The spatial configuration of Oulad Azzouz confers a clear logistical advantage. The commune sits roughly 20 km from the Port of Casablanca, with the most distant locations approximately 25 km from the port, and it lies close to Mohammed V International Airport (about 6 km from the commune centre, up to 16 km from the periphery) (Figure 3). It is crossed or bordered by major road infrastructure—highway and regional road connections that link Oulad Azzouz to Casablanca, Bouskoura, Nouacer and other surrounding economic centers.

Mapping of transport infrastructure shows that establishments are not evenly distributed. They follow accessible corridors and concentrate where road connectivity supports logistics, supplier access and market reach. The pattern echoes broader research on transport networks and employment concentration, which has found that connectivity reinforces cumulative spatial advantages (Frye, 2026). Transport infrastructure functions here not only as a mobility asset, but as a spatial organizer of industrial investment.

Industrial land prices follow a strong spatial gradient (Figure 4). Most interior areas record prices of around 3,500–4,000 MAD/m², while locations closer to Casablanca and major infrastructure corridors reach 8,001–15,000 MAD/m². Some highly accessible locations along the northeastern boundary register prices between 15,001 and 35,000 MAD/m². The gradient reflects the capitalization of accessibility, metropolitan proximity and investor demand in land values.

The spatial distribution of industrial establishments indicates a concentration in areas characterized by relatively good transport connectivity and moderate land-price levels. Higher land-price zones located near Casablanca and major transport infrastructure also contain industrial establishments, whereas some lower-priced peripheral areas exhibit lower industrial presence, particularly where transport infrastructure and services are less developed. These observations are based on the spatial overlay of industrial locations, transport infrastructure and land-price zones, and should be interpreted as spatial associations rather than statistically verified relationships. The observed pattern is broadly consistent with concepts in land-use economics and agglomeration theory, which recognize the influence of land values and transport accessibility on industrial location patterns (Behrens et al., 2014; Cheshire & Sheppard, 2005; Glaeser & Gottlieb, 2009).

The density map reveals a pronounced spatial imbalance, with 38% of the commune falling within high or very high-density classes (Table 3). This concentration is not random, but forms well-defined industrial hotspots. The ANN test confirmed this clustered pattern with a ratio of 0.63 (z=−8.83, p<0.001), indicating that establishments are significantly grouped near logistics assets.

The results suggest that the observed distribution is highly unlikely to have occurred by chance. While this clustered pattern reflects the combined influence of transport accessibility, land-price trade-offs and agglomeration benefits, by which firms benefit from shared suppliers, labor and service networks, the ANN analysis establishes spatial association rather than direct causality (Figure 5). Consequently, while the patterns suggest that firms respond to infrastructure corridors and land-price variations, confirmation of the drivers of individual firm-level decision-making requires further regression-based evidence.

This concentration creates significant planning risks. Dense industrial nodes heighten localized pressure on roads, utilities and environmental quality, whereas low-density areas risk becoming disconnected from industrial opportunities. The overarching policy challenge for the municipality is to support productive agglomeration, leveraging the economic benefits of clustering, without allowing growth to become spatially exclusionary or environmentally unmanaged. Balancing these competing spatial needs remains essential for the future sustainability of the commune’s industrial development strategy.

KDE analysis identifies that the highest concentration of firms is situated along the northeastern road corridors, where infrastructure connectivity is at its peak, while the southern periphery remains largely under-industrialized.

Industrial development in Oulad Azzouz exhibits a spatially clustered and temporally uneven pattern that is associated with transport accessibility and land-price gradients. The ANN analysis provides statistical evidence of clustering: the observed mean nearest-neighbor distance (289.21 m) is substantially lower than the expected mean under spatial randomness (453.07 m), and a highly significant negative z-score. These results indicate that the observed spatial pattern is highly unlikely to have occurred by chance and suggests a significant degree of industrial clustering. The clustered distribution may reflect the combined influence of multiple location factors, including transport connectivity, land-price conditions and agglomeration processes; however, the ANN analysis alone does not establish a causal relationship between these factors and the observed clustering. Kernel density estimation further supports the presence of spatial concentration, with high- and very high-density classes occupying a significant proportion of the industrialized area, while other parts of the commune remain characterized by relatively low industrial density

