Rabat Smart and Sustainable City

Rabat Smart and Sustainable City - © City of Rabat

Status

ongoing

City

Rabat

Main actors

City Government, National Government, Supranational / Intergovernmental Institutions, Private Sector, Community / Citizen Group, Research Institutes / Universities

Project area

Whole City/Administrative Region

Duration

Ongoing since 2019

A participatory approach towards digital transformation

The City of Rabat is committed to expanding their efforts to provide citizens with better access and improved government services. Using a participatory model that focusses on digital inclusion, the project aims to increase skills, to enhance quality of life, to drive education and promote economic wellbeing across the municipality.

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Sustainable Development Goals

City information

City

Rabat, Morocco

Size and population development

The population of Rabat recorded in July 2019 was 577,827. The city covers an area of 117 km2 with a population density of 4,903 per km2.

Main functions

Rabat is the capital and seventh largest city in Morocco, it also serves as the capital of the Rabat-Salé- Kénitra administrative region. The city is located on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Wadi Bou Regreg river, opposite the city of Salé in the country’s north-west. Rabat is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco, and the Medina of Rabat is classified as A World Heritage Site.

Main industries / business

The main industries operating in Rabat are education, government administration and services, tourism and more traditionally textiles, leather goods, food processing.

Political structure

Morocco is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with both appointed and elected officials. However, in 2011 the first stage of advanced regionalisation (a process of decentralisation) was launched, and democratic reforms to the constitution gave local elected officials much greater authority and more financial resources.

Administrative structure

Morocco comprises 12 regions, 62 provinces, 13 prefectures and 1503 municipalities. In 2018, The King of Morocco announced his intent to give even more autonomy to the lower levels of government. At the municipal level, the fourth layer of government, urban agencies have been established to manage the administration of services and projects in their cities.

Background and objectives

To further advance the Kingdom of Morocco's commitment to major sustainable development projects, and in order to ensure the continuity of the momentum created by the previous national strategy in 2013 that increased the development of the digital economy sector, a new vision has been created for the digital sector. "Digital Morocco" was developed using a participatory approach and aims to accelerate digital transformation and strengthen Morocco's place as a regional digital hub, by addressing the issues of governance and digital skills.

The City of Rabat, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Territorial Collectivities (Moroccan Ministry of the Interior) and the Moroccan digital development agency (ADD), has undertaken a project to accelerate the digital transformation of the municipality in the last year.

The “RABAT Smart and Sustainable City” (RSSC) project aims to:

promote smart citizens, smart institutions and smart data
place sustainability at the centre of community issues;
promote social inclusion through digitalization of municipal services.

Implementation

The City of Rabat administration is resolutely committed to supporting the implementation and localization of Global Agendas linked to Sustainable Development, in particular SDG11.

The Imperial city of Rabat was classified as a Green city by the Earth Day Network in 2010, and as World Heritage city by UNESCO in 2012. With its integrated Royal urban upgrading program “Rabat City of light, Cultural Capital of Morocco” initiated in 2014, the city is demonstrating perseverance in terms of a strong environmental policy while maintaining its economic and social responsibilities.

As defined in its Rabat’s municipal action plan a, the smart city axis is part of this large program. The city plans to create resilient systems, more efficient and decentralized institutions, and will future-proof investment decisions.

The smart city program has been formally adopted under the commitments of this action plan. although its objectives integrate both the sustainable dimension and the territorial intelligence.

This broad program encompasses the complete digitization of municipal services, the creation of social digital centers for citizen education including migrants and refugees, and the promotion of renewable energies and a circular economy.

Financing and resources

Municipal budget
Public/private/community /partnership
National government contribution
Subnational and regional government contributions
International funding
Other National and international partners

Results and impacts

Increase the digitization to all municipal services and access to municipal e-services:
- Rokhas.ma platform for urban planning and economic authorization:
- fleet and inventory management,
- hygiene and claims management,
- GID and GIR (Integrated Expenditure Management and Integrated Revenue Management),
- Municipal heritage via the ROKHAS.ma platform,
- Legalization and compliant certificate,
- management of civil status registers via the SGEC (Civil Status Management System),
- human resources administration,
- digital order desk,
- digital signature,
- waste management,
- smart lighting
Foster socio-economic integration for the city’s vulnerable population by facilitating their access to employment and digital communication
Reduce inequalities in the field of education, and other sectors
Make green spaces as connected spaces for E-learning and digital inclusion