REPORT ON BUILDING HEIGHT REGULATION

UPDATING STUDY FOR ADDIS ABABA

Review of literature

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About this report

The study on the updating of the building height regulation of Addis Ababa has the following three
reports:

1. Report #1:this report is about the review of literature on international and local experiences
2. Report #2: this report contains all information collected during the one month field work
undertaken by infrastructure team and urban design and planning team.
3. Report #3: this is the final design report

Report #1

This is report #1 where the review of literature and local experience related to building height
regulation is thoroughly discussed. The three study teams have tried to assess the experience of
different countries in the developed and developing world. The design formulas that were widely
used in the determination of the minimum and maximum building height for Addis were derived
from these studies.

Part one of this report presents the economic rationalities the study team has to consider in
updating the building regulation of Addis Ababa. The second part is a review of literature in the
international context. The third part presents a brief assessment of the current building height
regulation of Addis. Both strength and weaknesses of this regulation are widely discussed. The last
part is related to infrastructure.

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Contents
Part I7
Economic factors affecting building height: literature and local context
review 7
1. Introduction 9

1.1. Background of the Study 9

1.2. Objective of the study 10
1.3. Methodology of the study 10
2 Building height: history and determinants 11

2.1 history of building height 11

2.2. Socio- Economic Determinants of Building Height 12
2.3. Impacts of Building Height 17
2.3.2. Land-Requirement........................................................................................................................18
2.3.3. Building Form and Use..................................................................................................................18
2.3.4. Structural Stability and Efficiency.................................................................................................19
2.3.5. Foundations..................................................................................................................................19
2.3.6. Materials and Environmental Impact of Buildings........................................................................19
2.3.7. Services in Tall Buildings...............................................................................................................20
2.3.8. Towards Sustainable Construction and Operation.......................................................................20
2.3.9. Buildings and Energy Use..............................................................................................................20
2.3.10. Energy Use and the Ownership of Buildings...............................................................................21
2.3.11. Fire Safety Engineering...............................................................................................................21
3 Factors Affecting Building Height 23

3.1 Socio-Economic 23
3.2. Rental Income versus Building Height 26
3.2.1. Results of the Sample Survey........................................................................................................26
3.2.2. The Ethiopian Bankers Association Manual..................................................................................28
3.3. Land value 32
3.3.1. Characteristics of Land.................................................................................................................32
3.3.2. Land Rent Compared With Market Value.....................................................................................33
3.3.3. Utility, Scarcity and Desirability....................................................................................................34
3.3.4. Factors That Contribute To Land Value........................................................................................35
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 3.3.5. Land Value Map............................................................................................................................35
3.4. Determining Building Height 39

PART II 42
Building height from a historical and design perspective: 42
Review of literature 42
1 Building height in historical perspective 44

1.1 The growth of cities and the importance of space 44

1.2 Building height in historical perspective 45
1.2.1 Building height before the medieval era.................................................................................45
1.2.2 Building height in medieval era..............................................................................................46
1.2.3 Building height in Renaissance cities......................................................................................46
1.2.4 Building height in industrial cities...........................................................................................47
1.2.5 Building height in modern era...............................................................................................48
1.2.6 The future of building height..................................................................................................48
2 The need for controlling building height 49

2.1 Why and how to regulate building height? 49

2.2 Building height zoning/regulation 50
2.3 Defining building height 51
2.4 Factors influencing building height regulation 52
2.4.1 Orientation.............................................................................................................................52
2.4.2 Insolaiton................................................................................................................................53
2.4.3 Solar light (right of sun shine/sun shadow)............................................................................54
2.4.4 aesthetics................................................................................................................................55
2.4.5 Texture...................................................................................................................................58
2.4.6 Wind/wind rose......................................................................................................................60
2.4.7 Urban heat island...................................................................................................................63
2.4.8 Sky line....................................................................................................................................63
2.4.9 Over looking............................................................................................................................65
2.4.10 Over shadowing.....................................................................................................................65
2.4.11 Overbearing...........................................................................................................................66
2.4.12 Structure................................................................................................................................67
2.4.13 Aggrandizement.....................................................................................................................69
2.4.14 Density...................................................................................................................................70
2.4.15 Open spaces...........................................................................................................................70
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 2.4.16 Environment..........................................................................................................................71
2.4.17 Function.................................................................................................................................71
2.4.18 Land use.................................................................................................................................72
2.4.19 Land value...............................................................................................................................72
2.4.20 Geological factors..................................................................................................................72
2.4.21 Aviation regulation................................................................................................................73
2.4.22 Infrastructure.........................................................................................................................73

Part III 78
Review of the updated building height regulation of Addis Ababa -2008
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Tables and Figures 79
1 Introduction 80

1.1 Purpose of the review 80

1.2 Background 80
1.3 The main principles followed in setting the building height zoning 81
1.4 methodology deployed for Existing situation Assessment on Building Height in 2008 82
2 The results of the existing situation Assessment on Building Height in 2008 83

2.1 Assessment results on Building permit Data 83

2.2 Assessment results on existing high rise buildings 83
2.3 Assessment results of requests 85
2.4 Assessment result of Ldps 86
2.5 Assessment of Civil Aviation Restriction Rule 88
2.6 The updated building height proposal of 2008 89
2.6.1 Summary of the updated building Height rule........................................................................89
2.6.2 Major difference and similarities between the original building height regulations and the
updated building Height Rule.................................................................................................................91
2.6.3 Changes on minimum building height regulation...................................................................91
2.6.4 Changes on maximum Building height regulation..................................................................92
3 Conclusion 94

3.1 What was gained 94

3.2 Observed limitations 94
3.3 Major concern forwarded during updating 95
References 96

Part IV 97
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Study of Infrastructure for Updating of the Addis Ababa Building Height
Regulation 97
Part- II: - MAJOR FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS99

1.1 Introduction 99
1.2 Objectives 99
1.3 Scope 99
1.4 Approach and Methodologies to employed 100
1.4.1 Approach.....................................................................................................................................100
1.4.2 Methodologies to employ...........................................................................................................100
2. Utility Lines 100

2.1 Water Supply 100

2.2 Power Supply 101
2.3 Telecommunication system 101
2.4 Sewerage system 101
3. Road Network 103

3.1 Key Points of individual road analysis 103

3.2 Pedestrian and bicycle facilities 105
3.3 Road Capacity Standards 106
3.3.1 Road Pedestrian Capacity............................................................................................................106
3.3.2 Road Vehicular Capacity Standards.............................................................................................107
3.4 Factors Affecting Road Capacity: (Service Volume) 107
3.5 Desired speeds 109
3.6 Evaluation of the urban road capacity 109
3.6.1 Capacity formula for the peak-hour traffic flow..........................................................................109
3.6.2 Capacity formula:-example of peak-hour....................................................................................110
3.6.3 Capacity formula-2......................................................................................................................110
3.6.4 Capacity formula-3......................................................................................................................111
3.6.5 Formula-4: Calculation for future traffic......................................................................................111
3.6.6 Formula-5: Basic capacity............................................................................................................111
3.6.7 Formula-6: capacity of a lane......................................................................................................112
3.7 Standards for capacity of a lane.....................................................................................................112
3.7.1 Case of Capacity and Performance..............................................................................................112
3.8 Recommendation...........................................................................................................................114

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Part I

Economic factors affecting building height:

literature and local context review

By: Sisay Zenebe and Eyasu Kumera

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Tables

Table 1: No. of Real Estate Developers and construction companies licensed in Addis A

Table2: Estimated GDP of Addis Ababa for the Industrial Sector for the period 1996 - 2005 (In
Million Birr)

Table 3: Geographical distribution of the sampled buildings

Table 4: Central Tendency and Dispersion results of the sampled buildings

Table 5: Rental value dispersion (Minimum and Maximum) across sample sub cities

Table 6: The rank of plot grades in Addis Ababa City Administration

Table 7: Property Grading Index

Table 8: Land value of selected Sub Cities in Addis Ababa

Figures

Fig1. Land Value Map in selected sub cities in Addis Ababa

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1. Introduction

1.1. Background of the Study

Addis Ababa, as the mega city of Ethiopia, has remarkable responsibilities in terms of creating a
comfortable, livable, commercial and sustainable hub of the country as well as Africa. It is utterly
correct that this responsibility should be backed by well functioning sets of urban development
related directives of which building height regulation is among the leading one for obvious reasons.

Building heights should be regulated for various reasons. Several literatures suggest that
economic, social, engineering, aesthetic, historical, efficiency; sustainability and similar related
motives drive building heights to be restricted. These reasons indeed apply for Addis Ababa case.
According to ORAAMP (2003), the rationales for conducting building height regulation study for the
revision of Addis Ababa master plan include:

 To encourage and promote investors to utilize their available resources to the

maximum.
 To manage and use efficiently urban land
 To manage and use efficiently the existing urban infrastructure
 Densify the city by reversing the current horizontal city development trends to the
vertical ones.
 Increase municipal revenue through taxes and user’s fees for municipal services.
 Create employment
 Activate the building industries
Via taking into account the abovementioned principles and justifications and also in order meet the
escalating need of real estate developers for increased height, the 2003’s City’s building height
regulation study was revised in 2008 with the aims of integrating the increasing need of citizens,
improving the observed limitations of the existing plan and its regulations and harmonize and
integrate new development directions of the city.

Recently, the City Administration has come up with an idea of undertaking a comprehensive
revision of the City’s building height regulation in collaboration with EiABC. Inline with this, it was
found imperative to scrutinize and evaluate various aspects of the existing building height

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regulation of which investigating socio-economic justifications for altering building heights is among
the issues to be discussed in the planned study.

Hence, the prime intent of this study is to put socio-economic justifications for altering building
height in the city.

1.2. Objective of the study

The major objectives of the socio-economic aspects for the planned building height regulation
study include:

 Conduct review of the literature and draw best practices in relation to economics of building
height
 Generate the land value map of the city and investigate the relation ship between land
value and building height
 Explore the major economic forces that influence density and building height
 Forward pertinent recommendations based on the findings

1.3. Methodology of the study

The study utilized both primary and secondary sources for data collection. Primary data was
gathered via conducting a sample survey on selected 59 buildings of the city which have more
than two floors. Originally, it was intended to undertake the sample survey on 200 buildings but
latter the study team was forced to gather information from only 59 buildings due to the observed
high non-response rate during pre-test phase. Purposive sampling technique was employed to
nominate the buildings to be sampled.

Secondary data was collected from various sources such as Addis Ababa City Administration,
Information and Urban Plan Institute and Land Administration Authority, the Sub Cities and
different published and unpublished documents. The collected data was analyzed using
appropriate analysis techniques.

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2 Building height: history and determinants
2.1 history of building height
Emergence of tall buildings is highly associated with transportation and technological innovations
exhibited in late eighties and early nineties.

For instance, most current cities of the modern world (such as the New York) were walking cities
before vehicles were invented. The first innovation introduced in the cities were steam ferry service
then horse driven buses (omnibuses) and on trucks. Electric trolleys were introduced after horse
driven carts followed by commuter railroads and finally subways. These all improvements definitely
had a positive influence over population density increment in cities that called for elongated
building heights.

Similarly, technological innovations had a positive influence over the rise of skyscrapers. New
techniques such as introduction of iron and steel skeleton and elevators in building technology
have indeed encouraged construction of tall buildings. Before iron and steel skeleton, supporting
walls were stone and brick and these were too expensive to build high because they needed
thicker and thicker base walls. Similarly replacement of steam elevator by hydraulic elevator,
heating and cooling technology, wind bracing technology, artificial lighting (electricity) and steam
powered construction tools (such as cranes, shovels, etc) also encouraged building of
skyscrapers.

Though architects have discussed different aesthetic styles that have evolved over the years, this
discussion cannot take place without also mentioning the larger economic, technological and
political forces at work.

With regard to the recent skyscrapers epoch, the first period was before 1916. In this period, 20-30
stories were profit maximizing levels and arrangement of office space and building were mainly
based on need to maximize exposure to sun light. The second period was between 1916 and
World War II and this period saw a massive speculative and building frenzy which resulted in high
race for tall buildings, though depression and World War II put ‘kaybash’ on skyscraper market.
The post World War II up to 1970s period was somehow pursued an international style and in this
period glass boxes were not only in fashion but were more profitable. The 1961 Zoning Resolution
actually promoted what we call the international style. Indeed, “Incentive zoning" offered a bonus of
extra floor space to encourage developers of office buildings and apartment towers to include
plazas in their projects. In this post World War II up to 1970s period emphasis was given to the

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creation of open space. It was a product of the best planning, economic and architectural skills of
its time.

Many more new approaches have been introduced in different countries of the world since 1961.
Incentive zoning, contextual zoning, special district, air-rights transfer and restrictive covenant
techniques have been used to make zoning a more responsive and sensitive planning tool.

From1970s on wards, the world has seen several tall buildings such as the Freedom Tower, 1776
feet tall. The skyscraper epoch of this period is in fact dominated by the “Asian Tigers”. In this
period, 60-70 stories are considered to be economic heights.

2.2. Socio- Economic Determinants of Building Height

Building height is influenced by several socio-economic factors. The major ones are discussed as
follows.

 Marketability: Preferences of buyers and renters in a particular market may determine what
the building height should be. Some markets reflect a demand for more compact, cost-effective
units while other markets demand higher, more luxurious ceiling heights.
 Development Feasibility/Cost: Higher ceilings increase construction material costs.
Additionally, depending on building height limitations, lower floor-to-floor ceiling heights may
allow a development to achieve an extra story of development. Because of the likely increase
in costs associated with a taller building, (e.g. five or more stories), increased height may not
make economic sense since the additional return provided by more units does not cover the
additional costs. However, at a certain height, the additional number of units accommodated by
more floors may justify the additional costs. There are also a relatively greater burdens
immediately set up by tall buildings’ additional value, in taxation and assessments and their
own depreciation.
 Land value: determined by the market, hence the building height too in order to maximize its
utilization. City centre developments in general are taller than those in a rural environment
mainly due to the cost of the land. Mathematical relation between land value and the economic
building upon the site can be explained as follows:
 No. 1. Rate of rental per square foot of net rentable area required to produce interest on
value of the site:

A= (10000 x V x i/r) / (f x n x p)

A = rent per square foot required in dollars.

V = value of site per square foot.

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 i = rate of interest on investment.

r = ratio of net income to total income.

n = per cent. of occupied or net rentable area to gross area of building floors.

p = percentage of site occupied by building.

f = number of stories in building.

 No. 2. Rate of rental per square foot of net rentable area per annum required to
produce interest on cost of building: a = 100xvxi/r/fxn h = average height of stories. f =
number of stories.
H = h multiplied by f, or height of building in feet. c =cost in cents of construction per
cubic foot of building. k = carrying expenses during construction in per cent, of cost
of construction. V = value of building, or H multiplied by c plus k. n = per cent, of net
rentable area to gross area per floor. i = rate of interest. r = ratio of net income to
total rentals. a = rent per square foot required.

 When the value of the site combined with the building is to be established from known
or assumed rates of rental, the following method will afford the means of determining
the established value at any desired rate of interest:

T= [(S x n x r x f) / (100 x i)] x b

S = rate of rental per square foot occupied or rentable area.

n = per cent. of net rentable area to gross area of building.

r = ratio of net income to total income.

f = number of stories in the building.

i = rate of interest, per cent. per annum.

b = area of the building in square feet.

T = total invested value of site and building.

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 Economic capacity: economic capacity of local investors directly affects the types and the
sizes of the projects and hence the level of building height.
 Per capita income and Population: increase in real per capita income and population size is
associated with more demand for spaces which results in emergence of tall buildings.
 Change in prices of rent and supply constriction: increase in prices of rent and supply
constriction (due to shortage and expensiveness of land, shortage of building construction
materials, short term increase in demand, etc) is expected to stimulate investors to construct
taller buildings.
 Economic and engineering height: Virtually, there is no engineering limit to height. However,
economic height reflects the maximum height (and square footage) that generates the highest
net return on the investment. Economic height in fact reflects various costs to purchasing land,
building and operating the structure. At some point (for floor height) the law of marginal
diminishing returns starts to kick in (i.e., additional market rents do not cover additional costs).
The traditional neoclassical economic theory says that profit is maximized when the price level
is equal to the marginal cost (p=mc). In other words, if MC<P, builders may want to add
additional floors as far as it is profitable. In the absence of government regulation, standard
economic theory predicts that, in equilibrium, buildings will be sufficiently large so that price will
equal marginal cost (which will also equal average cost). If government regulation limits
building heights, prices will be above marginal costs, but as long as there is competition in the
construction industry, prices will still equal average costs for the marginal builder.
 The key marginal costs of building tall buildings instead of more, lower rise
buildings to accommodate the employment growth are: 1) construction differentials and 2)
transport / infrastructure costs.
 The regulatory tax: In many countries the presence of land taxation has been one of the key
factors in encouraging developers to construct tall buildings to maximize their returns. In Addis
Ababa, lease payment and 30% rental income tax may encourage investors to increase their
buildings’ height.
 Building size and rental value: In the case of tall high rises, the views available from being
“above your high-rise neighbor” can command premium rental rates with happy-to-pay tenants.
For multi-use high-rises, there are several obstacles for providing market rate spaces that
single-use high-rises do not encounter. Some literatures suggest that there is a positive
correlation between rental value and the size of a building. For example in New York,
Manhattan it was found that there is a tendency of prices to rise in value with building height.
The larger the building size, the higher renting price. This is because taller buildings will
perhaps be of higher quality and may be made of more expensive building materials. However,

14
 it is unclear if this price differential reflects better views or other characteristics that might be
related to building size.
 Sustainability: High-rise buildings are required for sound commercial reasons. They may be
required for more office accommodation, their efficiency with respect to land use, the ability to
serve many people from existing transport and services infrastructure and occupier demand for
prestigious locations. One component of sustainability is the impact of location on economic
issues. These economic issues are availability of land, alternative accommodation and labour;
costs of land, building costs; cost of energy, quality of neighboring developments and
desirability and future flexibility.
 Density and Productivity: At a basic level, a more dense arrangement of economic activity
means that a greater quantity of activity can take place within a fixed land area. Some
literatures suggest that there is a positive correlation between density and productivity. Seminal
work by Ciccone and Hall (1996) assessed the impacts of density on productivity in the US,
and found that doubling employment density (as a result of building taller buildings), and
keeping all other factors constant, increased average labour productivity by around 6%. More
recent work by Dan Graham (2005b, 2006) examines the relationship between increased
effective density (which takes into account time traveled between business units) and
increased productivity across different industries. Graham finds that across the whole
economy, the urbanization elasticity (that is, the response of productivity to changes in density)
is 0.125. Location of additional density in accessible areas is a key component of deriving
economic benefit. The focus for increased density should be on locations with good
accessibility, particularly with regard to public transport. Furthermore, these locations should be
in key commercial districts where private sector businesses can take advantage of existing
agglomerations. In many central business locations where land is scarce the provision of tall
buildings is often the only means by which increased density, and the resulting increased
productivity, can be achieved. Equally, tall buildings and high commercial density may not
contribute to productivity everywhere, as the modeling exercise demonstrated. Careful
consideration of a particular location and its existing infrastructure must be given to assess the
potential economic benefits and risks.

