Which urban development for Algiers far from oil dependency?

The development strategy for the Wilaya of Algiers, defined in its Master Plan was approved in December 2016. The very principle of development in the territorial model already outlined a solution oriented towards the reorganization of traffic according to a principle of macro-mesh structuring a new poly-centrality. The localization of these new centralities was made on the basis of the old historical fabrics, scattered centralities but already loaded with a heritage and a considerable lived experience. At the nodes of this network, the place of these centralities, exchange hubs have been programmed. Thus, all the conditions are met so that in a second step, in terms of details, the city of Algiers can opt for a Transit-Oriented Development TOD that makes Algiers an attractive and competitive territory. By an analysis of the contents of the policy orientations of the PDAU (masterplan) of Algiers, a participative observation of the actions carried out by the city of Algiers, one will identify the goals already achieved and the risky deviations for the development strategy plan. One will also show that the TOD solution is the easiest if not the only one and that all the legal and strategic conditions are met to facilitate the transition to detailed development plans. First, one will highlight what were the challenges and the goals to achieve on the one hand and the ambitions displayed for Algiers because the two visions, on what the past requires and the future aspires to, contribute to the same prospective diagnosis with the following goals: - Zero downgraded agricultural land - Poly-centrality - Mobility - Urban renewal and densification - the territory as a resource instead of the oil rent - Rehabilitation and even development of the ecological structure - etc. Then we will discuss the the achievements of the project of Algiers 2035. In particular, the network of mobility at the scale of the territory and the creation of exchange poles (hubs) at the level of the nodes of this network. The hierarchy of these exchange poles has been rigorously detailed. All the conditions for transit-oriented development are already contained in the Algiers Masterplan. Finally, one will discuss why the transition from exchange hubs [1] to Transit-Oriented Development [2&3] and densification accompanied by a Pedestrian-Oriented Development [4] planning principle is the solution for a more competitive territory designed for a post-oil era. Algiers is in the process of launching detailed land use plan studies on the one hand and operations to set up exchange hubs on the other hand without reference to the regulations in force and this is very damaging for the future of Algiers. One will finally conclude on the need to think of sewing up the territory for a better use for pedestrians because the transport network in Algiers has currently fragmented the city into pedestrian sub-territories disconnected from each other’s. The need for a reweaving of the city by the principle of POD Pedestrian-oriented development is also a necessity. Cited references : [1] S. Amoroso, F. Castelluccio & N. Santoro “Sustainable mobility: “exchange poles” between transport networks and urban structure”, in The Sustainable City VII, Vol. 2 pp 955-966. WIT Press, 2012. [2] Calthorpe, P., The Next Americam Metropolis - Ecology, Community and the American Dream, Princeton Architectural Press: Canada. 1993. [3] Robert Cervero & Cathleen Sullivan (2011) Green TODs: marrying transit-oriented development and green urbanism, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 18:3, 210-218, [4] Keith Bartholomew, Reid Ewing, Hedonic Price Effects of Pedestrian and Transit-Oriented Development, Volume: 26 issue: 1, page(s): 18-34. 2011.