Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
Beyond political debates and budgetary constraints, Tunisia is reshaping its urban face. Between new administrative cities, smart neighborhoods, deep-water ports, medina rehabilitation, and next-generation tramways, a new national map is emerging—more connected, greener, and—if plans materialize—more inclusive.
This article presents a structured overview of future urban development projects in Tunisia, based on national strategies, major metropolitan projects, and inland regeneration programs.
An Overall Vision: Urbanization, Growth, and the 2035 Strategy
With over 69% of its population living in cities—a rate expected to exceed 76% by 2043—Tunisia is one of the most urbanized countries in North Africa. Three major metropolitan areas—Greater Tunis, Sfax, and Sousse—alone generate nearly 85% of the national GDP, while 75% of Tunisians live along the coast.
The target year for the “Vision Tunisia,” which aims to make the country a high-income state.
Concurrently, the 2023-2025 development plan mobilizes around $12.3 billion in public investment, while a new 2026-2030 plan has been prepared using a novel, bottom-up approach involving local and regional councils. The latter includes major urban components: housing, neighborhood rehabilitation, flood protection, digital, and heritage.
However, the country still faces significant constraints: limited access to external financing, high public debt, moderate growth around 2%, and deep disparities between coastal and inland regions. It is within this contrasting landscape that the major upcoming urban projects are situated.
The New Administrative City and the Rise of Smart Cities
At the heart of the structuring projects, the construction of a new administrative city on the outskirts of Tunis illustrates the state’s desire to rethink its territorial organization.
An Administrative Capital to Decongest Tunis
The government plans to build a modern administrative city on the capital’s periphery. The objective is twofold: to streamline state operations and relieve a saturated city center burdened by the concentration of ministries.
Today, government services are scattered across different neighborhoods, sometimes across multiple sites for a single institution—the Prime Ministry’s Office is spread across four separate complexes—leading to high security and leasing costs (nearly 34 million dinars per year), chronic traffic congestion, difficulties in access for citizens, duplication of services, and significant time loss.
The new administrative city, valued at 1.5 billion dinars, aims to:
Grouping ministries and central agencies within the same perimeter allows for reduced operating costs, easier information flow, and improved quality of service for citizens. Furthermore, this frees up former administrative buildings, which can then be repurposed for tourism, commercial, or economic activities.
Envisioned as a “smart” city, it will focus on quality of life: air, water, green spaces, waste management, energy consumption, health, mobility, and logistics. Centralized digital governance, smart mobility, and smart energy will be the project’s three pillars. The master plan definition must be done in consultation with public and private stakeholders to create an environment conducive to business and real estate investment.
The “Tunisian Smart Cities” National Program
Beyond this new city, Tunisia is developing a more global approach through the national “Tunisian Smart Cities” program. Led by the Tunisian Smart Cities association and the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES), with support from the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, this three-year program aims to help municipalities develop smart city strategies and create a national network of smart cities.
A municipality’s membership requires creating an internal committee, recruiting a Smart City Manager and a Data Manager, conducting a U4SSC audit, developing a territorial vision for 2050-2100, and then a master plan and a 30-year project portfolio. Ultimately, “smart” perimeters can obtain free urban zone status, supported by a local company with mixed public-private capital.
Within this framework, several pilot projects are emerging: “Tataouine Smart City” with a solar power plant, smart water management, and eco-tourism, and “Tozeur Smart City” integrating a new oasis, a multimodal hub, and smart parking. An “Automotive Smart City” project dedicated to electric and smart vehicles aims to position the country as a regional hub for future mobility, with 150,000 jobs expected and an export target of 13.5 billion dinars in this sector within a few years.
The transition to the smart city also relies on state digitization: 138 projects are planned for 2025-2026, including 99 to modernize administrative services, 18 to support the digital economy, 12 to enhance cybersecurity, and 9 to develop digital infrastructure. Platforms such as “E-Houwiya” (digital identity), the e-government portal, the “Tartib 2.0” public investment prioritization platform, and digital administrative service centers form the backbone of this transformation.
Major Metropolitan Projects: Tunis, Its Lake, and Its New Centralities
Greater Tunis concentrates several of the country’s largest urban projects: lakefront development, conversion of emblematic sites, mixed-use neighborhood development, and mega sports and residential projects.
