Nador in the Future: Oilgea Capital

This project explores the eco-friendly futures of 100 cities worldwide, as though they've survived the current climate change crisis, and adapted to be prosperous and super-green. This month we focus on the future of the Mediterranean city of Nador.

Nador is a port city of nearly 200,000 people on the Mar Chica lagoon of the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. In times past it was a Berber city, a Phoenician city, a Roman city, an Arab city, and a Spanish city. Now, it is a Moroccan city.

Nador is currently going through an economic boom via two industries: metals processing and tourism. They seem to be working against each other, though, since the cultural and natural beauty is being eroded by a polluted lagoon and polluted air.

One eco-problem that Nador confronts every year is the algal blooms in the lagoon, which mess up the quality of the water and create a nuisance for the tourists. In Nador 2121, however, these annual blooms are transformed from a problem into an opportunity, as the algae is extracted and used as “oilgae” in bioreactors to create energy.