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Historical development • Planned and Spontaneous Settlement • Urban Transportation

Addis Ababaplans and realities

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201018

Construction Ahead, jan-jun 201014

Addis AbabaPlanned and Spontaneous Settlement

by Filippo Fabrello and Lara Pilotto

What is striking about the urbanization process

in developing countries is its dimensions and characteristics. In particular its rapid dynamics and expansion like the high urban density compared to the overall population of each country .

After the World War II, the cities of some developing countries experienced an explosive urban growth which differed greatly, both

in quantitative and qualitative terms, from the urbanization process of European countries at the beginning of the industrial revolution. In the 1950s, forced by deteriorating agricultural conditions, millions migrated from the countryside to the city hoping to find better work, services and assistance. But differently from the European model, this phenomenon did not

have a proportional development of industrial resources, nor was the population integrated into the production cycle and thus causing high unemployment and a territorial imbalance between the rural and urban areas. As a consequence, the process produced large disjointed cities bringing together different physical, structural and functional parts, a legal system, quality standards,

Proposals to encourage dialogue

Addis Ababa’s city center

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services, and an economic capacity that differed markedly, from one area to another, amongst the population.

So, the origins of fragmentation date back to the colonial period, when the ideology advocated a separation of the colonizers from the natives. The urban structure alike reflected such distinction with plans for a European city set against a native quarter. Space

conceived in such a way left an indelible mark in the cities of colonialized countries. And even today, urban interventions, rather than seeking uniformity, seem to recreate and highlight these features of separation.

The Ethiopian city, especially Addis Ababa, with its unique traits, offers an evident example of how geographical features, Ethiopian traditions and a European cultural

influence have mixed to and determined its urban development.

The characteristics of historic centre

A historical and morphological study of Addis Ababa’s historic centre illustrates the presence of a particular urban structure.

The city, with its four main rivers (Ginfile, Kechene, Kurtume and Kebena) flowing north-south,

Addis Ababa's city center

Construction Ahead, jan-jun 201016

stretches across valleys and hills making its land use by the population very distinct. The earliest settlements appeared at higher altitudes (the Ghebi and other Sefers) and were connected by mountain paths along the crests. Their elevated position assured safety and better health conditions compared to settlements at lower altitudes which, in periods of heavy rainfall, were often prone to flooding. These axes play a vital role for the city, becoming the basis for planning a development in which greater symbolic value would go to important public buildings and monuments.

From the early 1960s, improper management of new settlements caused a significant population movement from the countryside to the city. Settlers built small spontaneous buildings along river banks or near roads, adapting their traditional rural settlement model to city space, materials and needs. In some areas excessive soil saturation attained unsustainable levels, causing depressions and the phenomenon of erosion which was due to deforestation. These areas have thus often become unusable because of their downhill slope and to flooding.

The above factors have contributed to create an increasingly complex urban reality, one that incorporates a vertical city of modern concrete buildings, and a horizontal city of dwellings built with metal sheets, wood and earth. While the planned city is based on an infrastructural system, the spontaneous city on the other hand is based on the orographic conformation.

The fabric of the planned city combines large size buildings for public use (ministries, hospitals, universities) and private ones (international hotels, conference centres, company headquarters, banks ...), limiting land use and the population density. The spontaneous city, in contrast, is organized according to its own rules and codes. Housing comprises mainly of one floor small units built with improper construction techniques, having poor maintenance and no foundations, no doubt the factors of the degradation.

Sanitation and related infrastructures are almost non-existent and distribution paths, made mostly with earth or slabs of local stone, owing to poor paving conditions, are not accessible to cars and buses.

Morphology’s city center and territorial sections

Relationship between river water and building density

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The spontaneous and the planned structures have generated a succession of different urban landscapes whose proximity does not necessarily translate into dialogue but rather into a break within the city itself. The boundaries separating the two are often contoured by barriers that block free access to public areas like parks, sports facilities, and social and public places. Public buildings, usually in concrete blocks, are fenced and stand separate from the residential fabric, whose entry is from the gates scattered along the urban fabric. The incredibly

versatile informal initiative has taken advantage of this element of outer division creating, for instance, small vegetable gardens or gardens for the residential area, or the fencing along main roads that served as constructions to set up small vending activities. The problems posed by this situation are by no means comparable to the methods or procedures tested in the cities of advanced industrial nations. Conversely, a hypothesis that focuses more on the material conditions of the city – and on the most significant segment of the population currently living in

precarious conditions – ought to be pursued. The goal should therefore be to attain a more balanced urban reinforcement by using urban models to orient spontaneous transformations towards maximum adaptability and transformability in the future.

Potential Dialogue

"In seeking solutions towards integration, caution, homogeneity and recognition are needed. The apparent risk is that the mechanisms – which, until now, have allowed the cities of the Third World to go their years, in

Project schemes of the allotment gardens

River’s section with allotment gardens, path and park

absorbing the enormous urbanization pressure – may break as M. Balbo pointed in 1991.

Further actions can stem only from an initial recognition that the city is connected to the two fabrics that share the river and an urban road axis around which buildings are developed. Our proposal strives to: first of all, to express the potential and characteristics of both urban realities, and then, to "integrate" the two so that city fragments can be joined to make a single and balanced unit. To guarantee such processes it is necessary: to enhance existing structures to become more accessible; built a network of infrastructures and missing services; create a series of intermediate areas between the two fabrics to reduce the gap between the planned and the spontaneous city.