The Pearl of the Lake and the Reconfiguration of the Tunis Waterfront
Among the flagship operations is the “Les Berges du Lac / La Perle du Lac” project, a vast development plan on the northwestern and southwestern shores of Lake Tunis. The goal: reconcile the city center with its body of water and create a new mixed-use, modern, and sustainable neighborhood.
The master plan covers approximately 3 km² and foresees the following land use distribution:
| Primary Use | Approximate Share in the Project |
|---|---|
| Offices | 40.3% |
| Housing | 31.5% |
| Retail | 18.4% |
| Hotels and Clinics | 2% |
| Leisure and Entertainment | 1.5% |
| Other Facilities | 3% |
Ultimately, the neighborhood is expected to accommodate around 46,400 residents and nearly 98,800 jobs, equivalent to a medium-sized town integrated into the metropolitan fabric of Tunis, close to the airport and major roads. Sustainability relies on soft mobility (bike lanes, pedestrian walkways), optimized network management (water, energy, waste), and green spaces designed to limit heat islands.
The project is led by Al Buhaira Invest, a Tunisian-Saudi joint venture established in 1983, in partnership with a Tunisian consortium for execution (Bouzguenda Brothers, Bonna Tunisia). It is structured in successive phases named La Perle du Lac I, II, III, and IV.
The first phase (La Perle du Lac I), completed between 2017 and 2019, covers 5.64 km² with 120 lots, accommodates about 7,500 residents and 11,300 jobs. It features 4 to 9-story buildings, a central administrative and commercial boulevard, a large pedestrian plaza, a jetty for cultural events, and a roughly 5 km cycling loop.
The second phase (La Perle du Lac II), covering 57.1 hectares, will house 12,800 residents and 30,800 employees. Infrastructure work began in July 2023 for an estimated duration of 30 months. Infrastructure costs are estimated at 140 million dinars, with urban development costs around 200 million. This phase focuses on buildings up to 10 stories, vast esplanades, a redeveloped corniche, pedestrian and mixed-use bridges, and three major public squares: Place de l’Innovation, Place du Lac, and Place des Jardins. A sub-project “Tunis Garden City” envisions a large residential complex and shopping center there.
Year of the commercial launch for phases III and IV of the Tunis waterfront transformation.
Tunis Sports City and Tunis Bay: Two Mega-Projects North of the Capital
On the northern shore of the lake, two emblematic private projects, long stalled, have been revived and could profoundly alter the urban morphology of the capital.
On one hand, Tunis Sports City, led by the Emirati Bukhatir group, spans 250 hectares with an estimated cost of $5 billion. Envisioned as a major residential and sports complex, the project includes a stadium, four sports academies, and residential neighborhoods that could house nearly 30,000 residents. After being stalled due to the global financial crisis and then the 2011 Revolution, the project was officially relaunched in 2022, with 90% of public permits obtained and 15% of the first phase already prepared.
On the other hand, the Tunis Bay project—the conceptual successor to the Tunis Financial Harbour—covers 523 hectares in the northern suburbs. It combines a residential golf course, a marina, a shopping center, a business district, a university, and a private hospital. The idea is to create a hub blending professional, residential, and leisure life, strongly interconnected with the rest of the metropolis.
These two projects, still in varying stages of advancement, spark debate: they promise thousands of jobs and a modernization of the capital’s image, but also raise questions about integration with social needs (affordable housing, public transport, local facilities) and with the regeneration of existing neighborhoods.
The Conversion of the Hôtel du Lac: Heritage and Luxury
A symbol of 1970s modern Tunis, the Hôtel du Lac, a brutalist building shaped like an inverted pyramid on Mohamed V Avenue, is at the heart of a major conversion project. Owned by the Libyan company LAFICO, the building, long closed and severely degraded, is slated for a demolition-reconstruction project.
Demolition work officially began in August 2025 for a duration of 8 to 10 months. LAFICO intends to erect in its place a complex combining a luxury hotel, shopping center, and cultural space. The construction phase, planned from 2026, is expected to generate over 1,000 direct jobs. This project, monitored by the Tunisian Investment Authority (TIA) and the Ministry of Tourism, is presented as a model of heritage enhancement and urban revitalization, even though the destruction of the original building sparked strong citizen mobilization for its preservation.
Transport and Mobility: Rails, Tramways, Ports, and Buses
Mobility is one of the key battlegrounds of urban Tunisia. Chronic congestion, pollution, and dependence on cars weigh on quality of life and the economy—traffic jams in Tunis cost up to 2% of GDP, and air pollution between 2% and 10% according to some estimates. The country has launched several projects to address this.