Tall buildings versus efficient public transport : Provided that it is close to transport nodes, high
density commercial or mixed use development has the double advantage of both reducing the
need to travel and encouraging the use of public transport as many employees will be only a
short walk from their stop.

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 Competitiveness: Housing more employees under one roof can increase a firm’s efficiency,
especially as mergers and consolidation has become the trend in financial and business
services, a large quantum of office space is required to have everyone under one roof, and this
often means tall buildings in key urban areas- where services businesses want to be. Tall
buildings also provide a degree of flexibility for tenants, where expanding and contracting can
often be relatively easily accommodated, compared to being in a smaller building. Tall buildings
can also be attractive to these sectors (such as IT and advanced financial services) by
providing a high-profile space. For a city’s aim of competitiveness, these sectors are among the
more likely to use tall buildings for image: “Tenants appreciate a landmark address…” (Kalita
and Watts, 2007 P. 1).
 Function and building height: Functional requirement is the principal factor in the planning of
tall buildings as it dictates the lease span, building form, floor-to-floor height, core planning and
vertical transportation.
 Welfare and Building Height: Economic aspects of tall buildings should be reviewed from the
standpoint of the impact of the proposed high-rise construction project on the welfare of the
nearby urban population. The positive and negative impacts of a proposed project should be
examined in comparison with a "normal" project, as if constructed at a height and density
compatible with requirements of the original master plan. Positive impacts can be expressed
for example in improvements at the social level, in improvements in the urban landscape or in
its financial contribution with respect to tax collection and other areas. The proposed procedure
should relate to the review of each area: engineering, environmental, social, economic and
architectural – both individually as well as in an integrated examination of the entire plan. The
review should be performed from the standpoint of the municipal authority, while referencing
the standpoint of the developer and the resident.
 Economic considerations of Maximum size: The study of the probable "maximum size" of
building, constructed so that it will show the maximum return on the investment, is a most
difficult matter for the following reasons:
1. Variations in the size and shape of plot

2. Effect of elevators and building utilities

3. Variations in rental rates

4. Variation in building cost per cubic foot

5. Variation in time of construction

 The "maximum building" the total rentable area per square foot of plot is that area required to
afford the maximum potential returns on the investment. In other words, if a smaller rentable
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 area per square foot of plot is developed the income may be smaller in proportion to the total
investment, and if a larger rentable area per square foot of plot is developed it will be found
that the carrying charges during construction, etc., so increase the capital costs that, although
the gross return in actual dollars may be greater, yet this return compared to the required
investment shows a lesser rate of earnings.
 Building height and Mortgage: For so important a building, this is evidently a satisfactory
result, and as a mortgage is placed upon the building at that rate of interest, the equity or
remainder stands upon the same basis of interest as the mortgage. But it is to be noted that
while the interest upon the mortgage would be secured as a prior lien upon the income, the
remainder or equity would depend for the stability of its revenue upon the maintenance of the
present rates of rentals, of taxation, and of other elements included in the cost of operation.

2.3. Impacts of Building Height

2.3.1. High-Rise Buildings and Use of Materials

Tall buildings generally require large volume of materials to construct than medium and low rise
buildings and thus they entail eminent amount of finance. The range of cost and quality in the
construction of new buildings is wide and depends on many factors, from the intended purpose of
the investment to budgetary constraints and financial viability.

Efficiencies in the design and construction of office towers can also make a significant difference
both economically and environmentally. Engineers strive to find savings in materials through
efficient design, making best use of concrete and steel in floors and structural frames. Integrated
design and the use of structural materials for optimum performance in controlling the internal
environment of buildings can provide added benefits at no extra cost. The selection of façade
materials, although governed largely by architectural concerns, can greatly influence the thermal
performance of buildings.

Lifecycle assessment of buildings and construction materials is now gaining credence. Some 10-20
per cent of the energy used in buildings over their lifetime is in the form of embodied energy
incorporated in materials and in the process of building itself. Lifecycle analysis shows that much
can be done to reduce the embodied energy of buildings, particularly in tall buildings with repetitive
floor plans and large areas of façade.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) defines embodied energy as “the total primary energy
that has to be sequestered from a stock within the earth in order to produce, transport, maintain
and dispose of materials within a specified product, component, element or building”.
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Embodied energy Buildings not only use energy, it takes energy to make them. This is “Embodied’
energy, which is all the energy required to extract, manufacture and transport a building’s materials
as well as that required to assemble and finish it. As building become increasingly energy –efficient,
so that energy required create them becomes proportionately more significant in relation to that
required to run them. This is particularly true because some materials, such as aluminum, consume
vast amounts of energy in their manufacture. The most common building material with least
embodied energy is wood. Timber is regarded as the greenest building material. Brick is the
material with the next lowest amount of embodied energy, followed by concrete, plastic, glass steel
and aluminum. A building with a high proportion of aluminum components can hardly be green
when considered from the perspective of total lifecycle costing, no matter how energy – efficient it
may be. From the perspective of embodied energy every building, no matter what its condition, has
a large amount of energy locked into it. This is another factor in favor of conserving and resorting
old buildings, and for designing long-life, adaptable buildings that easily accommodate change.
Also, because the energy used in transporting its materials becomes part of a building’s embodied
energy, this is an incentive to use local materials
2.3.2. Land-Requirement
The first issue in comparing the impact of high rise buildings with that of low- or medium-rise
buildings is land use. Accommodating the same number of people in a tall building of 50 storeys as
in a large building of 5 storey requires roughly one tenth of the land. In Addis Ababa, land prices
are amongst the highest in the Ethiopia and there are great economic advantages for developers in
maximizing the rentable floor space from an area of land by building high. The availability of land in
the City is also a major constraint on developments. The fabric of the City has been built up over
hundred years. The layout of the streets is highly irregular and many blocks in the centre are made
up of buildings that range in age from the late 18th to the early 21st century. The ownership of
properties is similarly diverse. It is therefore extremely rare for a large plot of land to become
available in the area. The planning strategy is based upon maintaining a hierarchical center,
accommodating more people by increasing population densities.

2.3.3. Building Form and Use

The exterior shape and texture of large buildings make up the views that people see of the City,
and form many of the impressions they take away from it. High rise buildings forms skyline while
their services at street level add texture to the grain of the City. It is universally agreed that the one
essential ingredient for new tall buildings is good design. There will inevitably be planning problems
in the development of any high-rise structure, so high quality enhancement of the cityscape must
come from new projects. The social impact of a single tower on a predominantly low-to-medium rise
city is great, and only the best architects should be entrusted with such responsibility. Their internal
18
form and the materials used to construct them add significantly to their environmental impact.
2.3.4. Structural Stability and Efficiency
The design of structural frames to resist lateral and vertical loads on buildings is a complex
process which takes into account a multitude of requirements. In broad terms, steel-framed
buildings with a rigid frame can be economical for medium rise buildings up to 20 storey; a vertical
steel shear truss at the central core of the building can be economical for buildings up to 40 storey;
and a combination of central vertical shear trusses with horizontal outrigger trusses is most suited
for up to 60 storey, this being the most common form of tall building structure. Therefore, it
becomes essential to transfer all gravity loads to the exterior frame to avoid overturning effects.

Steel is not so readily available and construction practice favors concrete. Rigid concrete frame
systems can be economical up to 20 storey; concrete walls forming the central core can be
economical up to 40 storey; and concrete-framed tubes can be economical up to 60 storey, with
tube-in-tube structures and modular tubes used for very tall buildings. Recent developments in the
reliable production of high-strength concrete has increased the potential for mega-frames with
external mega-columns, and lightweight concrete floor slabs allow for a reduction in the gravity
loads in ultra-tall buildings. A combination of concrete and steel structures is often the most
efficient form, utilizing the best characteristics of each material. The choice of materials for the
structural frame is determined primarily to satisfy those requirements, with comparisons made of
the most economical form that will do the job.

2.3.5. Foundations
The form of foundations for different building types is mainly governed by reasonable cost and
practicality in distributing the building loads to the underlying ground strata. In general terms,
vertical loads in low-rise structures are of low intensity and evenly distributed over the building
footprint allowing the use of reinforced concrete raft foundations. In medium-rise buildings, loads
are intensified at column locations and small diameter piles are frequently used to found structures
predominantly gravel and clay sub-soils. Where there are major underground utilities or tunnels,
raft solutions are also applicable.

2.3.6. Materials and Environmental Impact of Buildings

Buildings are the main destination for the nation’s power supplies and hence the main source of
carbon dioxide emissions. Though difficult to evaluate, it is estimated that around 0.5 per cent of
the UK’s energy consumption is used in construction. Global consumption analyses place greater
emphasis on materials which consume 2025 per cent of the world’s energy budget and other
“greenhouse gases” result from the burning of fossil fuels, the primary source of almost all energy,
whether used in powering buildings or manufacturing cement.. Energy and emissions are not the

19
only recognized sustainability indicators by which to assess the environmental impact of buildings.

The construction and use of buildings deplete natural resources, and have physical effects in the
form of mineral extraction, the use and pollution of water and of air, disposal to landfill sites, and
incineration. The manufacture of materials has an impact on ecology and bio-diversity, and causes
deforestation, ozone depletion and climate change. These environmental indicators reflect some of
the effects of the spread of industrialization and the built environment across the planet. For
example, Concrete accounts for 5-7% of the world’s CO2 emission. 1 tones of cement: • uses
4000-7500 MJ energy • releases 1-1.2 tones CO2 Cement replacement materials can make
concrete more sustainable.

2.3.7. Services in Tall Buildings

The most intensive use of energy usually results from the heating or cooling of spaces. Lifts use
about 10 per cent of a tall building’s energy while lighting can make up about 20 per cent. Careful
services design can minimize the need for heating and cooling throughout the year. Automatic
light control can make significant energy savings. Access to opening windows provides a stimulus
to occupants and increases the use of daylight and natural ventilation. Fire safety engineering is
an ever-more important issue in the design of tall buildings, especially in light of recent events.

Sufficient capacity in the public utilities services of power (electricity, oil and gas), water and
sewerage is a pre-requisite for sustainable development of tall buildings, where resource input and
waste output are extremely high and concentrated. Building services have to provide a comfortable
working environment in the building for several thousand people. Certain aspects of the design of
services in tall buildings impact upon sustainability different to low-rise buildings. There is an
additional burden on consumption from the need for lifts in towers; delivery of water at height has
implications on pumping provision; and systems must handle the removal of large concentrations
of waste.

2.3.8. Towards Sustainable Construction and Operation

Most of an office building’s energy consumption over its lifetime is in lighting, lifts, heating, cooling
and computer usage. Buildings in the City can be made more sustainable by architecture that
responds to the conditions of a site with integrated structure and building services. Effective use of
passive solar heat and the thermal mass of the building, high insulation levels, natural day lighting
and wind power can all help to minimize fossil energy use. Narrow rather than deep floor plates
maximize daylight in tall buildings. Regulations on sustainable development will assure that such
design features become mainstreamed.

2.3.9. Buildings and Energy Use

20
Office buildings in the City can consume 1000 kwhr/m² or more per year for heating, hot water,
lighting and computers. In a world affected by global warming and uncertainty over long-term
energy supplies, it is important to find ways to reduce energy consumption. For this purpose, we
need to analyze all aspects of a building’s energy use to find practical ways of reducing
consumption. However, energy consumption is usually only a tiny proportion of the total business
costs of an office building if rent and salaries are considered, providing little incentive for owners
and users of buildings to make reductions.

2.3.10. Energy Use and the Ownership of Buildings

Currently, most new office buildings in Addis Ababa are built as commercial developments. This
means that the developer is not the end-user and therefore only has limited interest in creating an
energy-efficient building. The reality is that even occupiers currently have limited interest in energy
efficiency because typical energy costs are only a small percentage of a company’s total running
costs. If the reduction of energy use is an important concern for the municipal authority and
national government, appropriate legislative or regulatory measures will need to be agreed to
reduce future energy consumption.

2.3.11. Fire Safety Engineering

In practice, individual tall buildings are analyzed in relation to their own design to develop a
rationale for fire engineering. The areas of prime consideration are:

• Permanent Fire Brigade in the Building additional security measures against fire fighting by
locating crews permanently within the building.

• Phased Evacuation Protected escape routes from tall buildings must be managed
effectively. To avoid excessively wide escape stairs needed to evacuate several thousand people
at the same time, phased evacuation is common.

• Fire Fighting Shafts and Lifts For tall buildings, protected access within the building for
fire fighting can be provided by the design of fire fighting shafts. Fire fighting lifts are currently used
for heights greater than 18m.

• Smoke Control Staircase pressurizations and smoke control systems are provided in fire-
rated air shafts. Smoke dampers activated by the Fire Alarm System are used in air conditioning
and ventilation ducts.

• Sprinkler Protection and Gas Flooding Systems Sprinkler protection is provided

throughout the building as an automatic means of fire fighting and controlling a fire during its initial

21
growth. Gas flooding systems may be considered in specialist areas such as computer data rooms
where sprinkler systems are undesirable.

Vertical Transportation is one of the most important aspects of tall building services affecting the efficiency
of people’s movements and contributing to overall energy consumption. Electric traction lifts can range in
speed from 0.6-10.0 meters per second. At very high speeds, human comfort becomes the limiting factor.
Lifts with capacities of up to 1950 kg or 26 persons are often used for tall office buildings, offering high
speed and capacity at the same time.

Vertical transportation generally accounts for about 5-10 per cent of the building energy
consumption depending upon the type of lifts and other electrical loads in the building. The
proportion is less in high electrical load demand buildings such as those used for dealing floors.

22
3 Factors Affecting Building Height
3.1 Socio-Economic
 Economic growth GDP Growth (construction and investment)

Several prominent writers on the economics of building height specified that the two i.e.

(economics and building height) have positive correlations. The familiar neo-classical economic

theories suggest that economic growth obviously cause aggregate demand to increase. This

branch of economics also tells us that rise in either or combination of consumption behavior,

investment pattern, government expenditure and net exports actually causes the aggregate

demand to shift in the upward direction.

These four major determinants of aggregate demand in turn can be affected by a number of
factors. For instance, changes in consumer spending might be ignited by changes in consumer
wealth, consumer expectations, household indebtedness level and changes in different tax levels.
Similarly, alterations in interest rate levels and expected returns as a result of future expected
business conditions, improvement in technological levels, variations in degree of excess capacity
and adjustments in business taxes may cause changes in investment spending. These illustrations
vividly demonstrate how several factors can trigger determinants of aggregate demand to
heighten.

Aggregate demand is commonly measured by expenditure approach of GDP (Gross Domestic

Product), which is the most comprehensive available measure of the size of an economy.

Coming to our original point, it was highlighted that building height can be influenced by the level of
economic performance and we have also stated that GDP is commonly employed to value the
economic performance of a nation or a region in a specific period of time. In view of this, an
attempt has been made to scrutinize some components of Addis Ababa’s GDP which are believed
to influence building height in the City.

According to information obtained from the City Administration’s Investment Bureau, the number of
real estate projects licensed by the city’s investment bureau increased from 5 per annum in 2001
to 109 per annum in 2009 (grown by an average annual growth rate of 60%), indicating existence
23
of copious demand for both residential and commercial premises. The same is true for construction
companies which have shown a 48% annual growth rate per annum during the considered period.

Table 1: No. of Real Estate Developers and construction companies licensed in Addis Ababa

Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

No. of Real Estate

Projects registered in 5 10 16 45 92 123 159 173 109
the year

No. of Construction
companies registered in 51 105 104 115 102 278 236 456 594
the year

Source: Addis Ababa City Investment Bureau, 2010

As per estimation made by Addis Ababa City Finance and Economic Development Bureau, the
city’s GDP in real terms has exhibited an average annual growth rate of 6.72% between the years
1996 to 2005 and was forecasted to grow by 11% per annum between 2005 and 2009.

The service sector is the major contributor to the city’s GDP which accounted for 77% of the entire
city’s GDP in the considered period (1996 to 2009). This sector on average has been growing by
7.13%1 in real terms between 1996 and 2005٫ which clearly indicates increase in demand for non-
residential real estate. The sector was forecasted to reach birr 18,659.7 million in the year 2009.
Major activities in the service sector include Trade, Hotel and Restaurants, Education & Training
services, Health Services and the like. These activities by their very nature require working
premises at easily accessible areas with comparatively good locational advantage to guarantee
their market. And this fact plainly portrays the need for increased height to meet the demand for
the working premises generated due to better service sector performance.

Demand for working premises can also be examined by analyzing growth pattern of the
construction industry. The construction sector according to ISIC (revision 3) covers all new
construction and repair works carried out either by private or public construction firms or on
account basis and the activities ranges from site preparation, building of complete constructions or
parts thereof, civil engineering, building installation, building completion and up to renting of
construction or demolition equipment with operator.
1
This (latest) information can be obtained in detail from Addis Ababa Finance and Economic Development Bureau,
Policy Planning and Analysis Department.
24
 The construction sector, the second most important sub sector in the industrial sector of the city,
had on average contributed for about 28 percent of the industrial gross value added. More than
two-third of the constructions GDP originated from the residential building, while the remaining is
from other construction and non-residential building.

Table2: Estimated GDP of Addis Ababa for the Industrial Sector for the period 1996 - 2005 (In
Million Birr)

Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Industrial GDP at
1,387 1,535 1,553 1,905 2,158 2,044 1,990 2,222 2,583 2,800
current factor cost

Sub 16 15 28 35 22 29 37 38 42 55 55.3
Sectors
897 1,078 913 1,140 1,422 1,238 1,167 1,338 1,484 1,249 1248.7
 
73 95 184 254 236 250 272 299 322 407 407.14

402 347 429 476 479 527 513 548 735 1,088 1088.4

Industrial GDP at
1,644 1,594 1,730 1,889 1,945 2,044 2,150 2,257 2,806 2,654
constant factor cost

Sub 21 19 34 40 24 29 36 34 34 35 35.11
Sectors
952 981 975 1,075 1,141 1,238 1,295 1,353 1,688 1,407 1407.3
 
129 145 200 229 242 250 282 303 329 327 326.73

542 449 521 545 537 527 538 567 755 885 884.94

Source: GDP Estimations of Addis Ababa 1996 to 2005, Bureau of Finance and Economic Development,
Addis Ababa City Adminstration.

