The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.

Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

Inner-city renewal and locational stability of

the poor: a study of inner-city renewal
program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A. Gossaye
Department of Town and Regional Planning
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Abstract

Focusing on the case of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, this paper
addresses the renewal of old inner-city areas of the developing countries. It is
rather common both in developed and developing countries, that most inner-city
neighbourhoods in the initial stage of their formation establish a balance between
residential and commercial activities. The prevailing trend toward increasing
commercialisation appears to be in rriost cases the predominant threat to the
inner-city poor resulting in uprooting people and dwellings, destroying the
micro-business and the informal economy established in the area, gentrification
and marginalization of the poor.
In what follows, the paper will describe and briefly analyse the causes of the
widespread deterioration and decay of inner-cities, conflicting interests and
impacts of explicit and implicit public-sector interventions. It advocates that
planners and architects should act as educators and enablers, facilitating people
to articulate their needs through the renewal of their urban environment. The
paper concludes that only with a more process oriented and participatory
approach can inner-city renewal benefit the whole community and be used as
vehicle to create sustainable quality and living environment in which people
could improve their economic and social position according to their own
capacities.
The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

438 The Sustainable City

Introduction

Driven both by socio-economic and political forces, changes are constantly

occurring in the urban environment. The essential characteristic of these
transformations, as noted by Couch [1], is that "they bring about change in the
use or occupancy of urban land and buildings and therefore result in change in
where, how and under what condition people live". In the process of this change
and growth there is also a shift in importance of sub-areas of a city. The old
inner-city areas, which traditionally provide shelter and employment
opportunities for the poor, are the main targets of such changes.
This is more apparent to Addis Ababa, which faces unforeseen transitions in
demographic, economic, environmental conditions as well as policies and
government structures. Following twenty years of economic stagnation and
urban neglect, economic liberalisation and privatisation since 1992, have brought
about thriving commerce and a rapid change in the physical fabric of the city.
The inner-city of Addis Ababa, even more than elsewhere, is at the centre of
current development efforts.
In response to this new development environment and with an ambition to
improve the urban environmental quality, housing standard, efficiency of
movement and urban aesthetics, the Addis Ababa city planning authorities have
tried to develop an urban system through inner-city renewal programs.
Realistically, no one would quarrel with such improvement objectives that
provide a more satisfactory environment. However, strong doubts have been
expressed as to whether the current approach is sustainable in many aspects. This
is the subject which underline much of the discussions in this paper. The findings
of this paper and the discussions in it are based on the author's present doctoral
dissertation on the conflicts, shortcomings and implications of inner-city renewal
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Urban growth and change

Rapid urban growth, which is being impelled by natural population growth as

well as by the basic shift in the distribution of the population toward urban and
metropolitan centres, has created significant changes in the urban systems of the
developing world. The particular pace of urbanisation and the extent of its effect
in any city are, in a sense, unique and therefore must be understood within the
context of the city's particular historical development, which will embrace a
wide range of issues. As Devas and Rakodi [2] have observed, it is the historical
context in which the cities were founded and grew, the structure of their
economy, culture, society, the commutative results of planning process and the
particular ideological and political milieu that make cities different.
Seen from this perspective, Addis Ababa may possess unique patterns
because of its historical development. Founded in 1886 by Emperor Menelik II,
Addis Ababa is the last in a succession of capitals of the Ethiopian Empire.
Addis Ababa, which means "New Flower" in Amharic, is an indigenous African
city. Unlike many other African capitals, its founding, growth and development
 The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

