ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

EiABC
P Ethiopian institute of Architecture Building
R Construction and City Development.
O
J
E
C
T

Instructors
Prof. Gurdeep Singh
& Name- Robel yonas,
Ato Liku w. TCR/1261/99

February 3, 2011 1
 Table of content

I. Course Syllabus ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1

II. Intervention……………………………………………………………………………………………………..2
III. The Terms of Reference………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
IV. SWOT analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
V. progress 1- street system…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....18
VI. progress 2- Aesthetics & Scale………………………………………………………………………………..31
VII. progress 3- parking……………………………………………………………………………………………..40
VIII. progress 4. open spaces ………………………………………………………………………………………...46
IX. Progress 5- landscaping ………………………………………………………………………………………..48
X. Prorees6-public services and
street utilities……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 51

Bibliography

February 3, 2011 2
 I. Course

P Due to population pressure and economic forces, some locations become

immediate targets for redevelopment or improvement, with this project, students will be
R confronted with an existing built-up area targeted for renewal, upgrading or conservation.
In the former case, in the former case, the student will be limited to the improvement of
O the area with little or no major destruction.
J
The contribution from other courses of the same semester is once again
E very important components from environmental design, urban renewal, cultural and
economic policy analysis and design of urban spaces will contribute a lot to the strength
C of the project.
T

