The Export and Mobilisation of Sustainable Urbanism Ideals : International Experts as Canons Setters

Abstract: This thesis examines the international movement of Ideals about sustainable urban development and design through a focus on planning, private sector architecture and engineering experts. These experts, who are referred to in the literature as the global intelligence corps (GIC), package-up their know-how in urban sustainability as a moneymaking product, and serve it as urban mega- projects around the world. In doing so, the global intelligence corps (GIC) construct norms about what represents ‘good’ ecological urban planning, and subsidize to the expansion of an interna- tionalized mobile model of sustainable urbanism. This thesis aims at building on a wide-ranging literature of the business of (GIC) in design and sustainable urban development, and an in-depth case study of the top 11 of European and American global intelligence corps firms working in Mo- rocco’s Eco-megaprojects. Analysis of this substantial projects explains how the (GIC’s) work shapes a spreading model of sustainable urbanism, and how this, in turn, produces and reinforces particular canons in urban development practice. This thesis however, demonstrated that the (GIC) firms might be at the same time advisors and settlers of sustainable-urbanism canons, but only in the presence of a positive financial and political will, while socio-environmental and ethical issues are not necessarily always involved in their calculus to make a decision.