The Sustainable City 439

are not rooted in colonisation. It is formed casually, little by little. The builders
followed no formal plans that confirm to western concepts of planning and
design and the form and situation of the houses and streets came out as they built
them.
As a result, the townscape of the inner-city is of an organic character. Part of
the city's indigenous character was established by the early settlement patterns.
Soon after founding the city, Emperor Menelik began to allocate land to leaders
of the nobility, the military, and the church. The land grantees built residences
and/or churches on elevated or centrally located sites. As each of the grantees, in
turn, issued to their dependants use rights to land in the immediate vicinity of
their residence or church, and as more and more newcomers made attachments to
one of these encampments, a series of safars (neighbourhoods) of different sizes
and shapes emerged (Zewde [3]).
This marked the first land use pattern of the city which can actually be
considered as old unplanned neighbourhoods. Moreover, this historical origin of
the city has also produced a multi-centered urban system, where different
functions and different social and economic classes still mingle and live together.
This mode of development continued to exist in the subsequent years without
substantial planning intervention. Thus, throughout most of its history, Addis
Ababa's growth has been relatively uncontrolled. Ethiopia's worsening
economic circumstances and limited resources, ineffective planning procedures,
and inefficient institutions since the 1974 revolution, have resulted in failure to
control the direction and pattern of urban development, to provide residents and
enterprises with adequate services, or to establish a relatively autonomous
institution to manage urban growth.
Addis Ababa, being the capital city and centre of commerce, industries as
well as other amenities, such as education, health, and transportation facilities,
has been found to hold a record of population growth when compared to other
cities of the nation. It is exercising its privileges and rights to dominate the rest
of the urban system in economic, social and political activities of the whole
nation. As a matter of fact, its population accounting for 29 percent of the total
urban population is a clear demonstration of the overwhelming dominance it has
over the national urban system. Available information on Addis Ababa growth
indicates that within one century of its existence, the city grew to a metropolis of
nearly one and half million in 1986, and it now has a population of more than 2.6
million (CSA [4]).
However, this rapid rate of growth has not been accompanied by the
provision of basic urban services in the same or nearer to the growth rate.
Because of this failure, the fast growing population has put tremendous stress on
the already overstrained existing urban services. Besides, this growth and change
resulted in a number of other serious problems, which include high levels of
urban unemployment, vast spread of squatter settlements, extreme housing
shortage, pollution as well as other forms of environmental deterioration (Cole
[5]). It is obvious that in order to handle these crises the city authorities have
somehow intervened. The fundamental question is, however, how effective are
these government interventions in resolving all the problems.
The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

440 The Sustainable City

Public sector interventions

Since the 1960s, policies and strategies in response to the problems associated
with rapid urbanisation in developing countries have changed significantly. The
urban housing problem, one of the principal challenges facing most developing
countries, has attracted heated debate and controversy among scholars of various
disciplines. The huge amount of housing literature of this period (Abrams [6],
Turner [7], Ward [8], Payne [9], to name but a few) clearly demonstrates the
notable amount of professional interest in and knowledge of low-income housing
strategies. The different views expressed have changed the attitudes and policies
of governments and multilateral bodies as well as academic communities. The
most important aspect of these changes was the recognition of the role people
played in the housing process and acceptance, as legitimate form of shelter, of
their own creations and building standards, irrespective of their quality or legal
status.
Despite these changes in attitude, the authorities in Addis Ababa have
devoted themselves in project oriented activities and play the role of primary
provider instead of supportive to the users. But this centralised, top-down and
public sector provision has made no significant impact on the housing situation
of the city population compared to the task. This can easily be demonstrated by a
simple exercise with absolute figures. Census data from the period 1984-1994
indicate that while the number of households grew by 140003, the total number
of housing units constructed both by private and public sector over this period
were only 115187. The difference between these figures suggest that
approximately 25000 households were either homeless or have been
overcrowded in the existing stock (CSA, ibid.).
Apart from that, it seems that the city authorities have not yet realised that it
is counter-productive to clear old housing stock on wholesale basis, given the
tremendous housing demand. Obviously, this brought the role of the public
sector into question. Faced with enormous housing deficits and widespread of
environmental deterioration, is demolition of thousands of homes and relocation
of households the real answer?
As urban problems become increasingly complex and challenging, clear
policies are required to guide the process of urban change towards the desired
end. In Ethiopia, however, there appears to be lack of perspective and, more
significantly, lack of will for planned urban development. Decision-makers are
carried away more by the forces of development - national and international-
rather than influencing the direction of change by a conscious and well-
conceived policy frame. Despite some efforts of transformation into market
economy and market oriented housing sector, there is currently no
comprehensive urban development and housing policy at the national or regional
level.
One of the earliest public sector interventions was the nationalisation of
"extra (rented) houses" after the 1974 revolution for ideological reasons and as
practical attempt to make low-income housing accessible to the poor. As a result
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© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