February 3, 2011 3
 II. The Concept of Intervention
1. Meaning
“To intervene" (v.) means to become
involved, intentionally, in a difficult situation in order
to improve it or prevent from getting worse.
To site an exemplary statement, “ At first we were
just watching events rather than intervening to
shape their course”; or like, "We could not feel we
could intervene in a family dispute". "intervention“
(n.) can thus be expressed as in the sentence,
"Half the people questioned said they were
opposed to military intervention", or in another
statement, "Repeated interventions on the currency
markets have failed to prevent the value of
currency falling",
All the statements clearly show the nature
of the word "to intervene" and "intervention" to
show the deliberate attempt to meddle in to. an
affair that requires help.
Further, cities are organic in nature. Like any other
"organic" phenomenon, they are born, they grow,
get old and they decay. The root word of the term
"organic" is organism. And the organism essentially
undergoes the stated cycle of birth, growth, getting
old and decay, Hence at various stages the
requirement of an organism changes. At birth the
organism needs to be nursed. You need nurse a
helpless babe.
February 3, 2011
As it gets a bit older you protect from any
danger. You protect the child. And finally when it is
mature enough, full-grown organism, it is set free. It
is now strong enough to go on with life, reproduce,
and begin life over again. This can be the simplified
life cycle of an organism. This analogy can be
applied to that of cities that have a similar life-
pattern.
Now fusing the two terms thematically,
intervention and organic nature, when do we have
to intervene in cities? One common and
unmentioned thing about organisms is that they get
sick too. Unless they are prevented and cured, they
either die or decay too early, or lead a poor
handicapped life.
So what do we do when humans get sick?
We take them to the doctor. First they are
diagnosed for the sickness. They may need to take
x-rays or C.T. scans to discern the disease. They
may need operations too must it be necessary, in
order to remove the ailment. The same is true for
cities. They are x-rayed by the planner to cure
ailments, with surgical intervention-becoming a
necessity to get this big organism called the city-to
go on healthful. Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) the
famous surgeon converted town planner introduced
this beautiful illustration of treating a city, with a
synthetic study of the organic relationship of its
components.
4
 II. The Concept of Intervention
cont…..
The scope of intervention is limited to the organic limbs of city
He brought this enlightenment out of a
similar experience of dealing with patients in his
surgical ward as a surgeon, after which he
introduced this perspective in to the realm of
planning. In the sixteenth century theorist and
architect John Shute likens the city to the human
figure: "A city ought to be like the human body and
for this reason it should be full of all that gives life to
man". The city is an element of people's spiritual
and physical culture and, indeed, it is one of the
highest expressions of that culture. Le Corbusier
designed Chandigarh - a city beautiful, in mid of
20th century - a town of modem times and one of
the best example of designed cities of the world. He
symbolized Chandigarh with human body capitol
complex government seat and administration being
head - sector 1, city center as heart in the center -
sector 17. industrial area and university complex -
sector F, G and 14 as limbs or arms; open spaces
as lungs and street pattern he symbolized with
human arteries and veins and thus named the
hierarchy of the system as V1, V2, V3, ... and V8.
The maintenance and the control of the city is kept
safe in the hands of seasoned planners,
administrators, architects and bureaucrats so
unwanted shanty development within and around
the city beautiful, which may later require any
intervention.
February 3, 2011
2. The Scope of Intervention
in terms of
 Street pattern with intersections in terms of
hierarchy
 Road design
 *Aesthetics
 Climate
 Parking
 Open spaces
 Landscape
 Scale
 Infrastructure and city comforts (and
International standards for infrastructure -
utilities, parking, etc)
3. The Standard International Cities
The standard international cities have taken
and still take in to consideration either preventive or
curative methods for treatment, in the context of organic
city composition. Example the city of London was cured
after the great fire incident in 1666, with some 436 acre
area burned down. Again in the context of London
comes the case of the intervention of a road from Strand
to Holbome, to cure a defective road pattern. It generally
took 69 years before it was physically completed. Hence
much time may be needed to come up with the
implementation of plans in intervention program, where
a Fast food" recipe may not be practically possible. The
stated cases show that discouragement out of expecting
short term results is an offset understanding of the whole
process.
5
 II. The Concept of Intervention
cont….
In seeing at the road pattern of the city,
there is clearly a problem of too much uncontrolled
organic growth that needs much treatment.
Conscious planning and control is missing, a fact
noticed especially when roads tend to get more
local. The problem of lack of hierarchy is also
serious. Too much roads of the same width coming
close, or some way beyond the maximum distance
is not uncommon to notice. According to
international standards, therefore, widening or
terminating roads becomes a necessity Next, with
regard to parking, stables, for horses and ponies
may no longer be the objects of the modem city. But
we have the garage, grown out of the stable, and
the car grown out of horses and ponies that were
used for long and short distance travels
respectively. Since 1906 automobiles have literally
substituted horses and ponies in the urban area. A
horse without a stable is as much unthinkable as a
car without a parking place. If people are allowed to
own cars, they should be provided with standard
parking and spaces at right spots too. In surveys
done according to international standards, literally
all the places in this city do not have sufficient
space for parking. Further, along with this it is worth
to mention that even some of the places used for
parking are places that have a potential for better
pedestrian use as open breathing spaces. The
conception of breathing place for pedestrians is
very much of a blind spot either in the practice of
planners or even in the management system of
administrators.
February 3, 2011
A fourth problem still is that of landscaping,
where provision of trees, shrubs, grass flowers. and
the like are very much ad-hoc in nature Negative
spaces are used for these elements most of the
time, where deliberate and conscious effort of
landscaping is very much missing. Those places
that have tried to exercise landscaping do not for
instance consider the issue of proportion, lacking a
professional touch. For instance the famous
Dembel Building has dwarfed trees in front of it that
is out of proportion. Except for some earlier
examples like the Ethiopian Hotel front, many parts
of the city suffer from this problem. And last but not
least the problem of infrastructure is worth
mentioning here. Addis Ababa is a city suffering
from utility problems. Lack of proper drainage, and
sewerage system, problem of the provision of
water, efficient and safe supply of electric and
telephone wires are some of the problems that can
be seen. A project on Addis Ababa Domestic
Sanitation Improvement program estimated that
88% of the households in Addis Ababa are non-
planned traditional housing units with poor service
provision. Therefore, do we need intervention?
Should we leave the city as it is to its weaknesses?
Should we depend on chances for improvement?
Should we let the city die of its ailments? The
answers to all these important questions we leave
to the audience, nay the citizens!
6
 Types of towns in the world :

1.Spider web

Radio centric (Spider web) pattern This is a combination of radial and a centralized arrangement. It is better than radial
arrangement since concentric streets are applied as the radius increases. It is typical for cities on the hill top like the Greek
Athens.