The contribution of the is twofold. Empirically, the analysis provides fine-scale evidence from a Moroccan peri-urban commune—a scale less visible in industrial-location literature than national, provincial or metropolitan analyses. Conceptually, it shows that industrial growth in Oulad Azzouz emerges from interacting spatial forces: firms pursue accessibility to road, port and airport infrastructure, but also respond to land-price constraints and to the benefits of co-location. The case adds support to the broader argument that industrial clustering is produced by cumulative locational advantages and can deepen spatial inequality without deliberate territorial planning (Chakraborty, 2024; Mazouz et al., 2025).

Industrial clustering along major corridors in Oulad Azzouz highlights the decisive role of transport infrastructure in shaping peri-urban geography. Proximity to primary road networks and logistics nodes minimizes transport costs, while enabling localized externalities, such as shared access to labor, utility networks and supplier connections. This corridor-oriented concentration aligns with established evidence that transport expansion intensifies industrial clustering and restructures metropolitan linkages (H. Li et al., 2025; Keji et al., 2025; Zhang & Chen, 2025). In Oulad Azzouz, while this pattern enhances economic competitiveness and integrates the commune into Casablanca’s broader metropolitan dynamics, it also poses infrastructure challenges, notably localized road congestion and spatial disparities between well-connected corridors and isolated peripheries.

In tandem with infrastructure, land-price gradients act as a critical driver governing firm distribution. Higher land values near Casablanca and primary transport arteries push establishments toward areas offering a functional compromise, with moderate accessibility combined with manageable land costs. This trade-off positions Oulad Azzouz as a land-market compromise zone, where firms balance accessibility premiums against land scarcity rather than opting for prime urban nodes or remote, unserviced locations (Behrens et al., 2014; Glaeser & Gottlieb, 2009; Yao et al., 2025).

These dual dynamics have direct implications for peri-urban governance. Rising land prices along strategic corridors risk pricing out small and medium-sized enterprises, driving them toward unserviced peripheral areas and inducing fragmented, informal expansion (Biswas & Dey, 2026; Lin et al., 2015). Conversely, promoting peripheral expansion without simultaneous infrastructure delivery and environmental safeguards leads to inefficient land conversion and localized ecological pressure (Zhu et al., 2025). Incorporating land-price monitoring alongside infrastructure hierarchy is therefore essential to guide orderly industrial growth and maintain spatial equity.

Economic gains from clustering must be balanced against sustainability risks. While concentrated nodes enhance productivity and logistics efficiency, they simultaneously intensify traffic congestion, utility demand and thermal stress. Recent research emphasizes that industrial expansion significantly alters land-use and intensifies heat-island effects, necessitating closer integration between industrial development and urban environmental management (Al-Asadi et al., 2024; Bala & Dar, 2024; Toor & Khalid, 2026; Wu et al., 2025). Importantly, co-agglomeration is not inherently unsustainable; under appropriate institutional governance, it can even catalyze green innovation (Yang et al., 2024). In Morocco, this imperative is sharpened by the urgent alignment of industrial policy with national energy transition and climate-resilient development goals (Ikram & Nahdi, 2025; Tafrata, 2025).

Consequently, industrial growth in Oulad Azzouz should move beyond mere establishment counts. A sustainable strategy requires the alignment of spatial concentration with robust environmental safeguards, such as green buffers, wastewater control and emissions monitoring. Practical templates from established industrial estates confirm that effective management of industry–neighborhood interfaces is critical (Sulistyandari et al., 2026). Broadly, sustainability gains are most likely when industrial planning is coordinated with ecological constraints and community needs, rather than treated as an isolated sectoral policy (Al-Asadi et al., 2024; Diamantidis et al., 2025; Nasser et al., 2025).

While this study does not directly measure emissions, the identified industrial hotspots, with 38% of the commune in high-density classes, serve as critical planning hypotheses for future risk assessment. These high-density nodes represent primary areas of concern for traffic congestion and localized thermal stress. To bridge the gap between spatial association and environmental impact, future research should employ spatial regression and longitudinal remote sensing to formally confirm the causal relationship between these industrial clusters and localized urban environmental degradation. By moving from static observation to integrated management, the commune can support productive agglomeration while proactively mitigating the cumulative negative externalities of its rapid industrial evolution.

