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This paper looks at the evolution of the Algerian urban system. From the colonial period, Algeria inherited a highly structured territorial space oriented towards the Mediterranean coast. This resulted in strong trends in favour of the development of the major urban centres in the north of the country. However, might these trends not conceal substantial changes to the distribution of settlement and the organisation of the urban system? Are trends not emerging in Algeria that might correct the imbalances inherited from the colonial period? What regional development measures and provisions are likely to foster perceptible changes? What repercussions might the end of public investment on the one hand and the violence (fighting, massacres, extortion, etc.) in rural areas on the other have on the spatial distribution of the population?