By the end of the year, the city of Smara is expected to be the 4th city in the Moroccan South declared slum-free, according to the Al Omrane-Al Janoub development holding.

Smara, the cultural capital of the Southern provinces, is striving to improve its urban and architectural landscape in order to promote the living conditions of its inhabitants. In this context, this locality should be declared in the coming months of the current year as the 4th slum-free city in the Moroccan South.

Launched in 2008 by the Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and Spatial Development, the national "Slum-Free Cities" programme concerns five thousand families, 4,800 of whom live in the Lakuiz and Rbib districts in Smara, and plans to eradicate all forms of substandard housing and create a real estate market capable of meeting the needs induced by population growth and the development of the urban fabric.

Smara is also seeing the launch of several projects focusing on the qualification of several districts, the construction of roads, paving, public lighting, sidewalk development, and drinking water and liquid sanitation projects, at a cost of 32 million DH.

These projects are designed as a continuation of the achievements accomplished in the region, which have had the effect of accelerating the pace of other projects undertaken in the various fields of economic and social development, thus placing the region in a continuous dynamic, dedicated to the progress and well-being of the populations of this part of the Kingdom that is dear to us.

As a reminder, the city of Laâyoune was the first city in the Moroccan South to be declared a slum-free city in July 2008 after the completion of the eradication operations of the Al-Wahda camps and existing slums and the definitive relocation of their residents. The inhabitants of these camps benefited from equipped plots of land of 108 to 120 m2 and financial support to build their new homes within housing estates that included the planning of several local facilities (schools, hospitals, and other social and administrative facilities).

Dakhla joined Laâyoune on the list of slum-free cities in 2010, one month after Boujdour, which was added to this list after the relocation of more than 5,000 families.