Socialist agricultural villages in Sersou (Western Algeria) rural areas’ modernization with urban landmarks

Abstract

The Sersou, the granary of wheat in western Algeria and the most dynamic area of the state (wilaya) of Tiaret, has seen its urban network expand under the effect of population growth and industrial as well as agricultural development. Its space was densified, by a dozen "agricultural socialist villages" in the 1970s. As part of a national policy of modernization and rural development, ̎ the agrarian revolution ̎. These agricultural villages were built to support the work of the land and improve the living conditions of rural populations. This contribution wants to revisit these villages after more than forty years of existence to see how they are organized, appropriated and inserted into the urban network. It also wants to analyze through this example the outcome of a policy of modernization of the Algerian countryside, which has aroused so much debate and criticism since its implementation.