Seminar WS 2025/26
Dr. Hassan Elmouelhi, Hellen Aziz

Contemporary Arab Urbanism VII
Social Entrepreneurship for Urban Transformation

This seminar aims to provide an in-depth exploration of urbanization trends and the complex challenges facing cities in the MENA/Arab region. Social enterprises play an increasingly important role in urban development in Arab cities by offering innovative, mission-driven solutions to complex urban challenges—such as waste management, urban mobility, green tourism, and inclusive public spaces. Unlike traditional businesses focused solely on profit, social enterprises strive to balance and integrate the three pillars of the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. Socially, they empower marginalized communities, promote inclusion, and generate local employment. Environmentally, they adopt sustainable practices—such as recycling, renewable energy, or urban agriculture—to contribute to the resilience of urban systems. Economically, they aim for financial sustainability, with profits reinvested into socially or environmentally impactful objectives. A key focus of the seminar is the role of social entrepreneurship in the urban transformation in Arab cities, through examining case studies from different cities. The seminar will highlight the challenges and innovative solutions of social entrepreneurship in the transformation of Arab cities.

As part of the international cooperation project “From Ideas to Impact: Social entrepreneurship for Urban Transformation”, funded by the DAAD Ta’ziz short term program, this seminar is complemented by a hands-on workshop in Fez in Morocco. The city of Fez, with its rich cultural legacy and one of the world’s best-preserved medieval medinas (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), presents a compelling case for integrating social entrepreneurship into urban regeneration strategies. Despite its historical and tourism potential, Fez faces pressing contemporary challenges such as weak waste management systems, growing pressure on urban mobility, and the need for more inclusive and better-managed public spaces. The workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to co-design and prototype entrepreneurial solutions that are context-sensitive and locally grounded.

Photo: © Hassan Elmouelhi

Download poster here.