The Sustainable City 441

of this, today nearly 40 percent of the total housing stock is owned by the state
(CSA, ibid.). There is no doubt that this measure, by maintaining rents at
affordable levels, has helped stabilise low-income households in inner-city
residential neighbourhoods, which they would have otherwise lost. However,
several negative effects are generally observed. First of all, private investment in
low-income rental housing had ceased, and consequently, an acute low-income
housing shortage was developed over the years. Secondly, it has presented
unmanagable tasks and expenses pertaining to repairs, delivery of services and
maintenance on the public sector. Arguably, therefore, as the government and
residents decline to assume responsibility and the rent collected is extremely
low, it has contributed to deterioration of the housing stock.
While lack of appropriate action to preserve the existing housing stock is
accelerating the process of urban deterioration, the scarcity of urban land for
poor families has also contributed for the acute shortage of housing and an
increase in the development of spontaneous settlements. In 1975, in an
endeavour to build a socialist economy, Ethiopia adopted a public land
ownership policy. Ownership and management of land have henceforth remained
in the public domain, at least in principle. Thus, to date the state bureaucracy is
responsible for overall management of land. It determines who gets or enjoys
what, where and how. However, recent years have witnessed a decreasing
capability of the state to manage urban land. This is evidently displayed by the
emergency of informal land markets and the extent of informal housing as well
as by gross underutilization of buildable sites.

The inner-city and its problems

Due to the rapid growth of cities in many developing countries, particularly in

Africa, attention has been directed mainly to new developments, that is to say, a
preoccupation with desperately trying to cope. The usually old and sometimes
valuable inner portions of the cities have been allowed to stay as they were. The
question of what should become of them in the future having been generally left
out of consideration. This areas are, however, more significant and important
than is commonly realised. In Addis Ababa, for example, the housing stock is
quantitatively very important. About 53 percent of Addis Ababa, most of whom
are low-income, live in the inner-city, the area of which represents only 14.53
percent of the total area within municipality's boundaries [10].
The old inner-city residential neighbourhoods of Addis Ababa not only
provide housing at rents that can be afforded by the low-income residents but
also provide, within the settlement areas, a wide variety of employment
opportunities, formal and informal. The inner-city which is characterised by
intensive mixed land uses is also a major economic centre. Paradoxically,
however, the majority of the residents are low-income and often engaged in
informal economic activities. Many households run small-scale commercial
activities in their home. Consequently, small kiosks, home-made drinks bars,
snack bars as well as small-scale repairing shops are concentrated in the area.
The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

442 The Sustainable City

Activities like street vending and personal services such as shoe shining, car
washing, carrying of goods, etc. provide an employment opportunity for a large
number of people in the centre of the city. Besides, the inherent stability of the
inner-city's low-income residents has led to the proliferation of kinship ties
within the area and the establishment of a wide variety of strong social and
communal organisations that provide the dwellers with essential social support in
the occasion of difficulty and stress.
If we look at the physical characteristics of the area, we find miserable
conditions and a degraded environment. The housing stock is often in
structurally poor condition due to a combination of factors including age,
inadequate maintenance and the pressures of overuse. Concerning the types of
construction materials used, the great majority of the housing units, 83 percent,
are of traditional "chika" construction: mud and straw on a timber framework
with corrugated iron roofing and in most cases without foundations and proper
flooring. Aside from its predominance, the main characteristic of this type of
construction is the need for constant maintenance. Unless this is carried out, the
mud cladding flakes off leaving the timber frame exposed to the elements, to
eventually rot and collapse.
Overcrowding is common and has two forms. The place is overcrowded with
buildings and the buildings are overcrowded with people. The number of persons
living in a single room ranges up to ten. This single room serves as a living
space, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, or workroom, among other purposes.
These areas are also characterised by inadequate circulation systems, scarcity of
water supply or drainage system, lack of toilets, high incidence of communicable
diseases and high rate of infant mortality. Besides, in some places they are also
susceptible to flooding and other hazards. Finding no alternative, the dwellers
struggle for survival in these settlements.

The need for renewal and the conflicting interests

In the inner-city areas, where conflicting interest groups are juxtaposed, the
interests are great and the stakes are high. In these areas the low-income groups
are competing with other interest groups for access to services and resources.
However, for obvious reasons their competitive position is weak and it is
generally worsened by explicit and implicit public-sector interventions.
In Addis Ababa, as mentioned above, land is owned by the state and the city
administration is highly engaged in the land market and derives revenues
therefrom. It is evident; therefore, that the city authorities would seek the most
profitable uses for land. Consequently, their interest to clear and redevelop this
valuable land or to aid private sector developers in doing so is very strong.
Besides, there is also a growing concern about the constant expansion of the city
into its agricultural hinterland, while a large quantity of urban land in the centre
is under-utilised. This also calls for redevelopment of the existing urban fabric.
Moreover, as a result of the pressures from donor agencies, such as the World
Bank, the new economic reform program of the country tends to support the
government's role as the promoter of economic growth by facilitating
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© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