In relation to non-residential building in the City, the estimated GRDP shows that the share of this
sub sector has been exhibiting around 6.7% annual growth rate per annum between 1996 to 2005
period.

In general, the aforementioned figures and facts attest that both determinants of the supply (the
construction sector) and the demand (the service sector) for working premises have shown
remarkable growth over time. Growth of the service sector indicates increased demand for

25
additional working premises while growth of the non-residential construction sub sector
demonstrates readiness of the private economic arm to engage in production of working premises
in response to the demand. And in relation to this, a competitive profit making firm should indeed
maximize its profit by constructing taller buildings to compensate pricey land cost, an ever
increasing cost of construction material and other associated outlays that push up marginal cost
above marginal revenue.

3.2. Rental Income versus Building Height

3.2.1. Results of the Sample Survey
Literature suggests that building size positively correlates with its rental value. In other words, the
bigger the building size the higher the rental value would be and the vice versa is also true. This
implies that investors might be encouraged to construct taller buildings to maximize their profit
margin.

In order to verify the aforementioned preposition in the case of Addis Ababa, a sample survey was
undertaken on some selected corridors using purposive sampling technique. At the outset, 200
buildings were planned to be sampled on identified 30 corridors of the city and data collectors were
dispatched to collect the information. However, due to absence of high response rate on important
variables, the study team was forced to reduce the sample size to 59 for improved response rate
and accurate information. With this milieu, the result will be discussed in the ensuing manner.

 Geographical distribution: Eight sub cities were covered in the sample by which 40% of the
sampled buildings are from Bole Sub city.
Table 3: Geographical distribution of the sampled buildings

Sub city Number of Stories Total

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12
Addis Ketema 1 2 3
Akaki Kality 1 1 1 3
Arada 1 1 2
Bole 1 1 5 6 2 4 4 23
Gullele 2 2
Kirkos 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 10
Kolfe Keraniyo 2 2 1 1 6
Yeka 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 10
Total 7 8 12 12 4 5 3 6 1 1 59

 Central tendency and dispersion: as per the collected data, rental values of different
buildings vary depending on the location of the sub cities and stories in a building. The rental
26
 value actually ranges between birr 20 per square meter in Kole Keraniyo Sub City which is
minimum to the maximum of birr 560 per square meter in Bole Sub City. The mean rental value
for the ground floor at the City level was found to be Birr 132 and Birr 73 for the 10th floor.
Table 4: Central Tendency and Dispersion results of the sampled buildings

Descri Storey
ption B1 GF 1st 2nd 3rd 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Valid 16 54 53 54 47 37 27 17 14 11 6 2 1 1
Missing 43 5 6 5 12 22 32 42 45 48 53 57 58 58
Mean 95 132 114 83 80 92 92 86 82 66 63 73 85 100
Median 76 108 90 75 72 80 80 75 81 71 63 73 85 100
Minimum 30 35 20 20 20 20 25 32 30 25 45 60 85 100
Maximum 376 550 560 200 170 329 329 204 175 90 85 85 85 100
Sum 1,514 7,130 6,047 4,484 3,765 3,420 2,483 1,459 1,153 730 377 145 85 100

Rental value dispersion across sub cities: according to the information gathered, most buildings
in Bole sub city have higher rental value while that of Kolfe Keraniyo were found to have lower
value. This feature holds true for buildings up to five storey level. For the buildings above five
storey, Kirkos sub city has exhibited most of the lowest and the highest rental value for square
meter of working premise.

27
Table 5: Rental value dispersion (Minimum and Maximum) across sample sub cities

S.N. Sub city Storey

B1 GF 1st 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 Addis K.
Min. 30
Max.
2 Bole
Min. 25 45 10
0
Max. 376 550 560 329 329 204 175 10
0
3 Kirkos
Min. 30 25 60 85
Max. 200 170 90 85 85 85
4 Kolfe K.
Min. 35 20 20 20 20
Max.
5 Yeka
Min. 32
Max

3.2.2. The Ethiopian Bankers Association Manual

The Ethiopian Bankers Association has recently studied valuation working manual for real
properties in Addis Ababa and its surrounding. The manual was prepared via congregating and
analyzing about 3,000 land sales data, market rentals of about 60 buildings, market rentals of
about 150 houses, market sales data of about 340 houses and also via conducting engineering
cost estimates of about 12 new building projects and other inputs.

In the course of preparing the manual, two basic types of building ratings were employed. In the
first type of grading, buildings were graded into five categories (poor, fair, normal, good and
excellent) based on their structure quality. The other type of grading used for evaluation was land
grading. This was done by considering factors such as type and width of access road , distance
from main roads , quality of access roads , plot frontage , location within the city as described by its
Woreda , Kebele and /or Sub city and kebele , and proximity to business and residential centers.
Accordingly, plot grading index was prepared as described in the beneath table.

28
 Table 6: The rank of plot grades in Addis Ababa City Administration

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Grade 1-1b 1-1a 1-1 1-2 2-1 1-3 2-2 3-1 2-3 3-2 4-1 3-3 4-2 4-3 4-4

Source: EBA Real Property Valuation Manual, May 2010

The guidelines used for the selection of alternative plot grading with in a Kebele are depicted as
follows. The selection guideline primarily takes into account the location of the plot distance from
the main road and the main road in this case is asphalt paved roads in a kebele with a total width
greater than or equal to 20 meter.

 50 meter buffer from the main roads with in a Kebele to be used as first grade plot
 150 meter buffer from the end limit of the first grade to be used as a second grade plot
 350 meter buffer from the end limit of the second grade to be used as a third grade plot
 Plots beyond the end limits of the third-grade plots to be categorized as fourth-grade plots
Accordingly, the best plot within the kebele shall be assigned the corresponding first grade listed
with in the keblele and other grades assigned according to the rates on the location parameters
listed above.

Finally, rental rates matrix for multistory buildings in the City are developed depending on the
building grade, building story and location of the building. This was done by taking into account the
previously developed five grades of buildings and 15 grades of plots, making up a total of 75
grades of properties. The developed matrix is presented in the subsequent table.

Table 7: Property Grading Index

Plot Grading
Property
Grade
Bsmnt. Gf 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th

11 128 230 150 145 134 124 113 102 91 81 70 70 70 70 70 70

12 122 218 144 139 129 119 109 99 89 79 69 69 69 69 69 69

13 116 206 136 131 122 112 103 94 85 75 66 66 66 66 66 66

14 109 194 128 123 114 106 97 89 80 72 63 63 63 63 63 63

15 102 182 120 115 107 99 91 84 76 68 60 60 60 60 60 60

16 95 170 112 107 100 93 86 78 71 64 57 57 57 57 57 57

29
 Plot Grading
Property
Grade
Bsmnt. Gf 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th

17 88 158 104 99 93 86 80 73 67 60 54 54 54 54 54 54

18 82 146 96 91 85 80 74 68 62 57 51 51 51 51 51 51

19 75 134 88 83 78 73 68 63 58 53 48 48 48 48 48 48

21 104 200 123 118 110 102 94 87 79 71 64 64 64 64 64 64

22 99 189 116 111 104 97 90 83 76 69 63 63 63 63 63 63

23 94 178 110 105 98 92 85 79 72 65 59 59 59 59 59 59

24 88 168 104 99 93 87 80 74 68 62 56 56 56 56 56 56

25 83 157 98 93 87 81 76 70 65 59 54 54 54 54 54 54

26 78 147 91 86 81 76 71 66 61 56 51 51 51 51 51 51

27 72 136 85 80 75 71 66 62 57 53 48 48 48 48 48 48

28 67 126 79 74 70 66 62 58 54 50 46 46 46 46 46 46

29 62 115 73 68 64 61 57 54 50 47 43 43 43 43 43 43

31 81 170 95 90 85 81 76 71 67 62 58 58 58 58 58 58

32 75 159 89 84 80 76 72 68 64 60 56 56 56 56 56 56

33 71 150 84 79 75 71 67 63 59 55 51 51 51 51 51 51

34 68 141 80 75 71 67 64 60 56 53 49 49 49 49 49 49

35 64 132 75 70 67 63 60 57 54 50 47 47 47 47 47 47

36 60 123 71 66 63 60 57 54 51 48 45 45 45 45 45 45

37 56 114 66 61 58 56 53 50 48 45 43 43 43 43 43 43

38 52 105 62 57 54 52 50 47 45 43 40 40 40 40 40 40

39 48 96 57 52 50 48 46 44 42 40 38 38 38 38 38 38

41 57 140 68 63 61 59 58 56 54 53 51 51 51 51 51 51

42 52 130 61 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 50 50 50 50 50 50

43 49 122 58 53 52 50 49 48 47 45 44 44 44 44 44 44

44 47 115 55 50 49 48 47 46 45 43 42 42 42 42 42 42

45 45 107 53 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 41 41 41 41 41

46 42 100 50 45 44 43 42 41 40 40 39 39 39 39 39 39

30
 Plot Grading
Property
Grade
Bsmnt. Gf 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th

47 40 92 47 42 41 41 40 39 38 38 37 37 37 37 37 37

48 38 85 44 39 39 38 37 37 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 35

49 35 77 42 37 36 36 35 35 34 34 33 33 33 33 33 33

51 51 110 60 55 54 52 51 49 48 46 45 45 45 45 45 45

52 50 100 59 54 52 51 49 48 46 44 43 43 43 43 43 43

53 48 94 56 51 50 48 47 45 44 42 41 41 41 41 41 41

54 45 88 53 48 47 46 44 43 42 41 39 39 39 39 39 39

55 43 82 50 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 38 38 38 38 38

56 40 76 47 42 41 40 39 38 38 37 36 36 36 36 36 36

57 37 70 44 39 38 38 37 36 35 35 34 34 34 34 34 34

58 35 64 41 36 35 35 34 34 33 33 32 32 32 32 32 32

59 32 58 38 33 33 32 32 32 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31

110 68 122 80 75 71 66 62 58 54 49 45 45 45 45 45 45

111 61 110 72 67 63 60 56 53 49 46 42 42 42 42 42 42

112 54 98 64 59 56 53 50 48 45 42 39 39 39 39 39 39

113 48 86 56 51 49 47 45 42 40 38 36 36 36 36 36 36

114 41 74 48 43 42 40 39 37 36 34 33 33 33 33 33 33

115 34 60 40 35 34 34 33 32 31 31 30 30 30 30 30 30

210 56 105 66 61 58 55 52 49 46 43 41 41 41 41 41 41

211 51 94 60 55 53 50 48 45 43 40 38 38 38 38 38 38

212 46 84 54 49 47 45 43 41 39 37 35 35 35 35 35 35

213 40 73 48 43 41 40 38 37 36 34 33 33 33 33 33 33

214 35 63 41 36 35 34 34 33 32 31 30 30 30 30 30 30

215 30 52 35 30 30 29 29 29 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28

310 45 87 53 48 46 44 43 41 39 38 36 36 36 36 36 36

311 41 78 48 43 42 40 39 38 36 35 34 34 34 34 34 34

312 37 69 44 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 32 32 32 32 32

31
 Plot Grading
Property
Grade
Bsmnt. Gf 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th

313 33 60 39 34 33 33 32 31 31 30 29 29 29 29 29 29

314 29 51 35 30 29 29 29 28 28 28 27 27 27 27 27 27

315 26 43 30 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

410 33 70 39 34 33 33 33 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32

411 31 62 36 31 31 31 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

412 28 55 33 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28

413 26 47 31 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26

414 24 40 28 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24

415 21 34 25 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23

510 30 52 35 30 30 30 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29

511 27 46 32 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

512 25 40 29 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

513 22 34 26 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24

514 20 28 23 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22

515 20 25 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  

Source: EBA Real Property Valuation Manual, May 2010

The above matrix indeed helps to relate rental rates with building height determination as it has
land value grading component in its development. Those plots with the higher rental value imply
expensiveness of the area and thus it is rational to expect taller building heights in those spots or
corridors as the developers would incline to do so to compensate for high land value. The
illustration will become plainer when the property grading matrix will be produced in map.

3.3. Land value

3.3.1. Characteristics of Land

Land, in an economic sense, is defined as the entire material universe outside of people
themselves and the products of people. Land holds a unique and pivotal position in social, political,
environmental and economic theory. Land supports all life and stands at the center of human
culture and institutions. All people, at all times, must make use of land. Land has no cost of
32
production. It is nature's gift to mankind, which enables life to continue and prosper. Without land
any economic activity is meaningless.

Land's uniqueness stems from its fixed supply and immobility. Land cannot be manufactured or
reproduced (except land reclamation works). Land is required directly or indirectly in the production
of all goods and services. Land is our most basic resource and the source of all wealth.

Land rent is the price paid annually for the exclusive right (a monopoly) to use a certain location,
piece of land or other natural resource. People receive wages for work, capital receives interest for
investment, and land receives rent for the exclusive use of a location.

Land in major or cities is so costly that people are forced to move further away and travel great
distances in order to get to work and social attractions. In the more developed countries of the
world, land rent represents more than 40% of gross annual production.

Since land is fixed in supply, as more land is demanded by people the rent will increase
proportionally. Demand is the sole determinant of land rent. Changes in land rent and land taxes
have no impact on the supply of land, because the land supply is fixed and cannot be significantly
expanded.

Buildings are not a part of land rent. Land rent results from the desire made by everyone who lives
within a community to use land. Economic rent is the only source of revenue that could be taken
for community purposes without having any negative effect on the productive potential of the
economy. Economists consider rent to be a surplus payment which is unnecessary to ensure that
land is available. When a community captures land rent for public purposes, both efficiency and
equity are realized.

3.3.2. Land Rent Compared With Market Value

Land Market Value is the land rental value, minus land taxes, divided by a capitalization rate.
Each of these terms is defined as follows:

1. Land Rental Value is the annual fee individuals are willing to pay for the exclusive right to
use a land site for a period of time. This may include a speculative opportunity cost.
2. Land Taxes is the portion of the land rental value that is claimed for the community.

3. Capitalization Rate is a market determined rate of return that would attract individuals to
invest in the use of land, considering all of the risks and benefits which could be realized.

33
 4. Land Market Value is the land rental value, minus land taxes, divided by a capitalization
rate.

The mathematical relationship is then:

Land Market Value Land Rental Value - Land Taxes

=
Capitalization Rate

Land Rental Value = Market Value  x  Capitalization Rate  +  Land Taxes

The formula indicates how simple it would be to translate market value to rental value or vice
versa, depending upon the policy of any nation. In the United States and most other countries, land
values are estimated and assessed. Land taxes, however, are a portion of land rent.

There are many economic principles which people and assessors must understand and use when
implementing judgment to estimate land market values. It is necessary to discuss a few of the
more important principles includes:

1. The principle of substitution maintains that the value of a property tends to be set by the
price that a person would have to pay to acquire an equally desirable substitute property,
assuming that no expensive delay is encountered in making the substitution. A person
would pay no more for a site than would have to be paid for an equally desirable site.
2. The principle of supply and demand holds that the value of a site will increase if the
demand increases and the supply remains the same. The value of the site would decrease
if the demand decreased. Land is unique, since the supply is fixed; its value varies directly
with demand.

3. The principle of anticipation contends that land value can go up or down in anticipation of a
future event occurring, or a future benefit or detriment.

4. The principle of conformity contends that land will achieve its maximum value when it is
used in a way that conforms to the existing economic and social standards within a
neighborhood.

3.3.3. Utility, Scarcity and Desirability

34
Land value can be thought of as the relationship between a desired location and a potential user.
The ingredients that constitute land value are utility, scarcity and desirability. These factors must all
be present for land to have value.

Land that lacks utility and scarcity also lacks value, since utility arouses desire for use and has the
power to give satisfaction. The air we breathe has utility and is generally considered important,
since it sustains and nourishes life. However, in the economic sense, air is not valuable because it
hasn't been appropriated and there is enough for everyone. Thus there is no scarcity -- at least at
the moment. Utility and scarcity confer no value on land. User desire backed up by the ability to
pay value must also exist in order to constitute effective demand. The potential user must be able
to participate in the market to satisfy their desire.

3.3.4. Factors That Contribute To Land Value

The physical attributes of land include quality of location, fertility and climate; convenience to
shopping, schools and parks; availability of water, sewers, utilities and public transportation;
absence of bad smells, smoke and noise; and patterns of land use, frontage, depth, topography,
streets and lot sizes.

The legal or governmental forces include the type and amount of taxation, zoning and building
laws, planning and restrictions.

The social factors include population growth or decline, changes in family sizes, typical ages, and
attitudes toward law and order, prestige and education levels.

The economic forces include value and income levels, growth and new construction, vacancy and
availability of land. It is the influences of these forces, expressed independently and in relationship
to one another that help the people and the assessor measure value.

3.3.5. Land Value Map

The lease price values of Addis Ababa which have been obtained from The City of Addis Ababa
various offices (sub cities, the institute of urban Planning and information) have to be displayed on
a land market map. This will allow the building height design team to review their market data and
market value conclusions. They can then judge whether equity or efficiency of locational value of
land has been achieved.

For the purpose of this study the team has tried to collect information about the land lease price for
Addis Ababa. However, lack of data for the preparation of land value map of Addis Ababa has
35
been encountered, and the team is forced to use only 543 leased plots. The land value map could
be capable of using for other purpose such as a basis for updating lease price bench mark
estimates.

The city of Addis Ababa have already collected large amount of data about land but they are not
readily available on a computer system. By analyzing market trends, new land market estimates
could be made with a single updating factor for each permitted land use within a neighborhood.

An entire city would be capable to generate, updated and disseminate to public as appropriate by
computer data entries. A simple model used for computer calculation of land value or market
values for only 543 land sites could be based upon a careful analysis of the market value of a
sample of 13,000 sites. It could have been easier to define the land use classes, neighborhood
areas and market values for each standard site in the area so as to define the building height in
relation to the land value and rent of the building.

The advantages of land value map include the abilities to:

1. Facilitate frequent update of markets ensuring equitable treatment of all renters.

2. Eliminate arithmetic errors in land value calculations.

3. Improve the assessor's productivity in land value assessment.

4. Employ standardized assessment techniques that have proven to be effective.

36
 Table 8: Land value of selected Sub Cities in Addis Ababa

Price
Sub City Lease data data Average Median Maximum Minimum

Addis Ketema 69 69 3,216 3,500 10,116 600

Akaki Kality 1,539

Arada 91 91 2,546 2,114 22,021 127

Bole 11,313

Kolfe
Keraniyo 10,363

Gulele 135 135 1,088 813 4,223 71

Kirkos 157 157 2,277 2,024 10,141 203

Lideta 100 100 2,268 2,313 29,831 89

Nifasilk Lafto 6,726

Yeka 1,196

Total 31,689 543

Source: Analysis based on information obtained from Addis Ababa Information and Urban Plan
Institute

As indicated in the above table, the highest average land value is exhibited in Addis Ketema Sub
City, which is Birr 3,216 against Gullele sub city which has exhibited an average of Birr 1,088.

