Thesis supervisors
: Taoufik Souami, Pierre-Arnaud Barthel
Urbanization in Tunisia has continued to grow, resulting in territorial imbalances and the establishment of a planning system whose limitations have been the subject of several studies. It is in this context that, less than two decades ago, strategic planning began to be introduced into urban action in Tunisia under the term "City Development Strategy" (CDS). The aim is to define a vision for the city that is broken down into strategic objectives and whose implementation will be ensured by concrete actions. The development of these SDVs involves various stakeholders (public actors, civil society, experts, etc.) and takes into account different dimensions (spatial, economic, social, etc.).
Based on the cases of Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, and Jendouba, two of which were developed before the Tunisian Spring and the other two after, this thesis proposes to test the hypotheses treating these SDVs as reflections of changes in governance.
We examined the four strategic planning processes in Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, and Jendouba through five areas of investigation: the international dimension of SDVs, how they were developed, the study of representations, organizational structures, and finally practices.
This work led us to three main conclusions. First, our analyses allowed us to conclude that the four processes studied reveal continuities with certain modes of urban planning that already exist in Tunisia and relativize the impact of the "Tunisian Spring" on urban planning practices. Second, our analyses also led us to conclude that the four case studies reflect transformations that have only affected specific aspects of urban planning methods and specific areas of application. Finally, the third result of our research showed that the four case studies (including those designed before the "Tunisian Spring") brought about a renewal of urban planning in Tunisia and were the source of changes at several levels of urban governance.
Keywords:
strategies, cities, Tunisia, urban planning, Arab Spring, governance, municipality, international organization.
Thesis defense on Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Composition of the jury
Taoufik Souami (Director)
Pierre-Arnaud Barthel (Co-director)
Ali Bennasr (Rapporteur)
Eric Verdeil (Rapporteur)
Martine Drozd (Examiner)
Pascale Philifert (Examiner)
Nora Semmoud (Examiner)
Year of thesis registration
: 2014
Doctoral school
: VTT – City, Transportation, and Territories