Palmanova (Italy) as first designed in 1593. Canberra, Australia

February 3, 2011 7
 2. Composite towns 3.Irregulartowns

Irregular pattern This is an irregular arrangement of streets. It is

Composite towns are made by a combination common in spontaneous developed organic cities like our Addis Ababa.
of two or more street systems. For-example Berlin is This arrangement is difficult for provision of infrastructure and
designed from the grid street system, radial system. efficiency. But it has a good potential in creating different image s in
different parts of the city.

Map, The Acropolis of Athens.

Berlin, detail map of 1737.

3D sketch, The Acropolis of Athens.

February 3, 2011 8
 3.Irregulartowns

 As far as the level of intervention is concerned, it is

Organic growth of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
more in organically grown towns.
 These organically grown towns are initially
developed spontaneously just with no consideration
of the future development.
 Mostly they have no proper infrastructure and
chaotic pattern. Earlier developments have now
become obstacle to the present and future growth.
 At the end of the day life would become difficult in
these towns.
 It is obvious that the tomorrow's intervention is more
difficult than that of the present, the problem and
the loss would be worse tomorrow than today if
appropriate measure could not be taken by the
concerned body.
 Of course the first step is preparation an urban
design i.e. the primary concern of this study.
 The scope of intervention considers the maximum
use (especially in density) that could be catered
from the action area.
 Hence, after the planning is completed it does not
mean that every thing will be implemented at a time.
 But priorities will be set starting from the
underground to the top.

February 3, 2011 9
 3.Grid pattern

Grid iron pattern:-Streets arranged in grid form. Generally used for intensive development, where every
spot has equal importance. It is economical in both plot division and infrastructural cost. But the disadvantage remains
that most of the time it looses character.

Heijokyo (Nara, Japan), founded in AD710. Laid

out with the Chinese imperial city of Chang’an as a
model, the block sizes and proportions may have Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), plan
also been influenced by the pre-existing grid of drawn by John Reed, 1774. Laid out
agricultural land divisions. The white area at the by William Penn in 1683, Philadelphia
top is the ; temples are shown in black. (after was the first large American city to be
Suzuki) configured as a gridiron.

February 3, 2011 10
 Project site location

February 3, 2011 11
 III. Terms of Reference

 The project site is located in Addis Ababa,

arada sub-city, the site is bounded by four
major roads .
 major roads; on the right the road from
st.geroge to semien hotel; one the left the road
form menlik square to aboune petrois square.
 The intervention site has an area of 31hectare.
 the site is one of the oldest part of Addis, since
st.george church was one of the focal point
when the city was established in 1896.
 The potential and its location makes it a target
for redevelopment.
 The site also have some problem of land use in
compatibility, so to create a comfortable safe
and green residential district, a new renewal
intervention was needed.
 Its main residential district is characterized by
poor housing conditions and poor street
systems.
 The intention of intervention comes from the
fact that the different parishes of Ethiopian
Orthodox Church have been involving in
development activity especially in the space
available with in the church premises.
 So the need for renewal and proper design is
obvious.

February 3, 2011 12
 Features of the area

 Even though the new structural plan addis, indicates

the site as and upgrading site, the project will use
conservation and redevelopment approaches to
enhance the site potential for future use.
 The site is one of the land marks of addis ababa, land
marks such as st.george church, the main bus
terminal, the old buildings which were build by
noblties in the early stage of the city development.
 The st.george and menilik square is the center of the
city. It’s the starting point for any distance
measurement to any part of the country.
 The site is predominantly occupied as a residential,
how ever the major roads on both sides of the roads
are very active and different commercial and services
are found.
 Daxen sefer is another part of the site where its known for
its night bars and chat shops.
 Mainly the major roads that bound the project site are
active and lots of small shops, boutiques, garages, small
work shops exist. How ever, the other parts of the site are
mainly used for residential purposes.

