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Tlemcen is an ancient city that has an architectural and urban heritage testifying to 18 centuries of history. This city experienced ten rehabilitation strategies that created several architectural and urban interventions to save it. These rehabilitation strategies that are spread from 1960 to 2009 have not yielded the expected results and the city is in continuous degradation. Therefore, we wondered about the real reasons that led to these failures. For this, we compared the different methods of intervention to the theoretical model which is a fusion of several effective methods. It turns out that the majority of these procedures have shortcomings. In addition, these rehabilitations were carried out in a piecemeal manner. If we add the confusion in the prerogatives and the non-involvement of civil society, the reasons for these failures become evident. In conclusion only an effective rehabilitation method can take over the historic town of Tlemcen in a global way.

The first classification of historic monuments of Tlemcen dates from 1900 and the last from 2010. The 82 monuments date back to the Berber, Muslim and Roman eras. After the independence of Algeria, the French colonial heritage is not concerned by the rankings. They were removed from the list of monuments that was established by the French before 1962. The historic city of Tlemcen dates from the year 201 AD and features many old buildings. The latest ranking list does not reflect the architectural richness of this city. We then asked about the possibility of classifying the other historic buildings. From this questioning, we first identified all cultural goods which could be classified. Then we have evaluated these buildings following a grid of 20 heritage values. They are mentioned in the national and international legislation. It turns out that only 1.57 % of monuments of this city are classified.

Tlemcen is an Algerian historic city with an urban core dates back to 201 AD. It has an exceptional heritage through the passage of several civilizations. This city has been the subject of several interventions on architectural and urban heritage supported by ten special restoration plans. These interventions have not produced the desired results, so we wondered about the reasons that led to these failures. To this end, we calculated the rate of applicability, raised their heritage impacts and verified their compliance with the legislation of each era. It turns out that the majority of these interventions have not been completed, some have a negative impact on cultural property and do not respect the legal framework in force. In conclusion, we believe that to save the urban heritage of Tlemcen, global action, coordinated by appealing to heritage experts who will ensure the application of the shares in a regulatory framework is more than necessary.