The purpose of this research is to study the dynamics associated with the physical transformations of the Tunisian city of Monastir between 1956 and 2013. Beyond the description and classification of urban forms of three different phases of Monastir’s development, this research evaluates how urban changes underwent a rapid growth. The objective is to identify how the transformations undergone, from its original Medina transformation project to the contemporary city, can be apprehended using the underlying urban configuration and its evolution. The main question to address is as follows: how configurational urban changes over time have an impact on the way humans are connected throughout the organization of the city? As a theoretical background and methodology, our research is based on the theory of Social Logic of Space, and that considers the city as a dynamic system, and acknowledges circulation as the driving force behind urban morphological change. The series of investigations developed by our case study reveal the urban planning influence on the urban sprawl of the city of Monastir. It also shows the importance of centralities and accessibility of the urban forms and their effect on the distribution of land uses, and the role of the central/periphery dualism.

An urban landscape can be considered as a background environment that influences humans’ movements at various scales in the city. This research is oriented to the study of the interactions between urban forest patches and their degree of influence and attractions on humans’ behaviors and interactions. The objective is to evaluate the relations between individuals’ movements and the city space nearby natural landscapes, and also to question spatial practices in the city. Forest patches are modelled according to a structural approach at the city level, while Space syntax principles have been applied and compared to in situ movements as experimentally observed. A statistical analysis complements the configurational analysis by highlighting correlations between structural properties and human movements. The whole approach is applied to the Bir El Bey Forest of the Tunisian city of Hammam Chatt in order to explore the interaction between the built and natural landscapes at different levels of scale. The findings exhibit the respective effects of the urban network and natural landscape on the urban space, and how such spaces are appropriated by Hammam Chatt inhabitants and users. Finally, the results propose a generic framework analysis for the study of the relations between humans and urban structure and landscape preferences and that offers novel perspectives for urban planning.

This research investigates the duality of the spatial organization and urban activities generated by the coastalization processes of the city of Nabeul. The first part of the study analyzes the city’s fragmentations of the urban landscape using a novel generic index of directional dispersion and a set of space syntax metrics. These structural and functional properties are studied by the concentration and/or dispersion of urban functions of the evolution and development patterns. Among the emerging features, we observe a dispersion of urban activities beyond a central radius all along the western periphery of the city, confirming the phenomenon of urban sprawl that many Tunisian cities are experiencing. These spaces generate urban fragmentations of “new polarity zones” under the influence of the coastline attraction. Finally, this study introduces a novel approach for identifying urban structural polarity and activities, as well as new perspectives for coastal land management and planning.

Le paysage urbain contemporain tunisien, caractérisé par une forte hétérogénéité paysagère s’interroge quant aux facteurs de son émergence. La ville de Monastir en constitue un bon exemple d’analyse des transformations urbaines. Elle se caractérise, notamment, par un taux d’urbanisation élevée de 100% et une croissance différentielle dans le temps et dans l’espace. Cette recherche s’intègre dans les domaines de l’architecture, de l’urbanisme, de la syntaxe spatiale et de la planification territoriale. Elle s’interroge sur l’évolution du paysage urbain de la commune de Monastir (de 1956 à 2013). Le but est de chercher des indicateurs de visibilité quant à la dynamique de la commune dans son contexte d’hétérogénéité morpho-fonctionnelle. Ce travail a entrepris une logique progressive d’appréhension de l’ensemble de l’environnement urbain et de sa continuité culturelle. La mise en place d’une approche globale de la structure spatiale de la commune de Monastir qui porte, d’une part, sur l’analyse diachronique, et d’autre part, sur l’analyse synchronique, a permis de dégager plusieurs faits de paysages urbains. Ils se matérialisent, notamment, par l’identification de la genèse des centralités diffuses associée à des formes non hiérarchisées socio-spatiales. Ces disparités phénoménologues urbaines nous ont conduit à adapter la syntaxe spatiale pour mieux cerner la réalité de l’environnement de la commune de Monastir dans sa totalité où la médiation paysagère y prédomine.