February 3, 2011 13
 Project site landmarks

ST. GEORGE CHURCH

St JHONCHURCH

MENILK SQUARE

ABOUNE PETROS
SQUARE

February 3, 2011 14
 IV. Swot analysis
Strength and opportunities
 Its clear that grave yards should not exist in such an
important part of the city, the area around the
church need proper design shows the hollyness of
the site as well as attract all of Addis dwellers to
come to the center of the city for recreation. This
will benefit the church and the city by in large, so,
rather than a grave yard a proper green area or a
square could attract tourists and provide the city
with a modern out look.
 How ever in doing this the project will be very
cautions not to lessen the value of the .church by
providing other major land uses.
 The fact that the area is accessible to all part of the
city made it a highly important part of the city for
regeneration and redevelopment. The historical
importance of the site should be conserved and the
site slum and unplanned residential parts should be
improved for the site to improve and move on with
other newly developed and emerging centers of the
city.
February 3, 2011
 It is an area of higher land value so that the
money obtained from the sale of the land could
be used for the infrastructural development of
the site.
 the existence of mix functions in the area is
another positive opportunity. These mixes are
created by the existing natural development
dynamics to adapt itself with the situation. By
adapting these functions and mixes, to a
certain extent would make the new proposal
very much pragmatic. Mixed use functions are
important in modern cities to make them live all
the time.
 The site topography is very well suited for the
construction of high rising mixed apartment
buildings.
 The existing compact land development is
another important factor in the site potential to
become highly active area.
15
 Swot analysis

Weakness and threats

 The existing streets system is organic and lacks

 Many developments destruct vegetation. The legibility and connectivity.
area is known with its forest in the graveyard
 Relocation of the graveyard.
and the street side green park adjacent to the
church compound. Trees and natural  the site should be allowed to maintain its mixed
vegetations take a long time to grow. Hence characters tics
the challenge is that to compromise the  The project idea is to conserve historical buildings
revitalization of the area with saving trees and within the site and create high rising apartment and
vegetation. mixed buildings that are well suited fro the areas
 The challenge of compensation and relocation economic and for the community. But the challenge
requires socio-economic issues is another is how, what to do with the existing communities
point which requires due attention. that live within the site. One possible out proposal is
to allow them a better housing in other areas and
 The street system is not well planned and most helps them to gain benefits and opportunities from
of the access roads to houses are very narrow the project.
and don’t allow cars to enter.
 The site housing condtion is deterorating by
the day.
 The street system does not follow proper
standards.
 The site lacks open spaces and play areas for
childern and for adults to spend their lesuire
time.

February 3, 2011 16
 Physical analysis of the action area
 The area is about 31.5hec
 The largest portion of the site is occupied by
residential. Most of the houses are old and are
poorly dev eloped.
 There are historical and beautiful buildings which
need protection and proper conservation in order to
keep the historical heritage of the site.
 The local streets within the site are narrow and are
unplanned. They lack legibility and proper
connectivity.
 The construction material used in most cases is
mud houses while there are some, bricks houses.
 Even though the drain age system is good, there is
some sanitation problem within the site.
 The access roads are poorly developed
 Most of the historical buildings are made out of mud
and bricks.
 The roads pavements are poorly developed
 The pedestrian ways pavements are not well
developed
 The site generally lacks open spaces
 There is no parks or other small green areas within
the site
February 3, 2011
 The site is bound by four roads; all four roads have
high traffic movement.
 The residential houses are arranged in an irregular
pattern and lack legibility.
 For vehicles. The streets are not designed, but
rather seem to develop organically without plan.
 The parcels of plot are irregular and different in
size. Generally the area is functionally under
utilized, and the deterioration is continuing.
 Most of the housing is owned by the government,
and there are also privately owned houses within
the site
 The st.gorge, graveyard is also located near the
church but there is a plan to change its land use for
construction.
 The site lacks open spaces and playing areas.
 Most of the houses don’t have proper parking areas
 St.george church is made of stone and the floor
pavement of the church is also unique
 The need for essential land marks within the
residential district
 The area has poor access roads and parking is not
provided for the residents and for the existing major
buildings.
17
 Economical analysis