37
Fig1. Land Value Map in selected sub cities in Addis Ababa

Land Price map of Addis Ababa

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38
3.4. Determining Building Height
In order to determine building height for Addis Ababa, three different methods were tried and one
was found a relevant proxy to resolve the issue and employed eventually.

The first method exercised was the equation used by Reginald Pelham Bolton in his book ‘Building
for Profit’. The author developed the formula by relating land value, rental value, rate of interest on
investment and other variables as follows.

A= (10000 x V x i/r) / (f x n x p)

Where:

A = rent per square foot required in dollars.

V = value of site per square foot.

i = rate of interest on investment.

r = ratio of net income to total income.

n = per cent. of occupied or net rentable area to gross area of building floors.

p = percentage of site occupied by building.

f = number of stories in building.

We can rearrange the above equation to solve for ‘f’ as depicted below.

f= (10000 x V x i/r) / (A x n x p)

The limitation with applicability of the above equation is the impossibility to clearly explain the
constant 10,000 included in the formula. In the absence of accurate explanation for the inscribed
constant it was found difficult for the study team to practice it and thus the equation was avoided.

The second attempt was using the project valuation approach to determine the building height. In
this attempt IFRR (internal financial rate of return) was used as a determining factor to set the
minimum number of stories a building should have via taking into account all the costs and benefits
the building incurs. IFRR should equal at least 10% to be used as a deciding margin for the
minimum height as this figure is the cut-off rate in the Country. The problem with this approach
was that most of the tested heights were found to be feasible even at the ground floor level and
this was found dubious to employ the method.

39
The third technique tested and used in this study is the breakeven approach. This method was
found the most appropriate as compared to the former two approaches. The technique helps to set
the minimum economic building height level based on the maximum number of stories set by
physical/spatial criteria. The equation used for the analysis is as follows.

BEP = FC/(SP-VC)

Where:

BEP - Breakeven Point

FC - Annual total fixed costs including interest charges

SP - Charging rate per unit output

VC - Variable costs per unit output at full capacity operation

Using the above breakeven analysis formula, minimum building heights were set for the identified
31 different spots in the City. The analysis was done for four different plot areas (500m2, 1000m2,
1500m2 & 2000m2) for each of the spots. In addition, three average rental income values per
square meter (100, 125 & 150) were used in the analysis based on the location of the spots. The
conducted analysis assumed Birr 3000/m2 lease price, Birr 5000/m2 construction cost and 75%
BAR(built-up-area ratio) for each of the considered plots. The output is tabulated in the beneath
table.

Table 9: Breakeven Analysis Result for the identified spots in Addis Ababa

Proposed Economic minimum (breakeven)

Rent max. height
Code in Birr (no.) 500 m2 1000 m2 1500 m2 2000 m2

1 125 13 5 9 13 17

2 125 8 3 6 9 12

3 150 21 6 11 16 22

4 100 13 6 11 17 22

5 100 8 4 8 12 15

6 100 5 3 6 9 11

40
7 100 8 4 8 12 15

8 100 8 4 8 12 15

9 100 16 7 13 20 26

10 125 8 3 6 9 12

11 125 8 3 6 9 12

12 125 8 3 6 9 12

13 125 13 5 9 13 17

14 100 13 6 11 17 22

15 100 8 4 8 12 15

16 100 13 6 11 17 22

17 100 8 4 8 12 15

18 90 8 5 9 13 17

19 100 8 4 8 12 15

20 90 8 5 9 13 17

21 100 13 6 11 17 22

22 125 13 5 9 13 17

23 125 13 5 9 13 17

24 125 21 7 13 20 26

25 150 26 7 13 20 26

26 150 21 6 11 16 22

27 150 52 12 25 37 49

28 125 16 5 10 16 21

29 100 8 4 8 12 15

30 125 8 3 6 9 12

31 125 16 5 10 16 21

41
PART II

Building height from a historical and design perspective:

Review of literature

By: Tibebu Asefa and Yeneneh Chanyalew

42
Tables

Table #1: comparison of zoning types

Table #2: wind force and speed

Table #3: minimum open space requirements

Table #4: waster and sewage requirement per user

Table#5: Limits of the general population from uncontrolled exposure

43
1 Building height in historical perspective
1.1 The growth of cities and the importance of space
Cities are the collective abode of human beings. As humans reproduce naturally or migrate from
other urban centers and rural areas into a city pulled by different factors such as economic boom,
war etc., the city responds to their physical needs by increasing its size horizontally and/or
vertically. Horizontal growth takes place through the conversion of agricultural land for urban use.

Like all models of urban development, this horizontal pattern has its side effects. Besides
consuming prime agricultural land on which the lives of many depended, the increase in travel
distance (to the fringe of the city) and associated environmental and ecological degradations, the
high cost of provision of infrastructure and administration are some of the problems so far
identified.

Vertical growth is about development perpendicular to the earth. The air space above the ground is
the only possible direction that buildings protrude to the air to strive space for man and his needs.
This happens everywhere as the population increases and the city is limited by legal or physical a
natural or artificial barrier which hinders its horizontal development. The unlimited increase of
height is made possible by technological advancement. Today, thanks to technology buildings can
rise to attain unlimited heights easily beating the power of wind, earthquake and other natural
threats.

Alike the horizontal development, the vertical growth of cities has also its drawbacks. With this
strive to get space above the ground, man spoils his environment stopping blocking the direction
of wind and sun which are two of the most important life sustaining natural gifts. Besides, the air
stacked in the pocket amidst buildings makes the city glow. Aesthetically, buildings, by their
mere size, building can easily become visually oppressive. Elevating water to the highest levels,
the heating of rooms and the related energy costs are other inconveniences related to the height of
buildings Hence, determining height of buildings for the collective comfort of man, becomes a
burning issue In the planning of cities.

Space and above all quality of space is indispensible for human habitation. The increase in urban
population, both by migration and natural birth demands more and more extra space which can be
provided through expansion and vertical growth strategy.

The biggest cities are coffer dam for holding population explosion. For instance, In the American
cities , from 1950-59, 24 million peoples were added, of which 16 million were in the biggest cities.

44
By the same time, Its rural population decreased by 14%.The shift is from rural to urban and from
the center to the suburb of cities. In the same year mentioned above, the down town population
had increased by 1.5% while the suburb districts grew by 44% consuming all space available
horizontally. This explosion consumed not only the fringe land but also the open space left with in
the city. It resulted in decreasing food supply while increasing consumers. In American cities, 1
million acre of land were converted for suburb development in 1975 while food demand increased
by 40% to that of the 1955(Edward, p.3) The decreasing urban open space results in polluting the
environment that endanger human health. The unlimited horizontal growth physically fuses cities
with cities with no open space in between. Examples include Boston to Washington, Providence,
New York; Washington to Baltimore again to Wilmington and in turn to Philadelphia. Beside the
population explosion, the automobile technology has facilitated suburbanization as a complement
to down town living. ‘No one should be allowed, with the only sprit of development and
construction, to junk the city and leave it away while obsolete to better places.’ Restricting
population size, seeking virgin land for new city, piling up existing city by renewal, etc are all the
methods devised to hold the population explosion. It is this need for appealing space that
necessitates the present day height regulation as the city is vertically sprawling. Man is not cotton
to be squeezed beyond its threshold. Space with appealing height is the aim.(Edward p 3-9)
Neither physical nor verbal legal wall hinders the horizontal sprawl of cities.

1.2 Building height in historical perspective

1.2.1 Building height before the medieval era
Since the time man had started to be out of the cave, he has felt the need to represent his mystical
beliefs and needs through height. The buildings of megaliths, hedge stones reflect this attitude.
During this period, height was directly dictated by his physical upright height.

Height in buildings and other structures was attained through claiming topographically elevated
sites for situating important buildings. This is for example the case for the Parthenon on Acropolis
and lighthouses in Egypt and other places. The Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria was built in the
third century BCE and estimated to have a height of 115–135 m (383440 ft). The Jetavanaramaya
stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, was built in the third century with a height of 122 m. The Torre
del Mangia in Siena, which is 102 m (335 ft) tall was constructed in the first half of the fourteenth
century, and the 97 m (318 ft) tall Toreee degil Asinelli in Bologna, also Italy, was built between
1109 and 1119.The 33 m Axum stele and the 4 storey high Lalibela rock hewn churches were
also worth mentioning here in Ethiopia. The Greeks were deciding height of their temples using
diameter of columns such as epystyle, peristyle temples while Egyptians were deciding the height
of their pyramid by sun angle.

45
1.2.2 Building height in medieval era
The medieval cities were fortified either naturally being on top of a hill or surrounded by water or
artificially by building soaring walls. Population increase in such cities was accommodated by
extending the fortification horizontally. While London and Berlin were not fortified after the
middle ages, Paris was successively fortified and was forced to built 3-4 storey apartments. Its
streets were congested by airless apartment houses narrowly built. Tower buildings were the
dominant forms especially when power and wealth were to be displayed. Yet, despite the attempt
to excel I n height, the medieval town was in general human and discernable in scale for its
inhabitants-no one lost in the city. Consideration of vista for military defense coupled with human
scale medieval buildings made these towns fit into the landscape. Intimate relation of house to
street and sense of scale were its important features. Most of the present techniques of deciding
height in relation to human has emanated from this period. Later due to high land value induced by
trade, buildings on trade centers came to be hand to hand shaking distance. Example: Siena
piazza del campo

1.2.3 Building height in Renaissance cities

Renaissance came into being in the 15th Century (1440) by bringing all at a time: the advent of
science, the fall of Constantinople and the discovery of the New World. Having a root in the
medieval times, it came with its own new idea of city design. Town design changed from medieval
pragmatic foot based design to abstract written forethought functional design, policy and politics
sketched on paper. Other than founding new cities, designing and adding on the former cities in
refined way copying and applying what is good from the classical period was the approach to cope
up with urban growth without losing their charm. In the towns of Renaissance, the techniques used
46
by Vitruvius, Alberti , Durer, Leonardo Da Vinci, & Plladio for deciding height of buildings was
notable. They were advanced in looking at buildings afar and from close up. They applied colossal
or gigantic order. In their design of plaza, the use of practical experiences of proportion was worth
mentioning. Fountains, statues and landscapes were thoughtfully synchronized. Example is
Campidoglio in Rome; Versailes-Piazza del Popolo

The Renaissance planners were fond of using visual proportion to order the buildings and spaces
they used to create. Visual proportion is ‘the relationships of the shape and sizes of objects which
please the eye’ (Scholifield,p.3). Among the different proportioning techniques musical means,
Greek orders , Plato’s proportion, are worth mentioning here. It is during this time that cities had
got the scale human beings deserve.

Palma Nova City

1.2.4 Building height in industrial cities

The industrial cities planted their roof in the Medieval Ages. They developed markedly after the
advent of rail road and steamboats, which enabled distance travel, production transportation
from afar. On prime production areas residents were living just where the raw material was found
and later near transportation routes. Height was dictated by the necessity of the industry for
production. Chimneys were dominant features. Buildings were standardized, covering wide area
in comparison to their heights. Air pollution and traffic congestion are its consequences. During
this period two types of industry flourished: prime production and manufacturing. Prime
production needs huge number of labour force and situated in large cities to absorb labor
fluctuation and market desire. This brought pure industrial cities located at the source of raw
material and inhabited exclusively by workers. The other type of city is manufacturing city
which brought large number of industrial & officers workers. During the industrial era, the

47
planning of cities was not a major concern. Grid Iron system, adopted for necessity of sale land
in advance of growth has determined the layout of the street and without distinction to any
city has become a guide to disorder. Blight and slums became the two identifying characters
of he industrial town and in later stages this led city dwellers to desert the city in favor of the
suburb. Thus, driven by electric power and the improvement in transportation technology and
increasing car ownership, suburbanization has become another attribute of the industrial era. .

1.2.5 Building height in modern era

The advent of steel technology opened the way for tower buildings and alarming height in cities.
Spanning larger spaces using steel truss made buildings out of scale. The medieval three to four
storey walkup apartments were assigned a different height to provide extra residential space and
challenge the horizontal sprawl of cities . The argument of providing larger open green land
around tower building and the use of perimeter buildings started during this period.

Cities dominated by super scale buildings is a character of this period. Man has started to suffer
the lack of day light not only in the adjacent prevalence of low rise buildings next to higher ones
but also in the public space as well. Overshadowing of low rise buildings and overbearing of
buildings also become prevalent questions of this era. These problems however gave the
opportunity to some planners to think about orientation of buildings by studying the respective sun
angle for each day and hour and considering the prevailing wind.

1.2.6 The future of building height

The high population concentration and lack of space in cities has not been solved by compacting
space and function. It becomes a challenge for present day urban professionals and decision
makers. Scientists response to this challenge ranges from population control (decreasing
population such as slowing natural birth using contraceptive etc.) to proposing new concepts
that for many seem illusions. Some of the proposals included the building of inverted cone shaped
cities, cities hanging on cables, the use of oceans as abode of humans, to aspiring new planets
and making real man made satellite towns that spins around the sun as the rest of natural
planets.

But the future holds a big promise for a kind of built up area with high rise building allowing
everyman natural breeze, sunshine and green. The use of technology remains the main tool to
achieve this dream. .

48
2 The need for controlling building height
2.1 Why and how to regulate building height?
The height of buildings may be restricted for many reasons. The first and foremost reason is the
human dimension. Man is the universal unit of measurement for everything. He has the maximum
dimension that can be touched by his full stretch of his arms vertically and horizontally
reaching up to 2.26m . Since the ancient times man’s head , face and foot are taken as
measurements for human body by subdividing and putting them in relationship to each other.
These physical dimensions limit the lower threshold of his demand for space. So, everything for
human use is his extension in either direction: be it his tool or his container. Therefore the lowest
limit for height is his length. However man is not only a physical inanimate matter that holds
space but has soul that needs a certain level of comfort for his existence in this world. The
comfort level is set by his immidate environment that surrounds him and sensed by his sense
organs which are his interfaces to his environment. Besides, his need of interaction to other
peoples and economic activities influences his demnad for space. This will affect when many
peoples settle in a certain area like cities where every parcel of land is firmly clamped by what so
ever called legal title deeds.

After consuming evry land he owned by building a single storey buildings, he then moves
either down ward underneath his foot or upward over his head as far as the technology and
ingenuity of man allows. When his own plot is horizontally contented or satuarated, he aspires
to increase the height of his building vertically,primarly for economic purpose.

The unchecked greediness of man for space made him to live inside the jungle of concrete
that supersedes his height and obliterates his own existence by hindering essentials of life,
food, water, energy, sun light, ventilation etc

As a result it is mandatory to check the unrestricted zeal of man to increase height in cities
for his collective need. It is with some of the following objectives that height of buildings should be
scrutinized:

• Creating external order

• Growth without congestion

• Visual beauty.

• unpolluted environment

• Day light right

49
 • Natural ventilation right

• Responsive density

2.2 Building height zoning/regulation

Zoning divides a local government's jurisdiction into districts or zones For each zone, regulates
the following: -type of land use allowed ,intensity or density of development, height, bulk and
placement of structures, amount & design of parking, a number of other aspects of land use and
development activity, contain standard common to all districts and a set of procedures for
applying administrating and enforcing regulations, map or series of maps that show precise
boundaries for the various zoning districts. There are three types of zoning codes :

a. Use-based zoning

b. Form-based Zoning

c. Hybrid Zoning

Use-based Zoning is a traditional way of zoning that regulates land use and aims at prohibiting
for non consistent and says ‘ this use is not allowed here’ but it is flexible as to the design and
has no micro level design and development standards. So it is proscriptive.

Form based Code/ Form-based Zoning is also called smart code, design code, Trend
Neighborhood Development (TND). It is a modern type of zoning that regulates building types,
design, and public realm. It aims at giving clue. It says do as to the required design standard and
Say ‘design like this’ (indicative) . Hence Form based Code is prescriptive in its nature but flexible
as to uses. It includes micro level design & development requirements

50
Hybrid Code is also called Hybrid Ordinance, Parallel Code or Modern Unified Development
Code. Basically, it is use based zoning regulation but add special design-based district as
permissive floating zones and mapped, mandatory districts. Here both Form Based Code and Use
Based Code operate parallel and hence it is called Parallel Code. The following table illustrates the
comparison among the three.

Table #1: comparison of zoning types

Traditional Zoning Form -based Codes Parallel Codes

Regulate uses Regulate design of buildings & Regulate both uses &
public realm design

Proscriptive(prevent Prescriptive(specify Both proscriptive &

harm ;uncertain outcomes ) form ;mandate outcome) prescriptive

Legalistic text format Design oriented graphic format Text & graphics

Inflexible on prohibitive uses; Inflexible on design format Depend on applicable

flexible to design code

Not always linked to land use plan Linked to regulating plan Linked to land use plan
& regulating plan

Based on use-zone districts Based on urban transect zones Based on use zones &
transect zones

Zoning change & project approval Approval decisions made by Depend on applicable
decisions made by elected bodies town architect(administratively) code
(public hearing)

Changes occur incrementally Once enacted , changes not Combination of change

anticipated processes

Height zoning is, therefore, the application of maximum height limits for buildings in selected areas
of a town. It is also called Zoning ordinance/Zoning regulation/zoning code. Its application is
usually for aesthetic reason, to secure good day
lighting standards and relate spacing to height.

2.3 Defining building height

Everything including man has height. This
height is the physical length normal to the earth
on which one stands upright. Since the olden

51
times, the height of buildings is measured in terms of human height, the yardstick of the world. As
technology has developed, man aspires to build higher and higher to fulfill his spiritual and
functional need. The low rise buildings doesn’t create any problem as they are one storey and
equal in height except the effect of the varied terrain.

Any building has three parts that dictate its height: the terrain upon which the building stands on,
the functional part or storey's and lastly the covering or the roof shape and its protruding. All of
these are manipulated for different reasons internally and externally. Hence where to start and end
to measure building height is a crucial issue in height zoning.

Some defines height of buildings in terms of human height plus an observer distance from building.
For gables and buildings on sloppy site, the intermediate height plus average of the gable and the
grade together is taken as the maximum building height. Still others measure building height from
abutting street level to any thing on the top most part of the structure above the highest part of the
roof. Hence, defining height of buildings is paramount for height zoning.

