
The latest demolition drive follows the MAD 2 billion agreement approved by the Casablanca Municipal Council in September 2025 to get the decades-old project moving again.
سعيد بوشريط
Under that agreement, Sonadac properties are to pass to the municipality free of charge, with the associated debts cancelled.
CDG is financing the wider rehousing program, which covers nearly 16,000 families and 2,500 business premises, while Casablanca Housing and Equipment Company is handling clearance and rehousing.
The company was given 18 months to complete the demolition program.