The Sustainable City 443

investment. While it is generally assumed that this could create new
opportunities for the local community to improve their living conditions, the
benefits have in reality been much more socially and spatially differentiated. In
aggregate, this increased reliance on market would seem to divert focus and
diminish the equity, welfare and social goals embodied in state interventions.
In addition, the desire to make Addis Ababa a modern urban system and to
improve the image of the city originates from its national and international role.
In fact Addis Ababa is not only the capital city of Ethiopia but also the seat of
two among the most important international institutions in the world: the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the UN Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) and many other international organisations. As a consequence Addis
Ababa is one of the continent's largest and premier diplomatic centre. Besides
these functions, Addis Ababa being at the centre of a country rich in historical
monuments and natural sceneries offers tourist facilities and attraction. In order
to give adequate services to the needs of the national and international role and
become competent centre for domestic and foreign investment in the future, the
city must expand and upgrade the present system of services and infrastructure
supporting modern requirements.
Meanwhile, being in the city core, with location advantages such as
convenient public transport facilities, concentration of major economic, social,
cultural, administrative and political activities, and high population density, the
inner-city of Addis Ababa is nowadays becoming more and more attractive for
large public projects and commercial complexes. Real estate developers regard it
as an area for profitable development. Business firms as well as public
institutions looking for strategic locations for their enterprises have also great
interest in the area. As a result of this, a number of project proposals to undertake
redevelopment activities in the central part of the city are coming to the local
government from private developers initiatives.
For all of these and other reasons, renewal of the inner-city of Addis Ababa,
would appear to be necessary and very urgent. But there is an absence of clear
policy or direction to be followed. The critical questions of renewal as to 'how'
and to what purpose remain unresolved.

Shortcomings of the current approach

The adverse effects of the practice of mass demolition of property and forcible
resettlement from inner-city areas are well documented. The disruption of the
informal economy of the low-income groups, increasing burden on the public
sector in terms of the provision of replacement housing and services, disruption
of the social fabric and links with the past are some of the negative consequences
of this approach [11]. Because of the apparent failure of this form of renewal
program, recent years have witnessed the emergence of alternative strategies for
dealing with the problems of inner-city neighbourhoods.
Generally, it can be observed that the evolution of policies regarding urban
renewal were gradually evolving from demolition and eviction approach to a
softer, more socially, economically, culturally and environmentally sustainable
 The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

/I /\/\ The Sustainable City

approaches. As noted by Forster et al [12], more attention is given to issues like
improvement of the well-being of the community; preservation of invested
capital, promotion of economic development, preservation of cultural heritage
and traditions, preservation of the environment as well as extension of
democratic process.
Despite these global shifts in thinking, in Ethiopia, inner-city renewal through
clearance and resettlement is still regarded as the only viable way to modernise
inner-city areas. Although the inner-city residential neighbourhoods provide
affordable housing and economic opportunities to low-income households,
government-planning authorities have maintained negative attitudes towards
them over the years. This can be explained by the fact that the Addis Ababa
Master Plan documents labelled most part of the inner-city areas as 'slums' and
proposed clearance and redevelopment programs.
These areas, however, have physical, social, economic and cultural values
that are, perhaps, beyond the perceptions of bureaucrats or planners. Most of
these authorities are firmly devoted to the belief that physical ordering is the only
cure for all urban ills and to provide a more satisfactory environment. There is no
doubt that a good living environment is an asset but by no means the only one
necessary for a good life. A better environment also implies satisfying the
economic, social and cultural requirements of those who make use of the
environmental resources.
The problems of Addis Ababa are rooted in social, economic, political and
administrative complexity and they can hardly be corrected by demolishing older
residential neighbourhoods and sweeping out the poor from the inner-city. The
deterioration of the environment in the inner-city is the result of lack of
mechanisms that allow the low-income groups to take charge of the basic task of
upkeep. There can be little doubt that as long as those conditions which cause
poverty in the city remains, this dilapidated structures will continue to be an
integral part of the urban landscape.
No one would argue for total preservation of everything that exists in the
inner-city. But the present clearance and resettlement program in Addis Ababa,
which is highly motivated by the high value of land, is on a rather massive scale.
Sheraton surrounding redevelopment program [13] is a good example to
illustrate this. This program has been carried out since 1992 in three phases.
Namely, phase I, which resulted in the demolition of 397 residential units, phase
II, which resulted in the resettlement of 390 more households, and phase III,
which is presently at the project planning and design level, is expected to affect
the lives of 2443 households.
And this is by no means the end; in fact, it is just a very small portion of the
process. The overall planning area covers 150.5 hectares, in which it is estimated
that more than 9000 households live. This means that somewhere around 45000
people will actually be affected. If we include other similar projects like EGA
surrounding redevelopment program, one can imagine the amount of
displacement as well as the consequences that follow.
The case of Addis Ababa is also a clear indicative of the public sector failure
to understand the locational needs of low-income groups. The displaced
 The Sustainable city, C.A. Brebbia A. Ferrante, M. Rodiguez & B.Terra (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-811-2

