A CASE STUDY: ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHANGES IN URBAN FLASH FLOODING POLICY IN MOROCCO

Abstract

Urban flash flooding is a growing risk across the world. This is particularly true in the country of Morocco, characteristic of the North Africa and Middle East region, beset by an arid climate, an urbanization trend, and climate change. This paper uses Morocco as a case study to examine policy changes over the last few decades and assess their effectiveness in addressing the issue of urban flash flooding. By researching policy changes and assessments from independent third parties such as the World Bank and the United Nations, this paper maps Morocco’s changing approach to flash floods and identifies the existing weaknesses in the system. These weaknesses are that while policy changes can be seen, there is a lack of data indicating that these changes have had any impact. Morocco’s policies cannot be assessed without a national data collection mechanism created. Further studies are needed to address this dearth of data.