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Morocco is currently rushing to redevelop its coastal areas by introducing new territorial policies and mega-projects. Here we focus on two projects, the Tanger-Med (a new gateway and hub for the region) and the building of a marina in Casablanca downtown. Two major trends emerge, shedding light on the ongoing shift in the planning process. First, we show that in this context prestige projects are very powerful frameworks for the design and implementation of complex urban operations driven by capital. And it would seem that major tensions between the common interest and the profit imperative in some ways weaken this new form of global spatial production. Secondly, beyond the official discourses, prestige projects seem to be taking territorial governance in new directions: multi-scale partnerships; commitment of local representatives; and contests with the residents because of a lack of genuine participatory …