Emerging Rural Centers, Territorial Projects, Regional Development Players and Prospects. The Case of the Province of Zagora (Morocco)

Abstract The articulation between the national, regional and local levels is one of the main thrusts that decision-makers and stakeholders are increasingly involved in when designing and implementing development visions and strategies. Indeed, the descending approach gives way gradually to the ascending approach; the revision of legislation relating to the management of public affairs (municipal charter, law on the region...), the creation of a number of support institutions (development agencies) and the project of “advanced regionalization”, are aspects of these evolutions. On the other hand, if these efforts are aimed at reducing dysfunctions between regional and intra-regional areas, the reality is that the national territory still suffers from an imbalance between the favored and other disadvantaged regions. In addition, rural exodus and urban growth have profoundly modified territorial relations: social inequalities are widening and imbalances between the rural and the urban are increasing. The present communication seeks to raise some avenues that will ensure a good structuring of the territory of a fragile zone such as the province of Zagora. This is a case study of the role of the Emerging Rural Centers, as intermediate spaces, in the articulation, revitalization and territorial development of the Drâa Tafilalet region. In fact, this new less studied terminology has been the subject of a theoretical framing concerning its definition as well as an outline of criteria for the identification and ranking of the Emerging Rural Centers applicable to the other territories. The roles of the actors in rural development and the place assigned to the CRE for the articulation of the territory of the province of Zagora.