When the City Fades
Landscape-Based Design for Transforming Rabat's Peri-urban Landscapes into Continuous Urban-Ecological Systems
R. Lin (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
S. Nijhuis – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
M. Lub – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Peri-urban areas in Rabat are undergoing rapid transformation driven by urban expansion, infrastructural development, and increasing pressure on ecological systems. These transitional landscapes are characterized by fragmented land uses, unclear boundaries, and weak integration of natural processes into spatial planning. The Bouregreg Valley functions as a complex urban–ecological interface where multiple edge conditions coexist.
This project adopts a landscape-based urbanism approach to analyze and reinterpret the peri-urban landscape of Rabat. At the regional scale, the research develops a classification of peri-urban typologies based on edge conditions, land-use patterns, and spatial morphology, establishing a structural understanding of the city’s transitional territories. The Bouregreg Valley is examined as a key spatial and ecological system influencing topography, hydrology, and landscape connectivity across the metropolitan region.
Based on this regional analysis, the project zooms in on the selected Chellah wetland area in the Bouregreg Valley to explore how landscape-based principles can be translated into spatial design. The design approaches the peri-urban landscape as a dynamic urban ecological interface and proposes a landscape strategy that supports natural processes, improves spatial quality, and creates multifunctional open spaces. Through site-specific interventions, the project demonstrates how peri-urban landscapes can operate as active mediators between urban development and ecological systems rather than residual or undefined land.