The Tunis Rapid Rail Network (RFR)
The Rapid Rail Network (RFR) project is perhaps the most emblematic. Designed as the backbone of collective transport in Greater Tunis, it will comprise five lines over 85 km and is expected to carry over 600,000 passengers per day upon completion.
Number of millions of passengers who used Line E of the Tunis light metro in 2024.
Eventually, two other lines will complete the network: line C (19.5 km) towards Mohammedia-Mhammedia and line F (10.5 km) towards northern Ariana. The total project cost, estimated at $1.3 billion, is financed 40% by the Tunisian state and 60% by international donors (AFD, European Investment Bank, KfW). The network, operated with electric trains, is expected to reduce 50,000 tons of CO₂ annually.
New Tram Lines and Greater Tunis Mobility Plan
Parallel to the RFR, Tunisia plans to implement new tramways, notably:
– A 22.8 km line connecting the airport road to Cité El One via the city center and Martyrs Avenue, with 38 stations,
– A 10.7 km line between Gremda and the city center, with 17 stations.
These projects are part of the future Greater Tunis mobility master plan, currently being developed with the Japanese agency JICA as part of a 36-month “Urban Mobility Master Plan” project. The goal is to reduce congestion and pollution, while supporting economic growth.
In 2020, Tunisia adopted a National Urban Mobility Policy (NUMP) to integrate mobility into its climate strategy, aiming for a 41% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030 compared to 2010. This policy envisages creating a National Urban Mobility Commission, metropolitan transport authorities, and a National Urban Mobility Fund dedicated to financing infrastructure and services.
Massive Bus Fleet Renewal
Faced with aging fleets and deteriorating service quality, the government has launched a comprehensive reform of public bus transport, including a major fleet renewal program.
Over 1,300 vehicles are to be injected into urban and interurban networks, via contracts with several partners:
| Supplier / Origin | Number of Buses Planned | Main Comment |
|---|---|---|
| China (King Long) | 300 | 152 million dinar contract |
| Switzerland | 200 | Agreement awaiting signature |
| Saudi Arabia | 397 | Import approved by the Council of Ministers |
| Other tenders | 621 | Acquisition via international tenders |
This plan, spread between 2025 and 2026, includes standard buses, minibuses, air-conditioned coaches, and dual-use vehicles (school/urban). It is accompanied by maintenance programs and consideration for a fairer distribution of vehicles between regions, specifically targeting inland areas and sectors with high student density.
Deep-Water Ports and Logistics: Enfidha and Bizerte
In an economy where ports are essential, Tunisia is betting on several major projects to strengthen its role as a Mediterranean hub.
The deep-water port of Enfidha represents an estimated investment of $1.6 billion.
Further north, the Bizerte governorate is planning the construction of a third or fourth-generation deep-water port, as well as a fixed link project (bridge or tunnel) to streamline access to the port of Bizerte. The latter already benefits from an economic activities park, PAEB, which hosts about sixty companies and contributes to 2% of the country’s manufacturing exports.
According to a World Bank study, better port connectivity and reduced transit times could alone add 4 to 5% to GDP within three or four years, or even up to 11-14% if Tunisia manages to rise to the status of a regional transshipment hub.
Rebuilding the City on Itself: Popular Neighborhoods, Medinas, and Housing
While megaprojects attract attention, a significant part of Tunisia’s urban effort focuses on popular neighborhoods, historic medinas, and social housing.
PRIQH: Rehabilitating Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
Since the 1940s, Tunisia has faced the proliferation of informal neighborhoods, a consequence of rapid urbanization without sufficient planning. In 2012, 1,400 precarious neighborhoods were identified. To address this, the Urban Rehabilitation and Renovation Agency (ARRU) launched the Program for the Rehabilitation and Integration of Residential Neighborhoods (PRIQH).
The first phase (PRIQH 1), endowed with 248 million euros, targeted 155 neighborhoods and installed 52 facilities (youth centers, sports fields, etc.), benefiting over 864,000 inhabitants. Work focused on public lighting, sanitation, electricity, and also creating places for social interaction. Funding combined state, municipal, and donor resources, with a “Team Europe” type structure: a €70 million loan from the EIB, €30 million from the AFD, and a €61 million grant from the European Union.
