ABSTRACT
The object of this chapter is to reflect on the condition and nature of urban margins. The chosen case study is that of a section of the medina of Tunis, the Kherba, which has suffered long periods of neglect but has been re-dynamised by the presence of a spontaneous market that located itself on a wasteland in the middle of the neighbourhood. The aim of this chapter is to analyse both the splintering dynamics of urban degradation as well as their historical roots relating to Ottoman and colonial times. The aim is also to link the reading of the evolution of the neighbourhood with the recent history of collective and institutional efforts for the preservation of the architectural heritage of the medina. Based both on archival research and on interviews in the field, this chapter analyses the paradoxical dynamics of urban transformation and reuse. The abandoned space under study is now the location of a very dynamic informal market, whose characters of urbanity are changing the perception of the whole neighbourhood in local opinion. This reappropriation, which long-term might further endanger the very structure of the medina, illustrates how on the longue durée the history of urban margins is complex.