Appurtenances like water tank on the roof, ventilating and air-conditioning appliances , lift
rooms, chimneys and parapet walls not exceeding 1m in height are not included in the height
of the building.

2.4 Factors influencing building height regulation

2.4.1 Orientation
It is fixing the position of buildings, streets on a certain site in
relation to cardinal points considering the angle of the sun to
protect or expose the building from/for sunlight accordingly.
Or, it is the positioning of buildings with respect to sun. It
helps to exploit either shade or sun light for the comfort of
humans in their built environment. It is fixed by studying the
sun diagram indicating the path of the sun at a particular
place during the day and during the year.

To define the orientation two things are important: degree of

latitude and angle of elevation or azimuth, altitude and
latitude of a place. It demands knowing metrological data
such as: time of sun rise and sun set, temperature, rainfall,
moisture and direction of wind.After identifying the above
inputs, drawing the sun path either by orthographic ,
equidistant, gnomonic and stereographic projection is the
next step. But the easiest is stereographic projection.
52
Daily paths of the Sun for a place located at 40°N latitude for: (a) summer solstice; (b) spring or fall
equinox, and (c) winter solstice. As we move from summer to winter, the angle of the noon Sun
decreases from 73.5 to 26.5 degrees—a difference of 47 degrees (see Figure 2-6). Notice also
how the location of sunrise (east) and sunset (west) changes during a year.

The sun path, the yearly route of the sun ,is first made for
longest (Jun.22)and shortest day(Dec. 21). In the same
token, it is done for one day in each months of the year.
Except on solstice, the sun traverse the same path on two
days in a year. Hence, seven sun path diagrams are
enough to cover the whole year. In turn, each sun path
diagram is labeled for every hour of the day to understand
the position of the sun. Sun path is different for different
places having different latitude. Interposing the sun path
Fig.with
diagram (on transparent paper) over the plan of the building Azimuth & altitude of sun

actual orientation, one can fix the positions of the sun for
particular hours of the day or the whole day as the case may
be.

Addis Ababa is found at latitude of 9o N near the equator. Due

to its high tempreture at this locaion, provision of shading
using building orientation and height by breaking the existing
trend of fronting a street is vital to determine the height. For this
end, knowing the min. & max angle of the sun with respect to
the street orientation for every month of the year is crucial.

2.4.2 Insolaiton
It is ‘the direct solar irradiation on the earth’s surface which exerts a thermal, light, and
biophysical effect on man/s organism (Shivarts,p. 24). Spacing between buildings should ensure
required insolation. Spacing between buildings depends on
how the buildings are placed-with their main façades parallel
to the street or perpendicular to it.

In hot climate the space between buildings should provide

sufficient area for green space as a means of protection
against reflected radiation . With these conditions in mind, it is
inadvisable to place buildings directly on the street line.

53
A latitudinal position of the larger axis of a building with a deviation of up to 15 degree on both
sides (for better insolation) is believed to be the best orientation for many hot countries. With
minimum spacing, buildings will receive maximum mutual shading.

NB. Use photometric chart Chart by Dr. Maslennikov & insolation scale by B. Dunaev.(p24)

2.4.3 Solar light (right of sun shine/sun shadow)

Natural day light is important for all living things. Getting this amidest high rise buildings is very
problematic.The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) has direct relation to the height or number of storeys for
a building and provision of open spaces. To provide sun shine for adjoining buildings amidest high
rise ones, the building height is restricted considering minimum and maximum angle of sunlight
of a certain area. In any case , the maximum height should be limited according the street width
of the street but not exceed 1.5 times the width of road abutting plus the front open space.

IIf a building abuts on two or more streets of different widths, the maximum height of the
building shall be deemed to face upon the street that has the greater width and the height of
Variation of the sun’s path during the day and the seasons
the building is regulated by the width of
that street and may be continued to this
height to a depth of 24m along the
narrower street subject to conformity of
exterior open space.

In city area where the construction is

allowed on the full area without the
provision of margins on any side, it
becomes necessary to check that the
height of one building does not obstruct
ventilation of the property on the other side
of the road and the height of the building is suitably curtailed off to allow the light plane to pass
as shown in the figure. The angle of light plane may be 45o or 63 1/2o , the latter being very
common. With an angle of 63 1/2 o , set back becomes necessary when the total height of the
building exceeds twice the width of road or street abutting the building.

The height of the building with respect to the rear space is marked by two imaginary lines ,
one line being horizontal and the other diagonal. The horizontal line is drawn at right angles
to the road through the center of the front line. The location of this horizontal line is taken at the
higher point along the line. From the point where the horizontal line meets the rear boundary,
a diagonal line is drawn in the direction of the building at 631/2 o with the horizontal line. No

54
part of the building is allowed to project beyond the diagonal line except for minor parts such
as chimneys, turrets, etc.

2.4.4 aesthetics
It is the beauty of the built environment as it is casted on the natural environment sensed by the
human eye . Its threshold is the level at which any part is added or subtracted, it spoils the
whole set up or disgusting to the observer. It is a clue of prosperous society and makes the city
convenient to tourists. Even though it is subjective , controversial and hard to achieve , beauty of
the built environment is addressed using different techniques. A town is a combination of open
spaces and solids. The beauty emanates from the composition of the two. Among many
techniques of achieving beauty in buildings and cities at large, enclosure, proportion , texture ,
scale etc are worth mentioning here.

Proportion is the relation of the part to the whole and the whole to the part that helps to achieve
objective beauty. Of which the Classical Orders, Musical Means, Plato’s proportion or Palladio’s
Fugal System are worth mentioning here.

The classical orders, which use the bottom diameter of the Ionic , Doric and Corinthian columns
as Orders of the classical Greek and of Roman for perfect expression of beauty and harmony
respectively, are used as determinant of every element of a building including height. These
Orders emanate from human body shoulder width equals to 1/6th of our height and is related to
the whole part of the building with respect to the type of column chosen for. For instance, If Ionic
Order (Ionic Column) is used as a proportioning tool for a certain building 6 and 10 will be taken
from human body and their arithmetic mean (8, in this case ) is found and height of the column
will be 8 times the bottom shaft diameter. If Doric, add smaller number 6 to the ionic mean (8)and
find its arithmetic mean (which is 7), then the height of Doric column will be seven times the lower
diameter of the shaft. For the Corinthian order, add ionic mean (8) to the greatest number (10) and
find its arithmetic mean (9), then height of column is 9 times the diameter of the bottom of the
shaft. (Alberti, p.196-206)

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Musical means (harmony) are using numbers (one, two, three and four) from pleasing sounds to
determine dimensions of buildings and spaces. These are also important methods for determining
height in relation to width and breadth of a volume. Alberti’s proportion (generation ratio) basically
uses musical means for proportioning spaces. For instance, short areas have a dimension of
1:1,2:3 (fifths/diapente), 3:4 (sesquitertia/fourths); for middle areas or spaces 1:2,4:9 (sesquialtera
doubled),9:16 (sesquitertia doubled) and for larger areas or spaces : 1:3(triple),3:8 (sesquitertia
doubled)and 1:4 (quadruple) are used.

Plato’s proportion, Arithmetic (AM)=a+b/2), Geometric (GM)= √(ab) and Harmonic Mean
(HM)=2ab/a+b) for determining height after the length and width of a building or space is
determined is also invaluable tool for finding visually pleasing height. (Stevens,p168)

The Golden numbers parallel and perpendicular diagonals of prism and Fibonacci series are also
tools for achieving proportionate height . Golden volume is found by restricting the base (floor) in
Golden Mean, i.e. Ф=1.618 and make the total area of four enclosing walls =2x floor area; then the
height (h) of the block will be 0.618 times the width of the floor. (William Blackwell,134)

The recent Van Der Series With Plastic Number & Plastic Number Series, which is a modern
proportioning system(1983) using Series: 1, 1 ,1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21,… which is P i= Pi-2 +
Pi-3 ; for i>2, given P0,P1 & P2 as a means of proportion, is also an invaluable tool for frontage and
height determination. In any sequence of four terms, the fourth is the sum of the first two. As
larger, successive ratios approach the value of 1.325…, the Plastic Number is a solution for
equation 1+ x = x3 . The starting point is the thickness of the wall and the largest value would be
73, or 343 times the wall thickness. For instance, wall thickness =150mm; 1050mm(=150x7 1),
suitable for dimensioning the house; 7350 mm(=150x7 2) is suitable for a court; 51.5m (= 150x 7 3),
the largest dimension, is suitable for a town square. (Steve, p179)

Enclosure is the covering of human height by structures in a space. It is obtained ‘when a wall
exceeds a man’s height and breaks the visual continuity of the floor’ (Yoshinobu, p: 81). When any
wall or structure surrounding an open area such as street or plaza is above human height(1.8m),
it partake to bring enclosure, a sense of being contained in develops on the user’s mind. It ,
therefore, relates the observant position to the structure that stands parallel to the observant but
perpendicular to the ground and the space contained in. This relation results in scale. As to H.
Märtens (German Architect) human field of vision is 60 o and when he gazes at an object it shrinks
to 1o . With regard to the horizontal eye level plane, 2/3 rd of the 60o (i.e. 40o) is above this plane and
the rest 20o is below. Including part of the sky and the ground as a canvas, a building is fully
visible when the distance of the viewer is at an angle of twice the height of the building i.e. D/H
=2 or 27o , from the ground floor to top of the building. Or as to Werner Hegemann & Elbert

56
Peets , in their American Vitruvius , ‘One should be separated from the building by twice its
height , which means he should see it at an angle of 27o’. In this case, the building will fill the
entire field of vision of an observer who holds his head motionless. To see a group of buildings
such as civic buildings, one should be at an angle of 18o (i.e . 3 times the building height=D/H=3).
These were applied during the medieval times , but in this time of rapid change and movement ,
it is hard to apply them directly but helps to understand the overall quality of exterior space in
terms of building height and distance of viewers.

If the distance of the viewer from the enclosing structure(D) and its height (H)is simply related,
D/H=1 is the critical point at which the quality of exterior space radically changes. Here, balance
prevails. If D/H>1 , the distance increases, quality of space will be lost if it exceeds 4.`If D/H<1 ,
the distance decreases, still quality of space lost. We feel a sense of being closed and develop
claustrophobia, as D/H becomes smaller and smaller. Here , the shape of the buildings, the wall
texture, the size and location of openings, and the angle of light entrance is great concern of
designers. In actual laying out of buildings D/H=1,2 and 3 are used but exceeding D/H=4 , mutual
interaction of buildings begins to dissipate. Mutual interaction of buildings ,unless enhanced by
connecting external corridors , will be lost.(p.43)

Camillo Sitte also supports this theory on the size of plazas :‘The minimum dimensions of a
square or plaza ought to be equal to the height of the principal building in it, while its maximum
dimension ought not to exceed twice that height unless the form, the purpose, and the design of
building will support greater dimensions.’ In other words, it is about 1≤D/H≤2. When D/H is smaller
than one , the exterior space is no longer a plaza but a space where building interaction is too
strong. When D/H exceeds 2, the enclosing forces that create the sense of plaza begin to
diminish and become less operative. When D/H is somewhere between 1 & 2 , the exterior space
is balanced and provides a sense of proportion . (p 42-44)

57
As more high rise buildings are coming to dominate the existing trend, the need of articulating
exterior space becomes mandatory as the ground is the only space where every one clutters.
Some spaces , by the virtue of their nature need wide, incomprehensible space. But these are
visually oppressive unless partitioned by some means. For this purpose the following methods
can be employed. It is very important for the designer to seek a series of scale that will serve as
standards for creating space whether interior or exterior. So for exterior spaces:

• The ‘ONE -TENTH’ THEORY: In the design of exterior space , a scale that is about ‘eight
to ten times that of the interior space is adequate. Thus, make relationship of interior and
exterior space between 1:8 and 1:10 (Yoshinobu, p 44)

• The ‘70 foot modular unit’: in the designing of exterior space ‘a modular unit of 70 to 80
feet is useful and appropriate.’ this is needed to achieve continuum of changes in rhythm, in
texture and in floor levels every 70 or 80 ft. It decreases monotony & enliven space. For
example : Komazawa Olympic Park, Tokyo (Yoshinobu, p49)

Scale is measurement of one thing in terms of another or of its own

parts. Humans have connection to their environment through
their sense organs. Among the five sense organs eye is the
important media through which humans appreciate their
environment. The environment particularly the urban environment
should be constructed in such a way that it has to give a
charming view. This type of view is created not randomly leaving
everything astray but through a certain way of doing things
studying the relation between observers and the environment. One
of the method for doing this is scale .

Man looks his surrounding by fixing his head either moving his
eye ball or staring at one point or by swaying his head vertically
and horizontally. But the eye has its own cone of vision where
each of our eyes stare at. Nothing beyond this cone of vision is
seen . Besides the distance also matters to sense his
environment . So creating a relation between distance and height
and width of the object to be seen and the viewer, man, is addressed by scale.

2.4.5 Texture
To design exterior space, the relation between material texture and distance is important. To
improve the quality of exterior space, deciding a surface material texture against a viewing
distance is vital. Appearance of materials, is to enhance the quality of exterior space. In treating
58
the external wall surface considering the visual angle is important . The paradox is whether
achieving beauty on drawing only or beauty in the finished buildings. What is good on the
drawing is not always good when the buildings are finished because the surface finish of
materials and their color do have effect on vision of human beings. Bbeauty is dictated by
drawing but when the building fails to meet the desired beauty , it is disappointing. When if the
building finishing materials are also fore thought scientifically considering their effect on passers
-by , the surrounding is fascinating.

Why do we need texture In high rise building ? is the question that should be raised here. High
rise buildings are visible from everywhere dominating the sky and are full of large
monotonous walls some times without windows or sometimes with same type of windows.
Therefore, to enliven large monotonous walls without windows or eaves, joints are made at
certain interval. In applying pattern and texture (fine or course), there must be an order of
hierarchy in texture that must be borne in mind. Over texturing is the redundancy of unit textural
element which is part of a large scale order. What is treated in the city is the floor immediately
surrounding the high rise building, and the wall of buildings themselves. There are two levels of
applying texture in treating the exterior space : the primary order texture and the secondary
order texture . The primary order textures are textures seen near to the observant where as
secondary ones are those which are seen afar at which the primary texture becomes subdued
and monochrome.

Apply D/H ratio principles to decide primary and secondary textures. Ex., 1 inch (2.5cm) diameter
hole on a wall is well visible at 8ft (2.4m) distance and fades away at 200ft (60m) . A module of
1.8m by 1.5 m and 7.20m by 7.20m can be used as a rule of thumb for primary order and
secondary order texture in exterior space design respectively.

If we are aiming to create a never boring exterior space , either of the following two approaches
of designing should be followed putting aside the then trend of disposing every building
randomly.

In the design of exterior spaces one has to pay attention to:

1. To expose the whole view at the very out set and there by make a strong
impression on the people.
2. To show it gradually thus arousing a sense of anticipation in people making
them comprehend the whole space step by step.
In addition the above two, there are still other techniques of designing exterior spaces

59
 3. Using differences of ground level effectively: The artifacts of human beings are not
always set on flat land, but mostly on undulating terrains . Especially the city has
neither the same flat slope as sea level nor negligible differences as a single
building on relatively small plot. Using the difference of the ground of the city by
clear demarcation between areas and grouping as upper, lower and intermediate
level is unparallel tool to make the city as important place for tourism and
related services.
4. The sunken garden technique is also useful for designing exterior
space ,particularly, in the congested areas where they are useful as enclosing
forces.
Example : UN building façade& floor of Komazawa Olympic Park, Tokyo (Yoshinobu, p49)

2.4.6 Wind/wind rose

Wind is the movement of air masses in a horizontal direction. The direction of wind is determined
by the side of the horizon from where the wind blows. For this purpose, the horizon is divided into
rhombs (1/32 part of the perimeter of the horizon),. Moreover, direction of wind is designated from
the cardinal points of the compass North, South, East and West. The wind speed is expressed in
m/sec. The Beaufort scale for wind speeds is used to designate the speed and force of winds.

Determination of the prevailing wind direction for any given period of time is important for deciding
height. Drawn through the center of a circle are 16 lines indicating the main directions or rhumbs
(vectors). Starting from the center are plotted (in scale) the proportional percentage of wind
frequency in these directions on the assumption that the wind blows from the perimeter to the
center. The end of the vectors are then connected by straight lines . The sum of the vectors on
all rhombs should equal 100%. Such a diagram is called wind rose.

In order to obtain all the wind characteristics of a location, it is essential to construct a wind rose –
a vector diagram characterizing seasonal and diurnal frequency of direction and speed of winds ,
singling out frequency of calms in accordance with data provided by meteorological station.
Within the limits of repetition frequency and forces of winds , each vector is divided into
corresponding segments . By connecting the ends of identical frequencies force are obtained. For
a complete characteristics of wind, two parameters should be taken into account –wind
frequency and its force.

For the better study of a place, the diagram for the frequency and force of winds (wind rose) is
constructed separately for each season with subsequent account being taken of the most
characteristics seasonal periods. The prevailing wind direction is a major factor in selecting a site

60
for a populated place and the distribution of functional zones. Topography has effect on wind
speed.

In hot-humid climates, city planning measures are aimed at combating calms whereas in hot-dry
climates the aim is to combat dry winds.

Air has a tendency to move in the same direction until it meets an obstacle, forcing it to change its
direction. When it collides, a pressure and suction zone occurs. The suction zone or area of calmer
blanketed area is the area at the back of the obstacle to the point where the air mass restores its
initial direction. Here air is motionless. The trajectory where the air mass takes when it meets an
obstacle is called flow diagram /flow model.

It has been established by experiment that the air flow is

influenced by width, height and length of buildings ; roof slope ,
orientation , number of openings, canopies/shed. The
orientation of building volume is influenced by the direction of wind.
If the openings are perpendicular to the direction of wind greatest
pressure will develop inside . How ever, if they are 45 o of the wind
direction ,better air movement prevails inside and important way out
when there is conflict between solar orientation and the most suitable prevailing wind. In warm
climate , wind is the major consideration in deciding on the layout of groups or clusters of
buildings. Tall buildings has to be analyzed thoroughly not to situate low buildings in the wind
shadow of a high block as this allow back flow of winds in the low rise building. It is
recommended to situate buildings in checker-board layout with buildings staggered rather than
to lay them out in rigid rows. The extent of
wind shadow increases in proportion to the
height of the building and is affected by the
roof pitch. The width of building has little
effect on the extent of shadow. So, height
and roof shape are important staffs to deal with in height regulation(Allan, P52-55)

The length of wind shadow (L) is fifteen times building height (H). That is, L=15H. here in the lee
ward side wind velocity is less that half that before the obstacle. Wind shadow is desirable in cold
climates and undesirable in hot / hot humid climates. In tall buildings , strong down draft on the
ground and infiltration through windows are dangerous (Arivind,Nick,Szokolay,simos , p87 ).

