Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

The world has experienced profound economic, social, political and environmental changes. These transformations, marked in particular by economic crises and natural disasters, have had an impact on the development of territories in space and time. Inequalities between territories are observed in many different areas, including the economy, demography, education, health...The objective of sustainable territorial development is to harmonize economic growth, social justice and environmental protection in the long term. However, given the regional disparities, this problem becomes particularly difficult.Territorial disparities and inequalities between or within different regions result from many factors and can affect the quality of life, economic opportunities and access to public services in these areas.This article examines territorial disparities by addressing economic, social, environmental and political dimensions. It studies the elements that affect the growth of territories, such as competitiveness, attractiveness, management and sustainability. Our interest in the case of Morocco is inherent in the fact that territorial development is at the heart of the country’s public policies, particularly through strategies such as advanced regionalization, decentralization and the implementation of structuring projects. However, the country faces specific challenges such as disparities between urban and rural areas, natural resource management (water, agricultural land) and climate change impacts. Studying these challenges in a territorial context can provide insights into resilience and adaptation.Through a literature review based on the writings relating to the subject of territorial development as well as official reports and studies concerning the case of Morocco, the article highlights the historical evolution of territorial development in Morocco (I), the persistence of territorial disparities in terms of social deficits (II) and the new dynamics of territorial development in Morocco (III).