Modern city, broken roads: Casablanca’s great paradox

Sunday 05 October 2025 - 14:00

By: Sahili Aya

Modern city, broken roads: Casablanca’s great paradox

While Morocco’s economic capital aspires to be a showcase of modernity, its deteriorating roads reveal the cracks in its urban management.

Residents across several neighborhoods of Casablanca — including its most affluent areas — are voicing frustration over the state of the city’s road infrastructure. Gaping potholes, uneven asphalt, poorly designed sidewalks, and chaotic speed bumps tarnish the image of a city that promotes itself as “modern” and “smart.”

Many locals also decry the unequal distribution of road rehabilitation efforts. Major boulevards and main avenues often receive regular upgrades, while secondary streets and alleys remain in deplorable condition, waiting indefinitely for repairs.

In Aïn Diab, for instance — one of Casablanca’s most iconic seaside districts — residents lament roads that fail to reflect the area’s prestige. Narrow lanes, potholes, and irregular speed bumps are the daily reality, even in this tourist hotspot.

Adding to the frustration is the problem of illegal parking practices. Across the city, orange cones and cement-filled bottles are used by individuals to “reserve” parking spaces, a phenomenon that has become both widespread and tolerated.

Speaking to H24Info, Said Mouhtadi, president of the national association Sanad for Social Justice, criticized what he described as misguided spending priorities.
“Authorities allocate funds to repave roads that were already repaired a few months or years ago, while other neighborhoods continue to suffer,” he said.

Regarding the spread of speed bumps, Mouhtadi reminded that their installation is technically illegal: “The law considers them an obstruction to traffic. Only commune presidents have the authority to mandate their removal through administrative police.”

He added that unregulated speed bumps have caused numerous accidents, particularly involving motorcyclists.
Exceptions exist only near schools, hospitals, and centers for people with reduced mobility — but even then, regulations require that they not exceed 2–3 centimeters in height and that they ensure vehicle safety.

Mouhtadi also pointed to open manholes and deep potholes as hazards that fall under the direct responsibility of local communes, which hold the legal mandate to fix them.