The findings support a shift from reactive land allocation towards corridor-based and node-based industrial planning. The commune should identify priority industrial nodes where accessibility, land availability and environmental suitability overlap, while avoiding uncontrolled expansion into areas where infrastructure is weak or ecological sensitivity is high. Territorial spatial-planning research argues that industrial growth should be guided by land-development suitability, resource-carrying capacity and the coordination of economic, settlement and ecological objectives (Fang et al., 2024; J. Li et al., 2025). Lessons from special economic zones and development-zone studies indicate that place-based industrial policies can promote industrialization and structural change, but that their impacts depend on local institutional capacity, integration with surrounding economies, and the quality of planning implementation (Abagna, 2025; Manilet & Sulistyaningrum, 2026; Otchia & Wiryawan, 2025; Wardhana et al., 2025; Ye et al., 2024). Spatial-modelling frameworks for industrial land suitability based on ensemble machine learning offer transferable methods for evaluating industrial location decisions across Moroccan communes (Mujtabe et al., 2026). For Oulad Azzouz, industrial zoning should be linked to road hierarchy, logistics access, utility capacity, land-price monitoring and environmental risk screening. Specifically, the commune must identify the northeastern corridors bordering Casablanca as priority industrial nodes. These specific areas overlap high accessibility and moderate land prices, making them the primary candidates for immediate infrastructure upgrading and environmental monitoring.

Several practical steps should be taken. Infrastructure investment should prioritize missing links between existing industrial clusters and strategic logistics corridors, rather than distributing road upgrades evenly across the commune. Land-policy instruments should protect affordable, serviced industrial plots for small and medium-sized enterprises so that rising land prices do not exclude local investors. In addition, industrial-density hotspots should be paired with environmental monitoring and infrastructure-capacity audits to contain cumulative negative externalities. Low-density areas should be evaluated carefully before being promoted for industrial expansion: low density may reflect underused potential or genuine constraints related to accessibility, land suitability, environmental exposure or infrastructure deficits. Finally, the commune should develop an updated geospatial industrial database recording establishment type, age, employment, utility demand, land parcel characteristics, environmental compliance and firm turnover. Such a database would let local authorities track whether industrial growth was consolidating into productive planned clusters, or dispersing into unmanaged peri-urban land conversion—a distinction that recent firm-dynamics and business-park studies show is decisive for territorial governance (Diamantidis et al., 2025; Lin et al., 2024).

The study has certain limitations. The analysis depends on administrative and field-verified establishment data whose accuracy reflects the completeness of local records and the availability of establishment dates. In addition, the work tests spatial association and clustering, but does not establish causal effects between infrastructure, land prices and firm-location decisions. The land-price layer captures spatial variation in industrial land value, but does not extend to parcel-level negotiation, ownership structure, tenure security or speculative behavior. The analysis also omits firm-level variables—employment, turnover, productivity, energy consumption, emissions, water demand and supply-chain relations—that would deepen evaluation of industrial performance and sustainability.

Four extensions would advance this line of work. Longitudinal remote sensing could quantify the relationship between industrial establishment growth, built-up expansion, land-use conversion and thermal environmental effects (Bala & Dar, 2024; Biswas & Dey, 2026; Parveen et al., 2023). In addition, night-time light imagery and space-time data mining would complement establishment data by capturing broader industrial intensity and socio-economic change (Hutasavi & Chen, 2024). Network-based accessibility modelling could replace straight-line proximity with travel-time estimates to ports, airports, highways and labor-market centers, allowing direct comparison with recent transport-infrastructure studies (H. Li et al., 2025; Zhang & Chen, 2025), while firm surveys could identify decision-making factors behind site selection: land cost, labor availability, logistics, regulation and access to finance. Finally, comparative analysis with other communes in Casablanca-Settat would clarify whether Oulad Azzouz represents a distinctive industrial trajectory or a wider peri-urban industrialization pattern in Morocco’s Atlantic metropolitan corridor.