Engaging with other cities and staying ahead:
Mayor Bekkali on LUCI and the role of light in Fez
Fez has become the third Moroccan city – after Rabat and Tiznit – to join the LUCI network. But even before this milestone, the city was already actively involved through the AVMEP project, notably hosting a successful training and workshop event in early 2025.
We had the pleasure to meet the Mayor of Fez, Mr. Abdeslam Bekkali, and get his perspective on the city’s relationship with LUCI and the importance of light in shaping Fez’s urban future.
LUCI: The city of Fez has just joined the LUCI network. As Mayor of Fez, what does light represent for you?
Mayor Abdeslam Bekkali: Light is very important for our daily life. There is day and there is night. How do we live at night? How do we create a safe and attractive night so that both our citizens and visitors passing through Fez feel good here?
For us, light is a means of cultural, festive, and event-based animation. But it is also about energy: energy transformed into light to bring wellbeing to everyone. For a municipality, it also represents a cost, an investment of resources to adapt to climate change, as well as operational expenses, which make up a significant percentage of our annual budget. How can we intelligently minimise this cost while preserving quality of life? This is what drives me as Mayor of Fez.
Why did the city of Fez decided to become a member of LUCI?
We chose to join this organisation because it represents a breath of fresh air, a way to project ourselves into the future. How can we exchange ideas? How can we convince others about the changes essential to preserving and improving quality of life?
We are very proud that the council voted for this membership, following the excellent recommendation of our technical services, which had already participated in some LUCI workshops.
Like the city of Rabat, which today chairs LUCI and represents the first African presidency of this network, we wanted to benefit from this constructive exchange. LUCI will give us perspective, allow us to engage with other cities around the world, and help us stay ahead.
What are your perspectives for the future of Fez, and of light?
Our city is a city of history, with more than 12 centuries! A history of resistance, resilience, civilisation; it is a great city of the world! A spiritual and cultural capital, an imperial city, the cradle of Morocco.
Thanks to the will of His Majesty the King — may God assist him — we are very proud to soon host the Africa Cup of Nations, and in a few years the World Cup. This brings a wave of renewal in terms of infrastructure and narrative for our local authority. It gives us energy, and it requires a lot of work, which we can carry out successfully thanks to the commitment of the State, the government, and local authorities.
We must invigorate the tourism sector, improve infrastructure, and of course enhance public lighting, which highlights our developments and supports our cultural identity. This shapes the spirit of the city.
The youth are watching us, and our thinking focuses on the post-2030 era and the legacy this will leave. We want today’s projects — including lighting initiatives — to be responsible and useful for the city of tomorrow.
Photo credits
©LUCI Association; ©Zoubir Ali
