Rooftop shanties top once-iconic Casablanca buildings

Casablanca, Morocco

SHANTIES have mushroomed on the rooftops of historic apartment buildings in Casablanca, as the Moroccan city's once-prestigious centre crumbles below.

Clotheslines, satellite dishes and tangled cables have sprouted on the deteriorating facades of the buildings, constructed nearly a century ago under French rule. What was once a feted blend of Moroccan and European architecture is falling apart under the weight of an expanding urban population and neglect.

The city "was once at the forefront of world architecture", architect Rac…