Definition of a city in Morocco: The poll of 1982 forced a refined and precise definition of the urban center Today,

an urban center needs to answer to at least 4 of the 7 following conditions: o Existence of an electricity network o Existence of infrastructure for potable water o Existence of sewerage o Existence of a hospital or a dispensary o Existence of a school or a high school o Existence of a tribunal o Non agricultural active population of more than 50%

Algeria paper explanation for what happened: The exceptional growth of small to medium cities in the years between 1968 and 1987 is largely due to the urban policies of the government, attempting to slow down the urban growth of cities of the littoral (heritage of the colonial development strategy). This meant that nomadic and semi-nomadic population who constituted a large portion of the population in 1968 was drawn to settle in small and medium size cities, hence absorbing an urbanization process in exponential growth.