35

‪This article examines the tension between geographical proximity and social distance among former slum residents and middle-class professionals in two newly developed urban neighbourhoods in Morocco, namely Annasr and Victoria City, situated within the Oulad Salah municipality of the Casablanca-Settat region. It elucidates how these residents, with different backgrounds and sociological profiles, coexist spatially, sharing the same physical living space yet remain socially distant from one another. Through a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews, this study demonstrates that segregative strategies of social distancing are intricately linked to an ideology of status, and social and moral hierarchies, which are used to justify the distances that have been established.‪