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Sep-Dec 2009
  
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Features
 
DIALOGUE BUILDING - In order to house the exhibition URBAN LABORATORY ETHiopia in 2009, the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich decided to donate a building for the newly founded Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) at Addis Ababa University on Campus South. Free
The NEXT Urban explosion in Ethiopia - Cities are supposed to be places of density, efficiency and most importantly -places of hope. At present they are growing incredibly around the world — by a million babies and migrants each week. As the American architect Luis Khan once said, cities are places where children will find their dreams, hence the basic instinct of survival leads to migration to cities as spaces of varied opportunities. Free
 
Methods and Instruments for the Design of Future Cities - Cities are the largest, most complex and most dynamic man-made systems. They are vibrant centres of cultural life and engines that drive local and global economies. Yet, contemporary metropolitan territories are becoming environmentally, socially and economically unsustainable entities with the highest impact on climate and CO2 emissions. Traditional methods of planning and managing large cities have reached their limits. We therefore propose a set of methods and instruments to achieve sustainable future cities. Switzerland and ETH Zurich Science City serve as test cases. Free
 
Identifying the Basic Unit Preserving the Character of Addis - With increased demand for growth, preserving the basic character of the city shall become a challenge. Under this title, I shall discuss the importance of understanding the smallest (basic) building block that makes up a city structure. I shall take up the topic with the assumption that ‘basic unit dictates the morphology of a city.” Therefore for a city like Addis Ababa, identifying this basic unit is of prime importance to retain its organic character. Could there be an organizing force that binds this seemingly amorphous city structure together? At what scale could the city be managed: at the “plot”, or at the “block”; or at the neighborhood scale?
 
Towards Sustainable Land Use of Urban and Peri-Urban Areas - Cities and towns are persistently striving to cope up with the current fast paced urbanization through desperate provisions of shelter, infrastructure, services, energy, and subsistence commodities.
 
ADDISBUILT - The city of Addis Ababa has a rapidly growing urbanized population, with roughly 10,000 new households added yearly. 80% of households are low-income with 40% below the poverty line. The existing housing stock is to a large extent dilapidated, and infrastructure is insufficient lacking basic supplies of water, sewage management, power, or roads. Approximately 50,000 new living units per year need to be built within the next decade.  

AddisBuilt offers a concept for community based development with prefabricated three to four story row houses to be integrated within existing or new settlements, avoiding eviction of local populations or relocation of neighborhoods. As the units will be locally built, the program builds on current vocational training programs that encourage the formation of new micro and small enterprises in the construction industry. Hence creating jobs is integral to the project.
 
Urban Laboratory ETHiopia - With an annual growth rate of almost 7%, the Ethiopian population is one of the fastest growing worldwide. From its approximately 81 million in 2008, Ethiopia’s population can reach more than 125 million in 2025. Today, 83% of the population is living in rural areas, obtaining its income from agriculture and relying on a limited resource: land. Because of the limitation of this income source, a major shift from rural to urban area is likely to happen, as other examples around the globe have demonstrated already.
 
Challenges of new towns in Ethiopia - When the organizers of the recent conference on urbanization gave me this title, “New Towns – Made in Ethiopia”, I was confused: I did not know what to say about the topic but finally decided that my presentation would not be academic but rather an account of personal impressions and observations on urban development around the country. Since I have travelled a lot within the country and visited many regional towns, I took note of the urban development and its direction, which, most probably, is going to be the trend for future development throughout the country.
The Indigenous Urban Tissue of Addis Ababa A City Model for the Future Growth of African Metropolis - The present rapid urbanization going on in Africa is an unprecedented phenomenon as urban growth is no longer linked to economic growth. With this "urbanization in poverty", a new way of urban life is evolving for which an appropriate city model is needed. The city of Addis Ababa being the only large African city without a colonial legacy is built on an indigenous settlement pattern. This urban tissue consists mainly of two elements: street-liners, the linear development of mid-rise, mainly commercial buildings along the ever-expanding street network, and in-fills, low-rise, mainly residential buildings in-between the wide-woven grid of the street network.
THE MAKING OF URBAN ETHIOPIA - What kind of urbanity does Ethiopia want to build? In the face of a rapidly growing population, global exchange of goods and technology, and the country’s image in the media abroad, this question has acquired prime importance.
The Self-Built City - The symposium held on October 24, 2009, at Addis Ababa University brought an incredible amount of enthusiasm for action to address Ethiopia's growing urban population. The one question that continued to arise, however, was “how?” Or more appropriately, “Where can I as a citizen contribute?” Free
 
Interview
 
Dirk Hebel - It may not be as highly visible as talked about as the questionable but ubiquitous physical building activity we see specially in and around the country’s urban area, but there is a lot going on — the software side of Ethiopia’s construction industry — that is more sound, deliberate, scientific and all inclusive. And as the Scientific Director of the new Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, our guest for this issue is the heart of it all. We invite you to update yourself about these exciting developments, right from the horse’s mouth.