Table #2: wind force and speed

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To decide building height with regard to wind, collecting information about wind direction, and
speed is mandatory. For this end, wind speed is measured at airports where there is no obstacle.
As the height increases, speed increases ( Shvarts ,p.31). so, obtaining this data from the
respective firm is the first step. Then, the entire town has to be divided into the following areas:

• Center of the town with a high building density, and high rise buildings; here the wind speed
is equal to one third of wind speed measured on a location without obstacles.

• Areas near the center with a high building density but lower buildings; in this area, the wind
speed is equal to 2/3 of the wind speed of an open locality.

• Urban outskirts with a low building density and one storey buildings; in this area, the wind
speed approaches the wind speed on a territory without obstacle.

The aim of using wind as determinate of height is to restore the air current to its original trajectory
in front of the next building, which is to resume natural ventilation. Therefore, one layer of height
zoning has to be made with regard to the wind direction and speed.

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2.4.7 Urban heat island
Urban Heat island is ‘prevalence of increased air temperature within dense urban area as
opposed to the surrounding low rise built up areas or open country’.( Kirishina ,p87) it is caused by
‘high absorption of radiation of the built mass and its storage, internal heat generation and air
pollution’ . It is amplified by high density and high rise construction that minimizes radiative heat
losses. Time of the day , wind and sky condition also affect its magnitude during day. 1-2 oC and
more increase relative to its urban fringe is usual in central dense areas, and in nights 5 oC
above . Enclosed wide open areas heat up faster and faster and cool fast at night Denser ones
even if low rise perform in different manner. The correlation of heat island intensity to the size of
urban population is calculated by the following formula:

 dT=P 1/4/(4*U) ; where, dT is heat island intensity(oC); P is population; and U is

Regional wind speed(m/sec.( (Kirishina ,p87)

2.4.8 Sky line

It is also called Silhouette and is defined as the connection of sky & buildings or the outline of the
city as casted against the horizon or sky seen by the observant. It has aesthetic value for the city
and a sign of identity imprinted on the sky by the built environment. It is a thoughtful
phenomena dictated by planning . The following pictures show the different sky lines of some
cities .

63
Denver :-

Chicago :-

2.4.9 Over looking

This is the effect produced when a development or building affords an outlook over adjoining land
or property, often causing loss of privacy.

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2.4.10 Over shadowing
“The effect of a development or building on the amount of natural light presently enjoyed by a
neighboring property, resulting in a shadow being cast over that neighboring property."

65
2.4.11 Overbearing
"A term used to describe the impact of a development or building on its surroundings, particularly a
neighboring property, in terms of its scale, massing and general dominating effect."

66
2.4.12 Structure
As building increases in height, the vertical load increases linearly with the height; while the
horizontal loads induce a base bending moment that is proportional to the square of the building
height (Fig. 2).

67
Earthquakes and windstorms :

68
Horizontal loads like the windstorms and earthquakes pose more challenges than the vertical loads
such as the building and facility weight. Windstorms impact the design and performance of tall
buildings.

2.4.13 Aggrandizement
It is the making of bold buildings by subduing others. The suppressing of others can be either by
height, massing, or color etc. or accentuation by successive spires. It exists both in autocratic and
democratic society. For instance, the white house , in Washington suppresses every other
building in the city. The cathedrals of Rome dominate the city of Rome . This has been a strong
factor that has influenced building height in history.

69
2.4.14 Density
Density is number of dwellings per unit area or number of household per unit area or number of
built up area per unit area. It shows the intensity of using a certain area. What ever the type of
building , high or medium or low rise building , the density can be the same . As buildings rise
up, they need an optimum amount of space on the ground. Hence, densification is not a
compromise to space compaction. It would rather demand optimum space open to users who are
flooding down to the ground. The following is an illustration showing the effect of density on
building coverage. The density is the same but BAR is different.

2.4.15 Open spaces

The open space inside and around the buildings particularly residential type, have to be
provided to cater for the lighting and ventilation requirements. In the design of the built
environment the following has to be observed regarding type and size of open spaces.

70
 • Four exterior open spaces has to be considered:

– Front , rear, sides (left & right) of buildings

– Interior open space

– Joint open space

• Set standard open space for building height not more than 10m

• For open space above 10m high, open space provisions should be:-

Table #3: minimum open space requirements

Range of heights of Minimum open space requirements
buildings

10-25m Plus to min open space for heights of 10m, there shall be an
increase in the minimum open spaces at the rate of 1m per
every 3m or fraction thereof for heights above 10m.

25-30m There shall be a minimum open space of 30m

>30m Plus to the minimum open space for height of 30m , there
shall be a minimum open space at the rate of 1m for every
5m or fraction thereof for heights above 30m subject to a
maximum of 16m.

2.4.16 Environment
Pollution especially air pollution caused by different actions that produce CO, SO 4 etc ., have
effect on the placing of high rise buildings as high rise buildings are swarming in the air. Height
of sources of discharge (height of dispersing stack and free vertical rise of gas ) has effect on the
height of buildings. Location of air pollutants, height of chimney of industries, direction & speed of
wind, topography are important consideration with regard to height of buildings.

It is, hence, recommended to identify areas or spots of possible pollution in one layer. Then,
measuring its height & pollution extent, knowing the prevalent wind direction and speed, making
wind rose of the area and mapping the influence area and determining the location of high rise
buildings are important steps to be followed.(Shivarts,p47)

2.4.17 Function
There are buildings or structures that, by the virtue of their very function, need a different
height. Halls that contain too many peoples, Industries whose machine or technology demands
height, stores /ware houses or silos that need height, airport traffic towers, chimneys/ incinerators,
71
water tankers, telephone towers(pylons), sentry boxes, TV masts etc are some worth
mentioning here.

It is , therefore, recommended to make one layer of height zoning with regard to special
functions or exemption decision has to be passed on.

2.4.18 Land use

It is not possible to pile up every use in the aspiration of increasing height. On the one hand
administration, commercial business areas and residential activities, by their nature, could be
accommodated in high rise buildings. On the other hand industrial and warehouse areas do not
require high rise buildings rather lower building heights with bigger building mass and land
coverage. It is, thus, important to identify areas of different uses that can be either
accommodated in high rise buildings or kept on the ground.

2.4.19 Land value

Land value and market forces are related to density of activities and population. The demand for
building spaces increases in central areas from peripheral areas and land prices are also higher in
central areas. Population concentration in specific localities of the center and nodal areas require
more building spaces for administration, cultural activities, shops, market places, business offices,
apartments, services etc. Where as we go away from the center in the peripheral areas there is
less and less concentration of activities which naturally decreases the demand for building space.
Therefore, a compromise must be made between maximization of land utilization especially in the
centers by increasing height of buildings with other factors that have effect on health and rights of
peoples . As the city increases physically, it becomes multi-centered due to the need of
proximity of activities to users . Many unexpected centers have flourished due to physical
separation of settlements, concentration of transport facilities and major uses. Once they are
created, it is not possible to retard them from developing further . It is hence mandatory to follow
their trend and shape them accordingly and utilize their value. The concern of different
companies in a certain location has also impact on the land value that brings forth increase in
height. The presence of international, national, regional, city and local companies in certain
localities increase land values accordingly.

2.4.20 Geological factors

Everything is built on earth. However , every land is not suitable for the intended purpose as the
land is variable in its nature. The first thing is to exploit the womb of the earth for what is useful
for man: be it mineral or water. Next to this is to use the land for building of different height. To
this end identifying the bearing capacity of the soil , knowing seismic conditions of localities are
important consideration. To ensure public safety, building height needs to be regulated by

72
investigating micro geologic conditions. Rocky areas devoid of fault lines, slips or cleavage
planes, lime stones with swallow holes are important places for high rise structures. Rocks have
different maximum safe bearing capacity as to their nature: hard rocks such as granite 330 t/m 2;
laminated rocks , 165 t/m2; residual deposits of shattered and broken bed rock and hard shell
cemented material, 90 t/m2; and soft rock, 45 t/m2 where as black cotton soil do have a bearing
capacity of 10 t/m2. An angle of beyond 45o line of load dispersion has to be maintained for their
foundation. (Singh, p406-407) Identifying localities of varied bearing capacity and made-up soils
is important for determining height of buildings. Positioning buildings afar from vibration of impact
sounds of traffics , identifying places of low ground water level and shrinking clay soils are also
important.

2.4.21 Aviation regulation

In the vicinity of aerodromes, the maximum height of the buildings is fixed in consultation with
the Civil Aviation Authorities.The main considerations are pinned on aircraft safety factors,
vertical space and clearance in certain locations for safe maneuvering of aircrafts so as to ensure
residents safety from aircraft noise and accident risk and to protect blast of jet engines that might
cause damage on structures. Zones of restriction of height of buildings and structures around the
airport especially along the takeoff and landing directions should be maintained. Aviation regulation
determines whether a proposed tall structure would constitute an obstruction or hazard to air
navigation. Structures less than 61 meters above ground level don not have an impact on air
navigation unless they are located near air port. Local authorities use zoning to control air
commerce.(Urban Design Hand Book, 7.9-10)

2.4.22 Infrastructure
Infrastructures are physical and social. Although the social ones are decisive in terms of their
concentration and population size to be entertained, the physical infrastructures: road, parking,
water supply, sewers(storm and sanitary), energy are important for deciding the height of
buildings in a city. The Hierarchy, layout, size and capacity of infrastructure network determines its
efficient utilization. In turn , it determines the minimum and maximum building height.

Among physical infrastructures that determine height of buildings is water supply . The water
supply system in any city works by the principle : ‘the head of the water in the network should
be such that all the units and outlets receive the water in the optimum quantity and at the
optimum pressure i.e neither the pressure should be high nor it should be low.’ (Panchdhari,
p40). To do this water zones has to be identified where building heights differ considerably. The
aim of creating water zones for a group of building would be to ensure equitable water supply
to all individual units. As high rise buildings are different in height ,calculating and maintaining

73
pressure for reaching the highest building will induce unnecessary pressure on the low and
medium rise buildings.

There are two water supply systems for high rise buildings :the up feed system directly from the
municipal main and down feed system from over head tankers. Which ever way the water should
reach to top most storey with adequate ease so that the net work should be zoned according to
height. Normally the zoning is done for 8-10 m of height .In the case of multistoried buildings,
the zoning can be done by either a breakwater tank system or zonal tank system where at 8 to
10 meters height zonal tanks are situated. The height of overhead tank will be decided by the
water mains network design and the residual pressure. It is calculated for 24 hours water supply. If
not possible, it is compensated by underground reservoir with extra pumping facilities. The water
supply zoning depends on topography, density of population, types of locality and the wastage leak
detection and prevention. Normally, separate zones should be made in average elevation
difference of 15-25 meters.( Panchdhari , p33 )

Sewage are two types sanitary sewage and storm sewage. Sanitary sewage or Dry Weather
Flow (D.W.F) consists domestic sewage and industrial or trade waste where as storm sewage
consists of storm water during rainfall which are drained from roofs, streets, fields and open
spaces. Both should be assessed carefully . Sizes of sewer, their slopes, drainage lines and the
capacity of pumps and treatment plants etc are directly dependent on sewage quantity. The
D.W.F. depends up on the population , habits of the people, water supply allowance and climatic
conditions and 20-30 years of additional expected design periods. Volume of sewage is
assumed to be equal to water supply allowances. Sometimes 75 % of the water supplied reaches
to the sewers. The following table is for design purpose of water consumption and sewage
production in sewered cities of India.

Table #4: waster and sewage requirement per user

Pop Water Sewage production
consumption (lit/head/day)
(lit/head/day)
100000 135 115
200000 160 135
500000 180 160
1000000 200 180
>1000000 225 200

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As per IS recommendation , a good average rule is to allow for a flow of liquid waste from
buildings at the rate of 0.03 m 3 per minute per 100 persons based on water consumption of 140
lit/head/day.(p 1095-7.

Lighting in the city are four types. The first is high mast light which ranges from 18-30m length
above the ground, the second is medium parking lot and roadway lights which are 6 to 12m tall
and the intermediate height pedestrian light that are 3 to 4.5m tall and low level landscape
lights which are less than 3 m. The wattage, color and purpose are important consideration for
city lighting. Preventing obnoxious glare, which is a glare produced by neighboring structure
lighting installation on adjacent building, and high mast lights location and height are pressing
issues in height zoning. Besides, tall buildings are susceptible to lightening during rain seasons.
Installing lightening rods on the top of buildings imparts aesthetic and height issues. (Urban
design Hand book, 7.10-13)

Noise in the down town is affected by temperature, wind currents and humidity. All these create
areas where sound waves can not be sensed which are called sound shadow zones. The sound
level decreases by 20dBA (A-weighted decibels) for a distant greater than 150m from a sound
source. Inside a down town of urban areas, a special acoustic considerations are created, which
are called canyon effect. In canyon effect , tall buildings having flat acoustically reflective
exterior surfaces are parallel to each other on either side of a street. Sound generated between
the buildings reflects many times between the buildings exterior and can, in many cases,
travel along the lengths of the entire streets in the minimal reduction. This effect can be
minimized by specifying exterior finishes for buildings on at least one side of the street to be
acoustically absorptive . So, controlling reflections with in space using materials regulation is
highly demanding.(Urban design Hand Book, 7.8-2)

Wireless technologies for telecommunication purpose needs navigable air space. They impart
concerns about aesthetic, public health and safety. Regulating placement, construction and
modifications of personal wireless facilities (PWF) is mandatory. It is important to protect navigable
air space from tall structures requiring several PWF to collocate or use existing structures if
feasible; minimizing the size and community impact of PWFs consistent with need; considerations
of aesthetic requirements of the community from the point of installing PWF facilities is
important. Reduce the visual impact of antennas by different mounting techniques is also
needed. Among the techniques used is to camouflage and multiuse and limiting tower height to
the minimum necessary ( Cross Polarized Antenna) .Health wise ,radio frequency radiation from
cell town affect health of the people so setting radio frequency power density standards is
important. There is a maximum allowable level of radio frequency power density that a wireless
facility may produce in locations accessible by the general public .(see table)
75
Table#5: Limits of the general population from uncontrolled exposure

Frequency (f)range(Mhz) Power density(mW/cm2 ) Averaging time (mint)

0.3-3.0 100 30
3-30 180/f 30
30-300 0.2 30
300-1500 f/1500 30
1500-100000 1 30
Source : Urban design Hand Book(7.9-12)

76
Bibliography

Bibliography

1. Allan Konya( 1980): Design Primer for Hot Climates. The Architectural Press
Ltd.London
2. Arivind krishina,Nick baker,svSzokolay,simos yannas(ed.), (2001): Climate
responsive architecture. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
3. Carmona Matthew, Heath Tim, Oc Taner and Tiesdell Steven, (2003), Public places-Urban
spaces: the dimensions of urban design

4. G.A. Hiraskar,(2002), Fundamentals of Town Planning. Ish Kupur publisher.

5. Gurcharan singh, (1996)Standard hand book of civil engineering, Lomus printing
service, Delhi-6
6. Ernst and Peter Neufert, 2003, 3rd edition, Back Well publishers
7. Panchdhari, A.C, Water Supply and Sanitary Installation(with in buildings) design
Construction and maintenance
8. Shvarts , A. (1976), Town planning in hot climates , MirPublisher.
9. Singh, Gracharan & Gadash (2001)Building planning Designing & Scheduling.
Standard Publishers & distributers.
10. Town planning in hot climates by shvarts , A. 1976, MirPublisher.
11. Yoshinobu Ashihara (1970): Exterior Design In Architecture. D.Van Nostrand
Company (Canada). Ltd.
12. Mogahtn , Urban design: street
13. Yoshinobu Ashihara (1970) :Exterior Design In Architecture. D.Van Nostrnad
Company (Canada). Ltd.
Internet source
14. http://www.PlanningPortal.gov.uk/england/government/ )
15. http://www.PlanningPortal.gov.uk/england/government/ )

77
 Part III

Review of the updated building height regulation

of Addis Ababa -2008

By: Tsion and Alazar

78
Tables and Figures
Figure 1: Locations of LDPs.......................................................................................................55

Figure 2: Building Height rule on LDPs......................................................................................56

Figure 3 : Updated Building height Rule, 2008...........................................................................58

Figure 4: Building Height Regulation of 2001 and Updated building Height rule, 2008..............61

Table of content

Table 1; No of Permitted buildings in each subcity from 2003/4-2007.......................................51

Table 2: No of Buildings with Heights of G+4 and above built in the city center and along major
streets........................................................................................................................................ 52

Table 3: Comparison of no of Buildings with the Heights of G+5 and above built between the years
(2001-2008)............................................................................................................................... 53

Table 4: Building Height Regulation change requests................................................................54

Table 5: Summary of the Updated Building Height Rule,2008...................................................57

Table 6: Changes on Minimum Building Height Regulation.......................................................60

Table 7: Changes in maximum Building Height Regulation.......................................................60

79
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose of the review

The purpose of reviewing the local experience of regulating building heights in Addis Ababa is
mainly to rationalize the need for updating the current building height rule. Moreover, it is to
formulate theoretical background for regulating building heights of Addis Ababa through the
identification of major limitations and achievements of previously implemented regulations. Hence,
the identified issues will be evaluated against internationally acceptable factors and theoretical
concepts considering the local context as a determinant factor for regulating or not regulating
building heights of Addis Ababa.

With this regard, the rationales, main considerations and principles that were considered during the
updating of Building Height Regulation in 2008 are reviewed. Similarly, the results of the
assessment on existing conditions, LDPs, building permits and need of the city residents are
reviewed.

1.2 Background

Building Height Regulation plan is one of the components of Addis Ababa Structure plan (the
revised master plan) that indicates the maximum and minimum permissible building heights for
different parts of the city.

The existing building height regulation plan was prepared and implemented starting from the year
2002 together with other components of the structure plan. Consequently, the plan was updated in
2008 on the basis of proclamation No 17/2004 article 16 that decrees the possibilities of updating
of structure plan and its components (when necessary) ones in every two years. On this basis, the
updating was found essential mainly because of the pressing need of the residents of the city to
raise the building heights beyond the provision of the existing building height regulation.