Number of additional people who are to benefit from the second phase of the Program for Urban Renewal and Integration of Residential Neighborhoods (PRIQH 2).
In addition, the European Union has just announced an additional envelope of 100 million euros for the rehabilitation of popular neighborhoods across the country, using an integrated approach combining physical improvements, cultural, social, and entrepreneurial facilities, to transform these areas into “inclusion hubs.”
Housing Program and Real Estate Market Regulation
As part of the 2026-2030 plan, the government plans to build about 5,000 housing units at an estimated cost of 750 million dinars, with a first batch of 1,213 units in 2026 across 11 governorates. The system combines rent-to-own, developed social land, and sales at prices adapted to purchasing power, with a digital platform to manage applications.
Average annual increase in real estate prices in Tunis over the last three years.
The authorities are trying to act on both supply (subsidies, subsidized loans, public-private partnerships for affordable housing) and on acquisition regulations, maintaining a permit regime for foreigners outside tourist zones.
Medinas and Historic Centers: From Preservation to Revitalization
Medinas and historic centers are at the heart of another long-term endeavor. The PRCA (Program for the Regeneration of Old Centers), developed with support from the European UPFI initiative, targets around 100 historic centers—medinas and old European neighborhoods—marked by building degradation, social exclusion, and the departure of traditional activities.
The Tunisian state has announced a program to rehabilitate old towns, endowed with approximately 50 million dinars.
The medina of Tunis, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979, often serves as a laboratory. The Association for the Preservation of the Medina (ASM), founded in 1967, has carried out several emblematic operations: restructuring of the Hafsia quarter, rehabilitation of unsanitary “oukalas” and rehousing of over 2,000 families, conversion of madrasas into cultural or craft centers, restoration of buildings (municipal theater, souks, decommissioned churches).
These efforts have earned the ASM several international awards, including four Aga Khan Awards for Architecture and the Jean-Paul L’Allier Prize. But challenges remain considerable: abandonment of some buildings, impoverishment, decline of certain artisanal activities, and lack of an integrated vision. New projects are betting on digital—plaques with QR codes, the “medina stories” platform—and on citizen participation, linked to initiatives like “Femmedina,” which promotes the inclusion of women in the life of the Tunis medina.
Inland Regions: Pilot Cities and Climate Financing
The challenge of urban development in Tunisia is not limited to the coast. Several programs explicitly target inland cities and areas most vulnerable to climate change.
Kairouan, Sousse, and Secondary Cities
In Kairouan, a pilot “climate-safe city” project directly addresses water-related risks: floods, storage, sanitation, and reuse. After a launch workshop, the municipality and local communities chose to focus actions on stormwater management, cistern rehabilitation, rainwater harvesting, wadi protection, and creating green spaces offering ecosystem services. At least 2,200 inhabitants are expected to directly benefit from these measures.
A program supported by Swiss SECO has enabled the updating of Sousse’s urban planning and urban transport plans, defining a public lighting energy master plan and a resource mobilization strategy. Endowed with 2.8 million Swiss francs, this project aims to increase the share of soft and public transport modes, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and simplify building permit procedures. It is part of a “pilot city” logic designed to inspire other municipalities.
More broadly, the “Madinatouna” program, carried out with Cities Alliance, UNDP, and the National Federation of Tunisian Cities, has assisted nine cities (Béja, Gabès, Jendouba, Kairouan, Médenine, M’saken, Sidi Bouzid, Tataouine, La Soukra) in developing urban development strategies (City Development Strategies). A second phase, “Madinatouna II,” is helping four of them (Béja, Jendouba, Médenine, Tataouine) translate these strategies into local development plans and concrete projects.
Communal Fund for Climate Action (LoCAL)
Aware of the country’s exposure to droughts, water scarcity, and volatile rainfall, Tunisia has decided to create a Communal Climate Action Fund to finance adaptation and mitigation projects designed by local authorities. This fund will become the main channel for deploying the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) mechanism, with technical support from the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
A first envelope of $7.65 million, funded by the European Union, will be deployed over four budget cycles for a pilot project in six Tunisian municipalities.
This approach complements other climate programs, such as United Nations support for an inclusive energy transition (nearly one million dollars mobilized), which funds energy audits in schools and health centers, adaptation of social aid to target energy poverty, and promotion of sustainable consumption among youth.
Special Economic Zones and Logistics Cities
Tunisia’s urban development also involves creating economic and logistics zones designed to attract investment and rebalance territory.
