Structural and functional transformations of an intermediate city and the emergence of commercial strips, the case of Tiaret in Algeria

Abstract

Tiaret, an intermediate city in the interior of Algeria, has undergone both rapid and extensive urban growth since the 1970s, transforming its urban structure. The city maintained this evolution rhythm to recompose on its own since 2000 by densifying. In addition to urban expansion, which accelerated in connection with its role as a junction city and regional hub, the city has witnessed a rapid diffusion of tertiary activities, mainly along the structuring and transit roads, creating commercial strips animated by retail trade that transformed and reconfigured the urban landscape. This evolution process is characterized by the diversification of tertiary activities, conducted by both public and private actors, operates a continual metamorphosis. This paper attempts to approach these mutation processes by mobilizing data from direct questionnaire surveys and field surveys. The results show interactions between these functional transformations and the spatial context in which they occur. The linear spread of retail on the periphery, led mainly by young traders, is transforming the urban landscape, making the city more attractive and bringing it to life, but it is generating land pressure, particularly in the individual housing estates, and placing the city center, which is not very favourable to traffic, in partial but long-term competition.