The clichés of life in Morocco are as bountiful and manifold as the country’s diverse landscapes of this North African country: they include mysterious snake charmers, beautiful women in elaborate dresses, sapient story-tellers, courageous fishermen, colorful labyrinths of ancient market lanes inviting the visitor to wander and get lost, and the images of Casablanca, a city made world famous by Hollywood.
While there may be a pinch of truth in all stereotypes, the reality of today’s life in Morocco at times looks very far from the one suggested by these clichés. After all, Morocco is an emerging country challenged by its embrace of modernity set against not wanting to lose hold of its traditions and heritage. And it is a country characterized by rapid urbanization, with everything that goes with it: for some surely the opportunities and amenities of modern life, but for many people also the traffic, costs, pollution and dangers typical of big urban agglomerations.
As the series “Maroc Habitat” shows, urbanization has irreversibly changed the appearance of the Moroccan landscape, with humans being protagonists and bystanders at the same time.