Accordingly, the updating was conducted adopting the rationales, principles and considerations of
the existing building height regulation but having specific objectives which were

To address the emerging need of residents taking the dynamics of the city
development into considerations

To harmonize and integrate new development directions

To amend the observed limitations of the existing plan and its regulations

80
Moreover, technical vision has been set on the basis of the assessment and consultation of
stakeholders as to guide economic, social and political activities of the city to locations better
equipped with infrastructure. Moreover, the physical form of the city was envisioned to have a
cephalopod urban form, the top of the shape being at the city center and the corridor roads
protruding out of the city center guiding the gradual decrease of building heights while the rest of
the city remained low rise as before (DUPPI 2008).

Rationales that were considered for setting the building height rule

According to ORAAMP 2001, regulating building heights for Addis Ababa was justified on the basis
of the following arguments:

Height regulation to buildings in an urban setting should be taken as a tool to define city
scape and create an identity
Cities like Addis Ababa, where air port is located within the built up areas of the city,
inevitably need some sort of building height regulation, considering the civil aviation flight
zone regulation
A minimum and maximum height regulation is set to be used as a tool for managing the
urban efficiency
In addition to the above broad rationales, in the case of Addis Ababa, the need for regulating
building height was justified as follows

To encourage and promote investment to utilize the available resource to the maximum
To manage and use the urban land efficiently
Densification of the city by reversing horizontal city development
Increase municipal revenue through taxes and users fees for municipal services
Create employment
Activate the building industry

1.3 The main principles followed in setting the building height zoning

The main principle that were followed in regulating the building heights during the revision of the
master plan were mainly considerations of the factors that determine the building heights of Addis
Ababa (ORAAMP, 2001)

Civil Aviation regulations

Topography
Historical sites and neighborhoods
Land values
Zoning

81
 Trends of the city development
Infrastructure
Resource availability and demand
Socio-cultural issues
Construction industry

1.4 methodology deployed for Existing situation Assessment on Building Height

in 2008

Methodology that was deployed to assess the existing condition is mainly rapid appraisal method.
Accordingly, primary data was collected through field observation on selected areas of the city,
which are main city center, major arterial streets and collector streets. Similarly, primary data /
information was extracted through successive consultation of stakeholders.

The type of secondary data that were collected and analyzed includes permitted buildings,
proposals of building height regulation at city level and on LDPs, the need of citizens for building
height change which was evaluated against the issues of zoning, land value and restrictions of
aviation regulation. Further, Civil Aviation rules are also explored to identify changes that occurred
after the revision of the Master Plan.

82
2 The results of the existing situation Assessment on Building
Height in 2008
2.1 Assessment results on Building permit Data

Building permit data was assessed to be able to identify and analyze the areas or sub-cities where
development pressure exists. In view of that, data was collected on building permit that was issued
for buildings with the height of five and more storey. Hence, the extracted data was organized by
sub-cities showing high development pressure in the city main center particularly kirkos subcity
and eastern side of the city which mainly is Bole Sub-city. In line with this, according to DUPPI,
2008, the same data has indicated that “around 10% of building permit was issued for six storey
and above buildings, out of which 30 % are found in the city center.” The following table shows the
summary of the data that was extracted in 2008.

Table 1: No of Permitted buildings in each subcity from 2003/4-2007

No Permitted Buildings Starting from 2003/2004-oct,2007

Sub city No of No of Permitted % of Permitted
Permitted Buildings (G+5 buildings (G+5
Buildings and above) and above)
1 Yeka 429 31 7.2
2 Gulele 245 5 2.04
3 Arada 163 58 35.5
4 Bole 1929 164 8.5
5 Kirkos 354 123 34.4
6 Nefas Silk 505 24 4.7
Lafto
7 Kolfe keranyo 441 6 1.4
8 Lideta 117 25 21.4
9 Addis Ketema 65 7 10.7
10 175 5 2.9

(Source - Updating Building Height regulation, 2008)

2.2 Assessment results on existing high rise buildings

Assessment has been conducted on the number of high-rise buildings that exist along the main
corridors of city, in 2008. Accordingly, information was extracted on the development trend and
growth of the building industry. In this regard, existing high-rise buildings have been counted on
field and the level of growth of building industry was explored through the comparison of the data
with that of 2001 which was obtained from ORAAMP 2001. The result have shown that, number of

83
buildings that were constructed after the revision of the master plan has increased implying that
the building industry have been activated because of the responsiveness of the revised plan (see
table 2 and 3)

Table 2: No of Buildings with Heights of G+4 and above built in the city center and along major streets

Road Locations Building Heights No of buildings Revised M.P.

Building Height
Regulation
Meskel to Gotera G+ 4 6 G+4 – G+7
(Debrezeit Road) G+5 & above 10
Mesqel Sq. Via G+ 4 23 G+4 – G+10
Olymia to Bole G+5 & above 39
Airport
Mesqel Sq. Via G+ 4 11 G+4 – G+7
Urael to G+5 & above 30
Megenagna
Megenagna to G+ 4 12 G+4 - G+7
CMC G+5 & above 15
Mexico Sq. to G+ 4 3 G+4 – As per
bldg college G+5 & above 6 LDP
Churchill to G+ 4 6 G+4 – As per
Lagar G+5 & above 21 LDP
Theodros Sq. via G+ 4 1 G+4 – As per
Somale Tera via G+5 & above 11 LDP
Tekle Haimanot
Sq. to Merkato
Arat Kilo to Sidist G+ 4 1 G+4 - G+7
Kilo G+5 & above 7
Abune Petros to G+ 4 6 G+4 - G+7
G. Wingate G+5 & above 2
Minilik Sq. G+ 4 9 G+4 - G+7
Addissu Gebeya G+5 & above 4
Mesqel via Hilton G+ 4 2 G+4 – As per
to Minelik Palace G+5 & above 6 LDP
National Theatre G+ 4 - G+4 – As per
to Mexiko Sq. G+5 & above 6 LDP
Mexico Sq. to G+ 4 2 G+4 – As per
Mesqel Sq. G+5 & above 10 LDP

(Source - Updating Building Height regulation, 2008)

As can be seen on the table the lower margin (G+4) was analyzed separately because, according
to DUPPI, 2008, the method was identified as a means to explore the proportion of residents that
struggle to maintain the lower margin. Consequently, the analysis has shown that significant
number of buildings are built with the height of G+4. Hence, during updating the lower margin was

84
maintained even though increment in building height regulation has been anticipated because of
majority of residents’ request.

Further, high rise buildings that are built before 2001 and after (till 2008) with the height of G+5 &
above were analyzed separately as another indicator of growth of construction industry, Thus as
shown on the following table, number of newly constructed buildings have increased not only at
subcity level but also along main corridors.

Table 3: Comparison of no of Buildings with the Heights of G+5 and above built between the years (2001-2008)

Road Locations Building No of Buildings

Heights
Before now Comparison
2001(Revision of (difference)
M.P)
Meskel to Gotera 4
(Debrezeit Road) G+5 & above 6 10
Mesqel Sq. Via
Olymia to Bole G+5 & above 31 39 8
Airport
Mesqel Sq. Via
Urael to G+5 & above 12 30 18
Megenagna
Megenagna to
CMC G+5 & above - 15 15
Mexico Sq. to
bldg college G+5 & above 1 6 5
Theodros Sq. via
Somale Tera via G+5 & above 4 11 7
Tekle Haimanot
Sq. to Merkato
Abune Petros to
G. Wingate G+5 & above 1 2 1
Minilik Sq.
Addissu Gebeya G+5 & above - 4 4

(Source - Updating Building Height regulation, 2008)

2.3 Assessment results of requests

Requests of residents were also assessed and almost all requests require increment in building
height regulation. The locations dominantly concentrate on the eastern side of the city but few
requests are located in the city core and Mekannisa area.

Table 4: Building Height Regulation change requests

Location Existing Regulation Request

85
Residential Neighborhoods G+0-4 G+6
Africa Avenue G+4-7 G+12
Casaincis G+8 G+14, 15 and G+9
Aviation (Inner) G+5 G+6 & G+7
Haile G/Sellassie Street G+4-7 G+12
Aviation (In front of Bole G+4-7 G+8
M/Alem Church)
22 Mazoria near Junction G+0-4 G+8
Lebu G+0-4 G+7
Lagar G+10 G+15
Mekanissa G+0-4 G +7
Near St. Urael Church G+4-7 G+10

(Source - Updating Building Height regulation, 2008)

2.4 Assessment result of Ldps

Local development plans are planning instruments that guide and facilitate the implementation of
the structure plan. The main contents of LDP are Rules & Regulations, Urban Design and
Implementation Strategy. Thus, in each LDP building heights are regulated within the framework of
the Structure Plan.

Currently, nearly 51 LDPs are prepared for different localities of the city. During updating of
building height regulation, assessment was conducted on building height specification of LDPs. In
this regard, major limitation was observed in the area where synchronization and harmonization is
needed. Since, LDPs are prepared by different teams at different times synchronization between
detail regulations is compulsory which in some cases has not been done so far. As a result,
adjacent areas have been abided by different rules and regulation creating visual inconsistency.

Figure 1: Locations of LDPs

86
Source: PII, 2010

Figure 2: Building Height rule on LDPs

87
Source: PII, 2010

2.5 Assessment of Civil Aviation Restriction Rule

According to DUPPI 2008, civil aviation restriction rule of 2001 is modified and most eastern and
northeastern part of the city which previously was under the regulations of civil aviation is free.
Moreover, the good side of the modified regulation is stated as “norms of the civil aviation are no
more articulated by the constant values, but the variation can simply be computed depending on its
position in reference to the Run way.”

Hence, the following areas (A_E) were the only places under the restriction of civil aviation rule,
DUPPI 2008.

Aviation Zone A (Air Port Transition Zone) - - no construction is allowed

Buildings within Aviation Zone B (Instrument landing System ILS Collision risk Model
High Sensitive Area) the height should be - - (Runway elevation)a + 23m – project site
elevation

88
 Buildings within Aviation Zone C1 (Departure Area for (Runway 25)=b) the height should
be - -(Runway elevation)b + (1.0% of X*) – project site elevation
Buildings within Aviation Zone C2 (Departure Area for (Runway 07)=a) the height should
be- -(Runway elevation)a + (1.0% of X*) – project site elevation
Buildings within Aviation Zone D (VOR(=Very High Frequency Omni directional Radio
Range) Approach Area )the height should be - - (Runway elevation)a + 45m – project site
elevation
Buildings within Aviation Zone E (Radar Approach Area) the height should be -
(Runway elevation)a + 51m – project site elevation
Thus, except Zone A-E – no limitation to heights of buildings is imposed.

2.6 The updated building height proposal of 2008

The updated version of building height rule shows(see table 5 and 6), the minimum building height
regulation of 2001 is maintained in most cases to accommodate the majority of residents while
change was made only in increasing maximum building height regulation to address the requests.

2.6.1 Summary of the updated building Height rule

Table 5: Summary of the Updated Building Height Rule, 2008

Areas or Street names Proposed Building height regulation

Plots facing major Arterial roads (≤30Meters) G+4-G+12
and Business Corridors

Partly –Africa Avenue, Haile G/Selassie, D/Z G+7-G+20

Road, Churchill,
Mexico to Dessie Hotel(Roads ≥ 40 Meters)
City Center G+7-Unlimited unless regulated by LDPs

Ring road and Plots facing selected collector G+2 - G+7

streets(≥ 20 meters ≤ 30meters)
Dominantly residential areas G+0-G+4
For plots facing road width <=10meters –the
maximum permitted height will be (1.5* road
width); and For plots facing road width (>10 ≤ 20
meters) the above requirement holds

City centers outside City Center G+2 – As per LDP

89
– Junction points (Indicated on the Map) As per LDP

Near and Around Historical buildings, As per LDP or the standing committee for
Settlements and Streets and sloppy sites building height
(Indicated on the Map) and city centers outside
CBD

Social Services, Cinemas, Libraries, Religious G+0 – As per the standing committee for
buildings building height

Figure 3 : Updated Building height Rule, 2008

Source-DUPPI, 2008

2.6.2 Major difference and similarities between the original building height
regulations and the updated building Height Rule
90
In principle, broad considerations, planning principles and rationales of the need for regulating the
building heights of Addis Ababa that were set during the revision of the master plan should be
maintained at least for another revision period. In view of that, during the updating of the building
height regulation the above factors were maintained. However, because of the dynamism of the
city development, responsive plan was needed and amendments were made on the basis of the
need, Investment capacity of citizens, on the level of Infrastructure Development and so on.

Accordingly, increment of building heights on selected areas of the city, mainly city center, and
major arterial and collector streets were made. Similarly, a number of collector streets that are
newly constructed were selected and increment was done on the minimum as well as maximum
building height regulation. Concerning the city core, the downtown of Addis Ababa, the demand of
increment of building height was way beyond the envisioned building height on local development
plans of the area thus defining the maximum was not found essential and increment on the
minimum building height was carried out. According to the report on updating building heights of
Addis Ababa 2008, the following minimum and maximum building height changes are indicated as
follows.

2.6.3 Changes on minimum building height regulation

Table 6: Changes on Minimum Building Height Regulation

Existing Minimum Proposed Minimum Areas or Street names

Building height Building height
regulation regulation

G+4 G+4 Plots facing major arterial roads, Business

corridors, Junction points

G+4 G+7 Africa Avenue, Haile G/Selassie, D/Z

Road, Churchill, Mexico to Dessie Hotel

G+3 Market areas and city centers outside

G+2 CBD, Plots facing selected collector
streets, along southern ring road

G+4 Some junction points of major arterial and

As per LDP collector road

G+4 City Center

G+7

G+0 G+0 Dominantly residential areas, Education

centers, Health centers, Cultural centers,
Industrial and other Production of buildings

91
(Source - Updating Building Height regulation, 2008)

2.6.4 Changes on maximum Building height regulation

Table 7: Changes in maximum Building Height Regulation

Existing Maximum Proposed Maximum Areas or Street names

Building heights Building height regulation
Regulation

G+7 G+12 Plots facing major Arterial roads

(>=30Meters) and Business Corridors

G+10 Partly- Bole Road, Haile G/Selassie,

G+20 D/Z Road, Churchill, Mexico to Dessie
Hotel (Roads >=40 Meters) – this
works only for new construction

As per local Unlimited unless City Center

development plan regulated by LDPs

G+7, G+4 (Ring road, Market areas) and Plots

G+7 facing selected collector streets

G+4 G+4 Dominantly residential areas

As per LDP As per LDP Some junction points of major arterial

& collector road (Indicated on the
Map), and city centers outside CBD

- As per LDP or Jury Near and Around Historical buildings,

Settlements and Streets and sloppy
sites (Indicated on the Map)

Figure 4: Building Height Regulation of 2001 and Updated building Height rule, 2008

92
Source: ORAAMP (2002) and DUPPI (2008) Respectively

93
3 Conclusion
3.1 What was gained
Even though, in-depth impact assessment needs to be done in order to identify achievements in
implementing the updating building height regulation, on the basis of building height regulation
reports, the following points can be stated as the positive contribution of the updated Building
Height Regulation.

 Satisfying the pressing need of residents of the city for building height regulation
improvement
 On the basis of recommendations on the updating task, the building height regulation of
LDPs were harmonized taking the updated map as the frame work
 Historical places were indicated on the updated map clearly so that proper precaution can
be made before the issuance of building permit and construction of buildings
 Regulation on newly developed collector streets are improved through introduction of new
building height range
 After successive consultations improvement was made on Civil aviation restriction zones
 Awareness creation has been made on the updated building height regulation on the basis
of stakeholder consultation as well as by making displays at sub-city administration offices
 Graphical problems were amended

3.2 Observed limitations

Similarly, observed limitation of the updated building height rule are stated below

 The methodology deployed for the updating task was rapid appraisal method thus in-depth
assessment and triangulation of the gained information has not been made which is the
main limiting factor in long term planning
 Except few very important corridors, almost all corridors are treated similarly which limits
responsiveness
 Ranges between minimum and maximum building height rule for specific corridors and
areas was left Wide resulting inconsistency in heights of buildings
 Detail guideline on setback was not specified except mentioning it as recommendation for
the future task
 Further assessment has not been made on limiting the frontage of buildings but the former
plan was directly adopted
 Issues like seismic consideration, fire, view preservation in respect to scenic views, view
corridors etc… have not been addressed well

94
3.3 Major concern forwarded during updating
The major concern forwarded during the updating of the building height regulation were

 Questioning the need for regulating or limiting the maximum building height regulation
(Excluding areas that are under civil aviation rule
 The level of development of the existing infrastructure particularly the provision of water
and sewer line
 Managing the huge traffic that can be generated from high rise buildings
 The presence of seismic related issues because of the geographical location of the city

95
References
DUPPI, 2008, Updating Building height regulation of Addis Ababa, Department of Urban Plan
and Inspection

ORAAMP, 2001, Building Height Regulation for Addis Ababa, Office for Revision of Addis
Ababa Master Plan

PII, 2010, Plan and Information Institution

Proclamation No 17/2004, Article 16, Addis Ababa City Master Plan Preparation, Issuance and
Implementation Proclamation

96
Part IV

Study of Infrastructure for Updating of the Addis

Ababa Building Height Regulation

Prepared by: -

Dandena Tufa

Infrastructure study team,

97
Tables
Table #1: Arterial Roads’ widths and the sub- classification

Table #2: Distance Measured in Traveling Time

Table #4: Distance Measured in Traveling Time

Figures
Fig.1 existing distribution of Sewerage system

Figure 2: the proposed road network of 2003 Master Plan

Figure #3: Pedestrians speed and density

98
Study of Infrastructure for Updating of the Addis Ababa Building Height Regulation

Part- II: - MAJOR FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS

1.1 Introduction
This study report is the continuation of part-I that deals with assessment of data from different
sources and service level of the infrastructure. In this assessment works the layout condition
service level of city wide street network was examined in detail. The assessment examines the
distribution level of water lines and supply conditions, electric power lines network and capacity,
telecommunication service conditions, and sewerage system requirements.

In the determination of building height regulation, infrastructure plays key role by showing the basic
capacity of the city at higher density development. One of the key determinant factors is the road
capacity that indicates mobility factors with different traffic modes at concentrated development
areas. In this case, the pedestrian walk way widths and pedestrian accommodation, carriage way
and its number and width of lanes show us the motorized traffic accommodation level that in turn
determines the maximum floor area ration (FAR) of certain area. The level of capacity of the utility
lines especially, the pressure level of water supply, the sewerage system distribution and capacity
are the critical issues in accommodating concentrated developments.

1.2 Objectives
The objectives of infrastructure in respect to building height are to: -

 Assess and check their capacity or its sufficiency for the required development;

 Identify the level use of the infrastructure that is efficient use of the system;

 Regulate building height /density in respect to infrastructure.

1.3 Scope
The scope study of infrastructure for Addis Ababa building height regulation covers the jurisdiction
of the city and includes the updates of the regulation, and thus: -

 Spatially:

 Its aim is to check the effect of infrastructure in Addis Ababa city jurisdiction.

