Spatial Disparities: An Approach to Reveal “Hidden Areas” to Territorial Development in the Marrakech-Safi Region—Morocco
Salima Salhi, Said Boujrouf, Abdelali Gourfi. Spatial Disparities: An Approach to Reveal “Hidden Areas” to Territorial Development in the Marrakech-Safi Region—Morocco. Springer, 2023, Key Challenges in Geography, pp.195-214. ⟨10.1007/978-3-031-21614-5_10⟩. ⟨hal-04005535⟩
At the global level, the issue of combating spatial inequalities is the subject of considerable debate and public interest. However, the consideration of the local level in the measurement of regional disparities is often neglected. The objective of this work is to study spatial inequalities in Morocco using the case of the Marrakech-Safi region. To do so, the different indices of multidimensional territorial development (IDTM) were collected (level of education, economic activity, health status, housing condition, living environment and distribution of social services). A statistical analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a Hierarchical Ascending Classification (HAC) was carried out, thereafter, in order to understand and bring out the existing relationship between the different deficits. We also used the GIS tool to process and represent the results obtained. These results reveal the existence of a strong spatial disparity at the communal and provincial levels. A strong relationship is noted between two indices that show a large deficit, the one related to “standard of living” and the one related to “education”, “housing” and “social services”. The deficit in the education index also conditions the deficit in “social services” and “housing”. Several factors influence the values of these indices. It should be noted that the areas with the highest level of disparities are the territories where the natural obstacle is more important, such as in the mountainous areas of the Western High Atlas, suffering from a lack of water resources and deficient in terms of road accessibility. The results obtained could be mobilized by the various actors and especially the public authorities to carry out more effective actions for the territorial development of the studied areas. The method used in this study could also be useful as a practical scientific approach for other regions of Morocco.