ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

126 ■ THE ECONOMICS OF UNIQUENESS
BOX 5.3
Urban Upgrading Increases Property Values in the
Historic Medina of Tunis
Tunisia Third Urban Development Project (Project number 005652)
Total Project Cost: US$25 million
Total Loan Amount: US$25 million
Approved: December 1982 – Closed: June 1993
The Tunisian authorities, with assistance from the World Bank, prepared a
project to help provide better shelter and improve urban services for low-income
families. The Hafsia Quarter in the historic medina of Tunis was chosen due
to its seriously deteriorated neighborhoods and its high incidence of poverty.
The project supported conservation of the medina’s heritage by (1) establishing
design guidelines for all new construction and renovations, (2) upgrading basic
infrastructure and urban services, (3) constructing residential and commercial
buildings on vacant land, (4) selling serviced land to private developers, and
(5) using the municipality’s returns from sales to fund the renovation of about
47,000 square meters of low-income housing.
From the start of the project in 1982 to its completion in 1993, property values
rose by 12 percent in the medina versus an increase of 8 percent for property
on the urban fringe. The increase in value is seen as largely due to location
and employment factors. Forty-three percent of new residents in the medina
work in the adjacent central business district, and 24 percent work in the medina
itself (62 percent of residents walk to work). Other factors that contributed to the
rise of property values include the neighborhood’s distinctive character and the
government’s visible commitment to improving the area.
Source: Graduate School of Design, Harvard University and Association Sauvegarde la Médina
Tunis. Case Study: Tunis, Tunisia Rehabilitation of the Hafsia Quarter 1998.
healthy or experiencing a revival, there is, at least among segments of the market,
an expressed preference to be close to some of the amenities and services off ered.
Also, however, as was demonstrated in some of the studies discussed earlier,
there seems to also be a nominal premium attached to being near an individual
landmark—such as the mosque and/or the suk (marketplace).
Finally there are public policy reasons. A city begins making a commitment
to a historic area by adopting a comprehensive heritage-based regeneration strategy.
Th at strategy may include elements such as off ering incentives to developers,