Zmala Urban Innovation Lab is an innovation laboratory in the fields of spatial planning, urbanism, and mobility. Under Algerian law, with a presence in Brussels, Belgium, Zmala is the culmination of 15 years of academic research, university teaching, projects, and expertise carried out in Algeria and internationally.
Zmala's mission is to provide stakeholders in the territory and city with the conditions, knowledge, techniques, methods, and tools to innovate qualitatively in the production of our living spaces.
Our startup is particularly interested in addressing the missing links in territorial, urban, and architectural production that hinder our cities from developing high-quality, sustainable, and resilient spaces.
Why ZMALA ?
ZMALA, « زمالة », is the name of the mobile city that Emir Abdelkader developed in the 19th century during his fight against French occupation in Algeria. It had the unique characteristic of being able to move and constantly adapt to new geographical, military, and political realities. It is mobile, resilient, and has minimal impact on its environment. It operates under a governance and organization based on commons, with the ultimate goal of protecting the ZMALA community and strengthening the struggle. Thus, it safeguards the common interest and the common goods.
This innovative city represents a unique model worldwide, and its reality aligns with the values we uphold: innovation, paradigm shift, sustainability, resilience, commons, and local anchoring. So, it is only natural for an Algerian urban innovation laboratory to draw inspiration from it
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