The Sustainable City 445

households were resettled in the newly developed site about 10 kilometres from
the city centre. These suffered such hardships, in terms of loss of income owing
to disruption of their employment opportunities; the cost of transport is higher;
and the journey to work is longer and more tedious; and, as a consequence, the
cost of living is considerably higher and takes a larger proportion of the
households' income. Moreover, some residents admit feeling isolated there not
only because they are so far from the city centre, but also because they have lost
contact with their relatives, friends and even old neighbours who still live in the
inner-city.
It is, therefore, a serious challenge to the housing and planning professions, as
well as to the society as a whole, to clarify and comprehend the effects of
relocation and to identify policy options to reverse the trend of forcing low-
income groups to relocate in suburban areas.

Somefinalreflections

The fundamental question that arises from the discussions above is this: what
better alternative strategies exist to improve the inner-city of Addis Ababa where
there is limited government resources, competing interests, extreme housing
shortage, progressive decay of existing housing stock and environmental
deterioration? It would be difficult and pretentious to answer this question
exhaustively here. However, some suggestions could be made.
Results of theoretical studies as well as practical experiences suggest that
strategies geared to only one sector of urban development are a threat to
sustainability. Similarly, where constraints are many and competing interests are
numerous, there is hardly any single solution that can satisfy all the demands of
the various interest groups at once. Hence, a compromise between these
conflicting interests and goals would appear to offer a viable policy option.
The introduction of such an approach, however, would require important
political considerations, institutional reform, and tenure arrangements as well as
a high degree of social responsibility. Moreover, well-defined and unumbguous
improvement policies with an improved housing finance system under the
management of strongly committed and relatively autonomous institution are
other key elements in the success of this approach.
A sustainable and realistic renewal program must be comprehensive,
integrated and aim at restricting displacement to the minimum possible. In order
to implement a renewal program in this manner, the focus has to be not just on
the physical environment but on the social community as a whole. A grat
concern for maintaining the local community and hence, the long established
social fabric need to be developed.
As outlined in the previous sections, the continued ownership of the housing
stock by the state is one of the major reasons contributing for the deterioration
of the housing stock. In this respect, it seems apprpriate to devise a mechnism
whereby tenure could be transfered to the communities. Undoubtedly, this can
stimulate a greater involvement of the users in improving the living environment,
minimize threats of eviction, and prolong the lifetime of the housing stock.
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446 The Sustainable City

All who participate in any way in the planning, design and implementation of
improvement projects should be well aware of the need to look beyond the
purely technical matters and have to come to terms with reality. For the low-
income groups the housing condition is not always their principal concern but
the need to maintain an adequate income from whatever source may often
predominate an attitude to housing, especially where it is located. Hence, in any
effort to improve the inner-city condition, the issue of how to ensure the
locational stability of the inner-city poor needs to be treated as the foremost
concern.

References

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[9] Payne, G. K., Urban Housing in the Third World, International Textbook
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[10] National Urban Planning Institute, Addis Ababa Master Plan Summary
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[11] UNCHS, Upgrading of Inner-City Slums, Habitat; Nairobi, pp. 14-38, 1984
[12] Forster,W.,Gruber,H., Hansen, K.E., Tosics, I., Szolgayova, E. & Hauri, E.
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and Housing Modernization, UN Publications; Geneva, PP. 11-16, 1996.
[13] Addis Ababa City Administration, Sheraton Surrounding Urban Renewal
Project: Executive Summary, Urban Development and Works Bureau;
Addis Ababa, pp. 7-29, 1998.