 Thematically:

 The main networks of the urban infrastructure (roads, water, telecommunication, Power
and sewerage networks) will be seen in reference to the capacity to serve concentrated
developments.
99
1.4 Approach and Methodologies to employed
1.4.1 Approach
Urban development planning in general and height regulation in particular requires clearly defined
conceptual framework which can be expressed in terms approach. The most popular and widely
used approaches followed in urban building height regulation plan which we also feel applicable in
this project will be examining the capacity of infrastructure, enclosure characteristics, context
based approach of economical approach aesthetics, etc. Each of the approaches and their
application are seen separately and brought together to identify their common effects.

1.4.2 Methodologies to employ

Reviewing literature is one of the important tasks in the height regulation updating works. It
becomes vital to identify the new theories and practices significant in the development of the
regulation. On the other hand, referring to the contents of the 2003 Master Plan and its provisions
in the height regulation is the essential works of the assignment.

The height regulation of the city prepared in 2003 was revised in 2008, and the ideas and
provisions of this height regulation are reviewed in reference to the ground reality. The documents
of this revised regulation shall be seen in detail.

In respect to the infrastructure, assessing and analyzing the plans of constructed and designed
future roads and utilities are the central tasks of this assignment. These infrastructure elements are
seen in reference to the given standards and regulations. The capacity of each element be
analyzed and summarized for the recommendation

Proposals of the study are made based on the analysis and standards for the utilities and roads
capacities. Distribution and size characteristics are used to examine the lines and spaces. The
recommendation shows the maximum required size for the building height to be accommodated

2. Utility Lines

2.1 Water Supply

Water supply of Addis Ababa is coming fro different sources. This mainly includes bigger river
dams and underground water sources. According to the water and supply officials, the current
supply of water for Addis Ababa is adequate. This adequacy is in terms of distributing to the
existing built up area of the city where the level of pressure to reach vertical heights is 30 to 40
meters.

According the officials, the existing supply lines distribution is at acceptable level, except in the
newly built areas where lines networking is low.

100
Concerning water supply lines size and networking is not in organized system. Some areas are
found without having connection to the immediate surrounding area along side of a road. The
bigger sizes are also changing without appropriate network connections.

Concerning capacities, the adequacy of water supply is considered in terms of the total population
to be served. The individuals living in the city are expected to consume water whether they are in
the office or at home. Thus per capita use of water that is assumed to be 60 to 72 litters considers
the total population of the city i.e. whether they are living high on sky scrapers or ground
consumption assumed to be indifferent.

Supply tall building, hilly or mountain areas are the factor water head or pressure to reach a point.
In this case, the current level of pressure is low i.e. the level of head is 30 to 40m and expected to
reach building heights of G+12.

If the supply of water is going to be continued as it is, it seems to be not important to construct the
envisaged height (G+52 or 165-170m) In order to get the pressure it need additional pressure
boosting system to reach this required height of building.

2.2 Power Supply

The Networking of electric power supply lines covers all the sides of the main roads (arterial and
major collector roads) of the city. The networking problem appears at new development areas
where the lines are not yet distributed. One of the hindering cases is the cost of construction of the
lines.

According to the officials, currently there is no supply problem (except the shortage due to
droughts). There are also important projects underway to increase the power potential.

In the vertical height of buildings, power supply seems to be not constraint for building height
developments as it does not need additional pressure to go up heights.

2.3 Telecommunication system

According to the telecommunication officials the supply is sufficient level. Thus total condition of
telecommunication system is mentioned that its supply of telecom is not in shortage.

Even though the supply has less extra service lines the future need can be accommodated through
the continuous development of the system.

The expansion of the system includes both the line network and mobile telecom system. The
current development of the system has focus on the wireless expansion systems.

2.4 Sewerage system

The existing sewerage system of Addis Ababa covers very limited area that cannot serve more
than about a third of population. This system is found on Old Air port area, Mexico, National

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Theatre, Churchil, Grand Palace and Bole areas. There very limited number of population
connected to the system from the above mentioned areas.

Future Plan of the system is to distributed more lines to the areas higher population and needy
areas. This expansion program covers: -

 Megenagna area

 Kotebe central area, CMC, Ayat, Summit and Gerji

 Densification works and new inner areas: Beklo Bet, Mekanissa, Gofa Camp areas.

The existing network of sewerage system shows that most of the lines are of 200mm and 250 mm
sizes. This may raise question of sufficiency when the concentrated development comes through
increase of FAR and BAR. Currently, these lines are found being underutilized as they are
connected to limited users.

On the other hand, the development of building heights badly needs the system as septic tank
system is not important to serve higher number population at point. Thus focus should be given to
the centers, nodes and lines of higher development concentration. In this case the key factor is the
distribution of the lines, especially, along the major corridors and city center areas.

Even though the existing size of the system is underutilized, future lines should consider densities.
This becomes necessary in the cases of higher development concentration areas.

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Fig.1 existing distribution of Sewerage system

3. Road Network

Contents:

 Summary points of individual roads analysis

 Road capacity standards

 Capacity & Performance Analysis

 Example of case of capacity

3.1 Key Points of individual road analysis

In the previous assessment the following issues were identified: -

 Incomplete Road development

 Walk ways: irregular, rough pavements,

 Marking: smudged or not provided

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  Drainage: incomplete, improper finish, blocked

 Undeveloped roads in high traffic areas

 Example: -Arat Kilo – Piassa

 Poor Traffic Management

 Taxi Parking

 Other Vehicles

 Distance of pedestrian crossing

 Mis-use of the pedestrian and in some areas the carriage ways

Figure 2: the proposed road network of 2003 Master Plan

This plan shows the whole network of roads: Principal arterial, minor arterial, collector and local
roads network. The density of the network is based on the built up area development proposals of
the 2003 Master Plan.

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Average sizes of each road service lanes (both way widths)

Road right of Pedestrian lane(m) Carriage way Others(m)

way(m) width(m)

50 10 29 11

40 7.2 28 4.5

30 9 20 1

25 6 18.7 0.3

20 5.6 14 0.4

Table #1: Arterial Roads’ widths and the sub- classification

This table shows us the relative distribution of space among the cross-sectional elements of a
road. Here, the corresponding reduction of the sizes with the general reduction of the right of way
is evident. In the height regulation development this is an indicative remark on capacities.

3.2 Pedestrian and bicycle facilities

 Pedestrian density is pedestrians flow per linear foot way =pedestrian/M2

 Basically, density is related speed and the maximum capacity of flow

 Each flow speed is the mean of free-flow and jammed conditions

 Movements are categorized by:

 Shoppers /older -lower speed

 Commuters -medium speed

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  Students/ wheelers -faster

Figure #3: Pedestrians speed and density

3.3 Road Capacity Standards

 Analysis of different pedestrian movement s indifferent areas show 0.1pereson/ft2
with 200ft/min

 It indicates that 1person/m2 with 60m/min

 A pedestrian way of width =3m can have accommodation of 3 person/ sec.

 A pedestrian way of width =4m can have accommodation of 4 person/ sec.

 Taking the design load of 200kg/m. sq, the number per meter sq. area is three
people

 In the FAR of 1:4, the total floor area per block is 10,000m.sq

 Optimum walking distance=1km

 No of blocks in a kilo meter distance is about 12

3.3.1 Road Pedestrian Capacity

 Estimated number of pedestrian on the one km area (One
side)=10,000x12/3=40,000 of which 70% is in peak hr.

 i.e. =28000/4hr =7000/hr = 2person/ sec.(attracted)

 Add 50% by passer = 2/sec .

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  The total pedestrian in 1:4 FAR area =4person/sec.

 This traffic is mixed one: students, commuters, shoppers and the aged people.

 Therefore, assume average speed(60m/min. speed) that result in 1m/sec.

 A pedestrian way of width =4m can have accommodation of 4 persons/ sec.

1:4 FAR needs 4meter pedestrian way.

3.3.2 Road Vehicular Capacity Standards

 Vehicle way capacity is measured by vehicles per hour with given speed

 Character of traffic transiting system:

 Interrupted fleet: - eg. Public transport

 Uninterrupted fleet: - eg. Automobile

 Interrupted fleet is the character of common urban traffic while uninterrupted fleet is on free
ways.

 Due to varying factors speeds in urban areas are lower than rural equivalents

 Even though a car/ Automobile has an average capacity of five persons, actual usage is
1.5 to 2.0 passenger per car

 Roads capacity is mainly the result of vehicular speeds and their passenger caring capacity

 On public ways, speed of 56km/hr 1600vehicles per way

 With average occupancy of 10passangers, 16, 000 people can be transported

through a way per hr.

3.4 Factors Affecting Road Capacity: (Service Volume)

 Lane width

 Restrictive lateral clearances( side obstructions)

 Existence of shoulders/ walkways

 Commercial vehicles(% of trucks)

 Imperfect alignment(sight distance, grades)

 Intersections(signalized & unsignalized)

 Ramps (Proper, entrance, exit,)

 Weaving sections(merging & diverging maneuvers)

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  Traffic interruptions

 Traffic management(Loading –unloading)

Table #4: Distance Measured in Traveling Time

S/N Transportation Distance travelled in

(KM/hr)

1 Pedestrian walking leisurely 4.8

2 Pedestrian walking briskly 6.4

3 Bicycle at normal Pace 16.0

4 Bus (in dense city traffic) 9.6

5 Bus (in sub-urban street) 25.6

6 Street car (in mixed traffic) 12.8

7 Light rail 8.0 12.8 subway (regular service) 38

8 Automobile ( moving at normal speed limit) 40.6

9 Automobile (moving at 55M/Hr or 90km/hr) 90

Source: - Time saver standards for Urban Design

 Average Speed on different types of roads at peak hour:

 Express way 56km/hr

 Major arterial roads 40km/hr

 Collector roads 32km/hr

 Local roads 16km/hr

On the other hand, delays in traffic mobility increase due to:

 Increase in density of business

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  Pedestrians (shorter delay)

 Traffic signals (longer delay)

 Traffic above critical density

3.5 Desired speeds

It needs traffic calming to attain desired speed in urban areas. This is due to the requirements to
comply with the number of urban conditions that can cause accidents like crossing people,
bicycles, junctions, etc. that need control of speed.

In general, the principle is to make cities safe, livable, economically successful and suitable. This
requires calming of the urban traffic mobility to required level of speed. Traffic calming involves: -

 Retrofitting streets with regularly spaced measures or

 Rebuilding the streets to include new cross-sections

 Desired speed (the speed that the community needs) typically:

 32km/hr or less for residential area streets

 40 to 48 km/hr, on commercial, streets, collector streets and arterial streets

i.e. desired speed is engineering design

 Signalized intersection delays are basically at intersections with Signal facility causing
travel and stopped delays.

 For intersection capacity analysis a base saturation is used (that includes deriver behavior
with geometric and operational characteristics.)

 Saturation flow is the factor of: - No of lanes, lane width, heavy vehicles, grade, parking,
bus blockade, area type(CBD…), lane utilization (distribution), existence of pedestrian and
bicycle traffic intersections

 Saturation flow is usually =1900 pcphgpl

(Passenger cars per hour of green per lane)

3.6 Evaluation of the urban road capacity

3.6.1 Capacity formula for the peak-hour traffic flow
 Corridor mobility index =[passenger volume x [average speed in mi/h] / normalizer

* Normalizer is equal to 25,000 for streets and 125,000 for free flow

 Estimation of average freeway operating speed on a typical day:

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SPH=91.4- 2.0ADT – 2.85ACCESS

 SPH =peak-hour speed, in mi/h

 ADT= measure of annual daily traffic per lane, in thousands

 ACCESS= number of access points per mile

 Signalized intersection delays are basically at intersections with Signal facility causing
travel and stopped delays.

 For intersection capacity analysis a base saturation is used (that includes deriver behavior
with geometric and operational characteristics.)

 Saturation flow is the factor of: - No of lanes, lane width, heavy vehicles, grade, parking,
bus blockade, area type(CBD…), lane utilization (distribution), existence of pedestrian and
bicycle traffic intersections

 Saturation flow is usually =1900 pcphgpl

(Passenger cars per hour of green per lane)

3.6.2 Capacity formula:-example of peak-hour

1.Example: Peak-hour factor

 PHF= peak-hour volume

4(peak 15-min volume)

=960/4x370= 0.89

 Average freeway operating speed

 ADT=87,000

 Access=2

 L=2 mile

 SPH=91.4- 2.0x87/2– 2.85x3/2=29.12mi/h=46.9km/hr

 This formula works in the cases of Free way roads.

3.6.3 Capacity formula-2

 Cp = e- Vc Ts =1 Tc +0.5

1+e-β 2

 =VcTc Vc =

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 3600

β =VcTs Cp =Potential capacity

3600 *The values of  and β should be driven from frequent counts which is not available
in the case of Addis Ababa

3.6.4 Capacity formula-3

Level of Service (LoS)

SA =3600xL SA =average speed on the subject segment mi/h

TRx L+εd TR=Total running time of the segment in s,

L= length of the subject segment, in mi

εd = ε [dli x Pfi +d2i d3i]

* The problem is in the search for dalliance time i.e. εd, needs counts.

3.6.5 Formula-4: Calculation for future traffic

 Given : ADT=20, 000

Normal growth of traffic=70%(in 10yrs)

generated traffic=15%

dev’t of traffic in design period trips per day=5000

 Dev’t of traffic as % of present traffic= 50000x100/20,000 =25%

 Total traffic increase %=70%+15%+25%=110%

 Traffic projection factor (Design period)

=110/100+1= 1.1+1=2.1

The future traffic for design period =2.1 x20,000=42,000 vpd

3.6.6 Formula-5: Basic capacity

 Traffic lane having speed of 50km/hr

 Assumed average length of vehicles =6m

 Reaction time of the drivers as 1.5seconds

Basic capacity=1000v/L+SSD

SSD=0.28vt+0.01 v2

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 =0.28x50x1.5+0.01(50)2= 46

1000x50/6+46=960vph

*Its is more appropriate for highways

3.6.7 Formula-6: capacity of a lane

 Ci=si x gi/c,

ci=capacity of lane group,

si=prevailing saturation,

gi=green time allotted to lane,

c=cycle length

*This formula is basically important to measure the capacity of signalized intersections\

3.7 Standards for capacity of a lane

 Capacity of each lane in urban areas

 1200vph in free-way condition

 920vph when 10% is truck or the like

 750 vph when 20% is truck or the like

 As there are trucks and old vehicles with slow take-off, uneven road conditions, the
topography is with more grades on roads the 20% is taken for estimation purposes.

 Most of the roads in Addis have three lanes in each direction = 750x3= 2250vph

 These roads can accommodate =2250x12=27,000 veh. per day

 In some cases where 10% is truck or the like, a three lane road has capacity
=920x3=2,760vph

 Its daily accommodation= 2760x12= 33,120vehicles

3.7.1 Case of Capacity and Performance

In order to conduct the required capacity test of the existing roads, it needs selecting one mile long
road segment from representative areas. This is by examining the traffic volume, number of lanes,
future prospect of the area as to development. Accordingly, the road segment from Ourael
(HaileAlem Building junction to 22 Mazoria junctions is selected for its important representation. On
the other hand, the road has three lanes which is common to most of the roads in the city.

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  Road segment: - Ourael (HaileAlem Building junction to 22 Mazoria junction: -
representative high traffic sample area

 Segment length: 1mile or 1.6km (Required length for traffic studies)

 Approximate area to be used for commercial and mixed use developments: 1km length

 Frontage of plots facing the road segment (average)=50m

 Average depth of plots facing the road =50m

 Number of plots facing the segment =1000m/50m =20 plots

 Proposed BAR along the segment =75%

 Proposed/ assumed elements: -

 FAR along the segment =1:4

 Plot area (average) = (50x50) =2500m sq.

 Built-up Area = (2500x75%) =1875m sq.

 Total floor area =2500x4=10,000m sq.

 No. of cars to be attracted to the building ( as per the office space ratio= 10,000/50=
200vehicles

 Total no. of vehicles to be attracted to the segment =200x20x2=8000vehicles/mile

length

The frontage size of plots is taken by computing the existing commercial, mixed use developments
and government offices found within the selected segment area. In general, 75% of the attracted
traffic is expected to flow during the peak-hours i.e. The total number at peak-hour is
8000x0.75=6000vehicles

 The peak hours of the day are two (7:00am – 9:00am) in the morning and two (4:30pm –
6:30pm) in the afternoon

 Equal distribution of the attracted traffic in the four peak-hours: - 6000/4=1500vehicles /hr

 Capacity of the road (with 3 lanes and facilitated conditions, 10% truck type vehicles)=3x
920 =2760vehicles/ hr

 Percentage of the attracted traffic to the road capacity=1500x100%/2760=54.35%

 This is more than 50%, where it should not be more than 40%,which makes it critical

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  Conditions to accept the 1:4 FAR: -

 Level of car ownership in the next 10 years

 Existence of lower FAR (built-up development)

 Development of LRT transport system in next 10 years

3.8 Recommendation
Accordingly, the Percentage of the attracted traffic to the road within the next ten years
becomes=1500x100%/2760=54.35% of the total capacity of the road. This figure is more than 50%
of the capacity of the road where it should not be more than 40%, which makes it critical to accept
as good development level of the area as it can cause traffic congested area. However, in this
segment, there area numerous (21) existing developments: - nine on the side of ourael church and
12 on the opposite side to the church with low level of FAR. The existence of such developments
makes the average FAR on this area lower the 1:4 ratios. In general, three major conditions are
considered to accept the 1:4 FAR developments.

 Conditions to accept the 1:4 FAR: -

 Level of car ownership in the next 10 years

 Existence of lower FAR (built-up development)

 Development of LRT transport system in next 10 years

There are also other factors affecting the performance of the roads. These are directly related to
the road itself and its utilization. Thus the above mentioned capacity or performance of roads
becomes possible when mainly: -

 The lane width is not less than 3.25m

 The lane is clear from side obstruction

 Proper alignment (sight distance, grade, surfacing)

 Controlled traffic interruption

 No. of parking accesses should be reduced to single points

 Good traffic management

The current condition of the road infrastructure does not allow any higher development
concentration. Thus it needs intensive work on the development of the pedestrian ways that should
be cleared from any obstacle and having width of not less than 4 meter. In this case developing
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service level of the arterial roads is not enough to reach the required level urban density. It needs
equal similar development of the local and collector roads of the city. It needs also development of
the more important public modes of transport that can significantly reduce the use of private
cars.The final recommendation comes as the 1:4 FAR (Floor Area Ratio) is the highest
development density in the next 10 years.

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