Optimization of Accommodation Forms in Heteromorphic Tourist Coast-lines

The Agadir–Taghazout Corridor as a Poly-Valorized System

Abstract

This article advances a morphogenetic and systemic analysis of the Agadir–Taghazout coastal tourism corridor. The corridor is conceptualized as a heteromorphic ensemble in which differentiated regimes of tourist accommodation coexist according to partially contradictory logics—globalization, standardization, and social display. These logics intensify and complexify socio-spatial and territorial inequalities within a coastline conventionally regarded as Morocco’s primary seaside destination. Moving beyond functionalist approaches to coastal development, the study demonstrates how socio-spatial production—understood in the Lefebvrian, Meadian, and Straussian sense—generates distinctive configurations of value, desirability, and territorial competitiveness. It proposes an alternative analytical framework for reassessing tourism’s territorial scope, a dimension rarely examined in Moroccan tourism scholarship. By articulating tourism geography, social semiotics, territorial sociology, and coastal urbanism, the article develops a transferable analytical model applicable to destinations confronted with plural accommodation systems, coastal pressure, and multi-level governance challenges. Drawing on methodological triangulation combining empirical territorial data, comparative morphogenetic analysis, and socio-semiotic framing, the research identifies five polarities that structure the corridor as a polycentric relational system rather than a mere juxtaposition of tourist spaces. Agadir provides metropolitan carrying capacity; Aourir operates as a liminal interface; Tamraght generates ascending experiential value rooted in surfing and neo-nomadic micro-worlds; Taghazout Village converts this value into situated vernacular experiences; and Taghazout Bay asserts premium legitimacy aligned with international standards. The article argues that this coastal morphogenetic heterogeneity, far from constituting territorial dysfunction, represents a major differential capital for territorial competitiveness.