Urban sprawl and the dynamics of the Algiers metropolitan area: Should administrative structures be promoted?
In the face of the spatial disparities that faced Algerian cities after independence, the government attempted to address this situation by redefining the territorial grid layout through four successive boundary changes to administrative divisions (1963, 1974, 1984 and 1997). Our article analyzes the spatial consequences of these public policies on the development process in the Algiers metropolitan area. We believe that careful consideration of the evolution of the urban areas comprising Algiers (changes in status, emergence of new urban areas, amalgamations between major and minor urban centres...) is an extremely valuable approach. Firstly, it provides a clear picture of the process of urban sprawl and secondly, it allows for a better understanding of the physical changes the city of Algiers is dealing with in its urban landscape. Our article analyzes the dynamics surrounding the changes to administrative division boundaries in the Algiers metropolitan area. We want to shed new light on the role played by the evolution and changes in status of particular urban agglomerations and the promotion of different administrative structures2, as a way to foster a better understanding of the physical changes undergone by the city of Algiers. The establishment of a GIS database and the adoption of a historical and comparative approach have enabled us to trace spatiotemporal changes in the different urban agglomerations of greater Algiers from 1966 to the present day. In spite of a variety of studies on the subject, this is the first time an approach such as ours has been used for an in-depth analysis of the city of Algiers.