University Development and Urban Change in Tunisia
The geographical redistribution of Tunisian universities, following the rapid growth of student populations, resulted in the steady integration in average-sized cities, excluded from university development planning till the beginning of the 1990s, of their new status as university cities. Now, after more than a decade of democratization in higher education, we are beginning to understand its local benefits, expressed in terms of socioeconomic, urban and cultural potential. Also, the infrastructures of higher education seem to possess an enormous energy that enhances the dynamic of the countries in which they are present. Hence, redistribution is primarily a gamble on the success of a multifaceted society. On the other hand, the degree to which a university helps shape certain socioeconomic and urban dynamics, especially in the case of small or average-sized cities in a developing country like Tunisia, is debatable.