Landscope
In collaboration with Romain Laval
Morocco's 3,500-kilometre coastline, spanning the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, is rich in sand, which constitutes its seabed, beaches, and dunes. This coastal zone, as natural capital, is a key asset to the nation's economy, where tourism, among other sectors, relies heavily on these natural ecosystems. In 2001, King Mohammed VI launched "Vision 2010," a plan involving a significant reordering of governmental priorities. It included constructing six new seaside resorts and mobilizing human capital to accommodate a projected doubling of tourist arrivals to an estimated 9.28 million by 2010. Following its partial success, "Vision 2020" was introduced, aiming to attract 20 million visitors and expand hotel capacity to 375,000 beds by the decade's end. Ironically, this economic strategy simultaneously identified sand as a key tourist attraction while depending heavily on it as a primary component for construction.
Sand in Morocco has been subject to appropriation by diverse sectors, including environmental protection initiatives, infrastructure and transport development, urban planning, and tourism. Until late 2014, the absence of a specific legislative framework to protect the Moroccan coastline, compounded by traditional economic performance metrics that prioritized produced and human capital, frequently led to the neglect of this vital natural capital.
Since 2015, Moroccan law has physically defined the coastal zone as an area extending 100 meters inland from the high-water mark and 12 nautical miles offshore. This zone is now governed by legal texts affording it a degree of protection. However, despite this legislative framework, no single, dedicated managing entity for the coastline has been established. Instead, the use and definition of the Moroccan coastline continue to be dictated by the needs of various sectors, with sand as their common, heavily exploited denominator.
​
Guidance by Martina Muzi
​
Research project for GEO-DESIGN SAND, from March 2020 to October 2020,
Exhibition in Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
​
​
