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The promotion in 1974 of the city of Adrar to the rank of chief town of wilaya has enabled it to become a real attraction of the populations thanks to its regional tertiary equipment level. Its role is reinforced by its strategic position as a border wilaya with Mali, which makes it a transitional or final target for the poor sub-Saharan populations. The oasis agglomeration consequently undergoes profound transformations. Its urban settlements are today composed of a great diversity of spatial entities whose characteristics depend, for some, on the urban policies initiated by the state at the time of their construction, while the others are the product of “spontaneous", urbanization such as the neighborhood of Bni Ouskout. The latter has developed not far from the center of Adrar, the actors of its production being mainly made up of social groups from distant areas (Touaregs). It is a large “spontaneous" and “irregular" neighborhood, with socio-economic, morphological and relational components quite different from other neighborhoods in the city. It constitutes a sociospatial margin which local authorities are struggling to restructure because of lack of cooperation of its inhabitants. The resistance shown by the inhabitants to the restructuring project is due to the fact that many of them would be forced to modify their practices, such as those related to their occasional residence and their “transit" situation, which would jeopardize the functioning of informal activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]