Habous Souq (New Town Market), Casablanca

The Habous Souk, often referred to as the New Town Market, was designed to resemble a traditional Moroccan medina, combining orderly urban planning with historical architectural forms. It was conceived as a cleaner, more structured alternative to the old medina, without abandoning local building traditions.

Unlike the dense and sometimes chaotic feel of the old medina, the Habous Souk is laid out along wide, navigable streets and shaded arcades. The market offers a wide range of traditional goods. Visitors will find shops selling carpets, leather slippers, clothing, brassware, ceramics, and handcrafted jewelry, alongside bookshops, including well-known sellers of religious texts and Arabic literature. Small cafes, bakeries, and traditional pastry shops are woven into the fabric of the souk.

The atmosphere here is noticeably more relaxed than in the old medina. Shopkeepers tend to be less insistent, browsing is unhurried, and conversations often drift toward tea rather than transactions. While bargaining still exists, it is generally low-key. The Habous Souk is open daily during normal daytime and evening hours, though individual shop schedules vary, and many close for prayer times or early in the evening.