In 1982, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led structural adjustment of the
Moroccan state; the culmination of prolonged war in the Western Sahara, unstable
agricultural productivity and unstable debt inflation. Since then, deep political economic
reorganization has transformed the institutional, practical and physical articulation of
urban management in the state. This study situates managerial shifts within an urban
globalization context, with specific reference to Tangier. While Tangier’s urban
development parallels many studies from the developing and less-developed world, its
place-specific formation diverges because globalizing urban management is undertaken
within the context of historically and geographically specific socio-economic
development initiatives and constraints. My work provides a conceptual overview of
globalizing management since Moroccan independence in 1956. Then, a spatially
sensitive political economic lens is employed to analyze new urban managerial
transformations emerging since 1983 adjustments. Finally, I take an in-depth case study
of Tangier City Center project to question how Tangier’s current globalization effectively
responds to both state and local urban social and economic development.