The Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohammedia "History stream" organized, on May 23 and 24 with the support of the Laboratory of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage and that of comparative historical studies of urban phenomena in Morocco, a national symposium on the city of Mohammedia around the theme: "From the Kasbah of Fedala to the urban and industrial hub with strategic dimensions". According to the participants in this event, the representative of the Minister of Housing, Urban Planning and Urban Policy, the president of the Hassan II-Mohammedia-Casablanca University, the dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohammedia, professors and researchers, "the city should develop, keep its identity and integrate into its regional dimension". It is a question today of building a city with unified projects that take into account its specificities and that encompass all facets of daily life. "The urban space has undergone profound changes since Independence with increased demographics and accelerated urbanization, which has given Mohammedia a predominant place as an actor of development," they indicated. For them, the city has changed and is no longer an annex of Casablanca.
It now has a dimension, a weight, and many potentialities. At the beginning of the century, Fedala, which passed for being the weekly Souk of the Zenata tribes, only had a few hundred inhabitants who lived inside the Kasbah, whose walls housed the grain warehouses of the Tamesna region installed in 1773 by Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah. The latter also built the White Mosque. In 1912, with the participation of French capital, Fedala was to see the establishment of a core of modern industries, notably agri-food. The rapid growth of the city began around the port, which allowed for the development of several industries. But the boom that the city's port experienced came from the choice made as early as 1933 by several large oil companies for the import of their products into Morocco.
The creation in 1960 of the Samir Refinery gave a saving pace to the development of Mohammedia, a dynamic economic hub, the energy heart of Morocco, a choice seaside resort, and a city for sustainable development.
Today, Mohammedia has several vocations.
Question A: Prof. Rachida Nafaa, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohammedia
"For a hundred years, Fedala, the city with several vocations, has not ceased to metamorphose"
What is the objective of this symposium?
First of all, I would like to recall that the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Mohammedia has always accompanied the dynamics of spatial, social, and economic development and change in Mohammedia and its suburbs. This year, our researchers are seizing the opportunity of the major changes that Morocco is experiencing, in order to analyze, follow, and comment on these changes.
In this context, that of a new Constitution, a new government, a new policy, and social fragility, the departments of Geography and History, supported by other researchers from related specialties, are conducting reflections on social solidarity, the solutions for Mohammedia to become this territory that ensures the well-being of its inhabitants. For a hundred years, Fedala, a city with several vocations, has not ceased to metamorphose, to change, and to multiply its vocations. In this symposium on May 23, the speakers: geographers, historians, sociologists, and literary scholars debated around all the facets of a city rich in assets. Of course, the work that will be presented will quickly see the light of day as a written work.