The first strategy affects the two systems on which the city grows and develops, namely the urban axes and the rivers as they offer an opportunity to develop the structure of public space.

Plans along the axes include intervention on the continuous compression and decompression of empty space. By designing a series of collective spaces, and through recognizable elements, continuity can emerge. Whereas the area around the river banks is compressed by a residential fabric as no ban on building was imposed. The plan foresees that these areas be demolished so that water can once again become the prominent element for the community to enjoy.

River space was conceived to have two pedestrian bridges to link the two sides. The first, facing south, has a small community vegetable gardens that can be reached from the residences and are equipped with tool sheds; the second is dedicated to public recreational areas with a river park and green space. Here water is treated using plants, has a horizontal submerged flow, and it can, in part, compensate for the lack of sewerage from the part of the residential tissue.

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The second strategy enhances the city’s environmental system. This element, aside from the large parks and the river vegetation, comprises for the most part of tiny gardens and vegetable patches conferring consistent porosity to the entire historic centre.

To preserve and enhance this space, existing routes must be, however, be reinforced. Then a network connecting the two tissues has to be created. This enables the parts – the new greenspace projects and the existing city parks – to be related. These routes, the pedestrian and the one for vehicles, are conceived as green corridors to guarantee a balance in the biodiversity and to improve the drainage system of rainwater.

The third strategy works to overcome the concept of boundary

that exists between the two fabrics. A series of activities and the public space created along the borders strives to bring the two realities closer together. The spaces proposed are dedicated to sports, verdant areas and to traditional outdoor trade. These small areas will have fixed roofing for retail sale. The strip along rivers connects to the vegetable garden and its area that encourages direct sale to bring producers and consumers together. Access to the areas is guaranteed not only by the urban axes, as is already the case, but also and primarily from the informal fabric with the intent of transforming this space into a trading hub for the two realities.

The last strategy foresees that open space be reconverted into a quality space of the spontaneous tissue

which at present is compressed by an uncontrolled urban sprawl. The aim, achieved through minimal land use projects, is to assure community infrastructures and health care facilities.

Requalification of the spontaneous fabric

An analysis of the spontaneous fabric reveals the complexity of open space and how important it is to city life, to arenas of cultural activities and to the social relations of the City’s residents. These areas, often degraded because of a lack of management and maintenance, can be distinguished by their degree of privacy passing from a private to a public road, from a family context to the community and citizen context. In these contexts, courts, for example, become a sort of extension of domestic space with

River and market’s project images

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Augmentative residential model

Representation of urban void

Drainage systems

Project images of the residential area

Residential court scheme

Notes:

This article is an abstract from the Thesis “ Pianificazione e spontaneita’ nella citta’ di Addis Abeba - progetti ed azioni ricolti ad una logica

unitaria” - July 2009 by Lara Pilotto and Filippo Fabrello.

The authors wish to adress special thanks to Domenico Patassini, professor of evaluation methods at the Planning Department and Dean,

Faculty of Planning at Università Iuav di Venezia, who has provided his knowledge of Addis Ababa and followed with passion and enthusiasm

the development of the thesis."

the venue becoming, as it were an extension of the house where such actions as cooking, washing and eating are normally carried out. Aggregate housing units, built on a common area, offer basic services such as cooking and sanitation and encourage human bonding and reciprocal help – the underlying mechanisms for family survival and social wellbeing.

The project begins with the redevelopment of the above mentioned sites with interventions aimed at preserving the original charm and wealth.

The strategy embodies two different factors. The first examines the connections, that is the structural part of the fabric which enhances what is already there, completing it by redoing the paving. This operation is fundamental. It assures the supply of such systems as the water supply and the drainage system. The ground slope must be noted for it allows wastewater to flow and undergo treatment at the plant near the river. Paving design, by means of the "V" Section and the channelling also favours the removal of pluvial water which, if it stagnates, can cause structural problems to buildings in chika and cause disease. An equal proportion that compares to paved courts and paths is foreseen for greenspace (equipped with games), for areas with animal shelter and for the natural treatment of water.

The second strategy helps to plan the transformation of the built fabric. It sets out the structure related to buildings making it sufficiently porous to allow each unit to expand within its borders. The basic structure offers a non-binding support which can help avoid possible adverse effects on the urban environment caused by self-built constructions, but it can also aid the expansion process.

As it is impossible to transform all buildings by a single intervention, these areas shall have set rules and patterns established in building residential models. They set out how the buildings and spaces must be developed in time, including self-built housing.

This means studying models that allow the homes to develop according to family needs and opportunities. The basic cell, consisting of a room, kitchen and bathroom, can then be extended and new modules aggregated to create different combinations.

The projects illustrated herein offer an analysis of the spatial structure, the characteristics of the urban landscape, and the use of the area, departing from the identifications of Addis Ababa’s unique traits. The aim is to attain a balance between the planned and spontaneous city and to integrate urban transformations with city culture and traditions in order to enhance its potential for a richer life and making the best of its existing resources.

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