Ben Guerdane, Zarzis, Bizerte: Evolving City-Zones
Near the Libyan border, the Ben Guerdane free zone illustrates this strategy. Located about twenty kilometers from the city and close to the Ras Jedir border post, it covers 1.5 million m². Announced in 2012 and reprioritized in the 2021-2025 plan, it aims to formalize largely informal cross-border trade, create a logistics hub between Africa, Europe, and Asia via Libya, and generate over 9,000 permanent jobs.
Summary of infrastructure works and tax incentives offered to investors.
Work is well advanced: 95% for drinking water, 80% for electricity, and 60% for roads. Sanitation is delayed due to environmental procedures.
The zone offers significant advantages: exemption from income and corporate tax, as well as customs duties.
Provision of a one-stop shop service to facilitate procedures and investor installation.
Further east, the Zarzis economic activities park, created in the 1990s near the commercial port, hosts about forty companies from 12 countries, active notably in industry, IT, telecommunications, and logistics, with a specialization in processing Libyan oil. A “Zarzis Smart Center” there supports export-oriented ICT companies.
Located in the north within a free zone, this park is characterized by great industrial diversity (refining, steel, cement, agro-industry, ICT). It benefits from a favorable logistical and natural environment, with a commercial port, shipyards, significant water resources, and proximity to major tourist sites like Lake Ichkeul and the Galite archipelago. These assets make it a hybrid urban hub, combining economic, residential, and touristic activities.
Tunisia Economic City: A Suspended but Revealing Project
Once widely publicized, the Tunisia Economic City project in the Enfidha region aimed to create a new metropolis on 90 km² of coastline, with 18 km of beach, 500,000 inhabitants, and 250,000 jobs in the long term, at an estimated cost of $50 billion. Composed of economic, residential, touristic zones, and a “Sports City,” the project is now in a “procedural” status, with authorities expressing doubts about the promoters’ ability to secure funding and requesting a 250 million dinar guarantee deposit.
The troubled trajectory of this project shows the limits of mega-visions driven by foreign investors when steering, financing, and territorial anchoring mechanisms are not firmly established. It also reminds us of the importance for Tunisia to better frame its major urban developments within realistic, transparent, and inclusive national strategies.
Governance, Planning, and Implementation Challenges
Behind the abundance of projects lies a major challenge: the ability of the state and local authorities to plan, coordinate, and successfully implement these transformations in a context of limited resources.
The Ministry of Equipment and Housing is currently monitoring nearly 482 urban planning studies, covering 298 municipalities.
At the same time, Tunisia is working with UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance to develop a National Urban Policy, intended to provide a unified framework for managing urban expansion at the national, regional, and local levels. Regional dialogues, spatial analyses, and studies of lagging regions (Kasserine, Le Kef, Tataouine) feed this reflection.
The “Tartib 2.0” platform prioritizes public investments based on economic, social, environmental, and cross-cutting criteria. This digitization can bring more transparency and efficiency, provided there is real ownership by the administrations.
Remains the question of implementation. Several previous strategies (“Digital Tunisia 2020,” “Smart Gov 2020”) saw only 5% of their projects completed, due to bureaucratic delays, insufficient coordination, and fragmented governance. Some major urban projects, like the lakefront megaprojects or Tunisia Economic City, experienced long years of hibernation. The success of new plans will therefore depend as much on the quality of ideas as on the capacity to execute them.
Urbanization in Transition
The upcoming urban development projects in Tunisia outline a multifaceted transition.
On one hand, the rise of smart cities, structured collective transport, economic zones, and state digitization reflects a firm desire to align the country with international standards for sustainable and connected cities.
On the other hand, programs for rehabilitating popular neighborhoods, medinas, and old centers, local climate funds, and pilot projects in secondary cities reflect a growing awareness of the challenges of inclusion, spatial justice, and resilience.
Between these two dynamics, the ability to reconcile global attractiveness and local needs, flagship investments and basic services, major coastal projects and catching up inland, will determine the shape of tomorrow’s Tunisian city.
Tunisia has significant assets: an educated population, a construction sector accounting for nearly 10% of GDP, a growing ICT ecosystem, a network of committed international partners. But also heavy challenges: institutional fragmentation, budgetary pressures, entrenched territorial imbalances.
The coming years will tell whether the major urban projects undertaken will be more like isolated showcases or the first links in a true structural transformation of the Tunisian territory.
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Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
