Territorial Metropolitan Dynamics in Northeastern Tunisia: the Zaghouan Region

The process of metropolisation in Tunisia is still limited and it essentially concerns a portion of the eastern shore, in particular the vast triangle formed by the main cities of the country, namely: Tunis, Sousse and Sfax. The metropolisation in these spaces is essentially marked by the spreading of the cities, the multiplication of large planning projects, the mobility and the distribution of the population, the restructuring of the activities and urban functions, the emergence of new poles of exchange and jobs and of new administrative commercial and recreational centralities. The small urban centres located in these metropolitan areas are affected by this process and must adapt to it, as it is the case of the small town of Zaghouan, located about 60 kms from Tunis. This study analyses, in the first place, the constraining factors to the structuring and the recomposition of the space around Zaghouan. Subsequently, it endeavours to suggest some ideas about the promotion of the attractiveness and competitiveness of the region and its integration in the regional, national and international space.