 Daxen sefer is highly commercial active part of the

site, where there are lot of chat shops and bars and
restaurants.]
 On the road from st.george to semine hotel different
commercial activities are found. some of activities
are fruit shops, stationeries, cafés, restaurants, drug
stores , schools and amisntrative offices, residential
houses are all found.
 On the road from st.george to aboune petros, a
greenery area and the so called arkib shops are
found, two newly constructed buildings are also
found.
 From aboune petros to semin hotel(st. johns
church), different small work shops and garages ,
separate shops are found.
 For those coming to the church a market area is
needed
 The site around st george church has the potential
for open market and small shopping areas which in
turn could support the low income
 The site is economically supporting some of the
local residents
 the renewal project should improve the need for job
opportunities and creation of livable atmosphere

February 3, 2011 18
 Design objectives

 The main objective of the project is to enhance the development of the city by creating a
well planed mixed area. As mentioned above almost the church and the buildings as
well as the roads are important part of the city history, so to conserve this history. The
other point is increasing the site potential for future development that is a modern and
comfortable area that could be an example for other urban areas and designs.
 To exploit the opportunities to the maximum on the site to come up with a design
solution that best suits the area
 To give improved solution to the challenges, for instance, the traffic, parking and road
network problems at the planning and action area levels
 To give safe, functional and convenient and comfortable solutions to the problems of
infrastructure that can serve for generations
 Deal rightly with the compensation and relocation issues to come up with appropriate
solutions to suit the residents of the project area in a way to get maximum support for
the implementation of the project.

February 3, 2011 19
 V. Progress1:- Street pattern

 What is a street?
 Definition:-
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a public
environment.
 It is a public parcel of land adjoin buildings in an urban
context on which peoples may freely assemble interact
and move about.
 A street is a level pitch of direct but its more often paved
with a hared durable surfaces.
 1-Function of street
 The street in addition to being a physical element in the
city is also a social fact. It can be analyzed in terms of
who owns, uses and controls it; the purposes for which it
was built and its changing social and economic function.
 The street provides link between buildings, both within
the street, and in the city at large. As a link it facilitates
the movement of people as pedestrians or within vehicles
and also the movement of goods to sustain the wider
market and some particular uses within the street.
 It has the less tangible function in facilitating
communication and interaction between people and
groups – ‘thus serving to bind together the social order of
the polis, or what in current parlance would be called the
local urban community. Its expressive function also
includes its use as a site for casual interaction, including
recreation, conversation, and entertainment.

February 3, 2011 20
 Types of streets
 Freeways:- These roads provide largely uninterrupted
travel, often using partial or full access control, and are
designed for high speeds.
 Park ways:- are high ways located within a park or
within ribbon of park like development. They are
intended to carry recreational traffic; commercial traffic
is often banned from them.
 Express ways:- are streets which are designed to
expedite the flow of though traffic in metropolitan areas,
this traffic flows between communities and between
activity centers
 Arterial streets:- Arterials are major through roads that
are expected to carry large volumes of traffic. Arterials
are often divided into major and minor arterials, and
rural and urban arterials.
 Collector streets:- Collectors (not to be confused with
collector/distributor roads, which reduce weaving on
freeways), collect traffic from local roads, and distribute
it to arterials. Traffic using a collector is usually going to
or coming from somewhere nearby.
 Local access streets:- At the bottom of the hierarchy are
local streets and roads. These roads have the lowest
speed limit, and carry low volumes of traffic. In some
areas, these roads may be unpaved.
 cul-de- sac:-are created to limit through traffic in
residential area. it provide no possible passage except in
and out of their road entry others allow cyclist,
pedestrian and others.
February 3, 2011
 Motorway:- Similar to freeways, these high-speed roads
are designated with an M prefix or (M) suffix. e.g. M1,
A1(M). The speed limit is generally 70 miles per hour.
 Primary A-road:- these can be either single
carriageway or dual carriageway. The primary road
network is fully connected, meaning you can reach any
part from any other without leaving the network. Some
of the major dual carriageway primary routes have
numbered junctions in the style of the Continental semi-
motorways.
 Non-primary A-road:- the route is important but there
is a nearby primary route (A or motorway) which
duplicates this road's function. Shown as red on maps,
and has white signage with black lettering. Some non-
Primary A-class roads are partially subject to clearway
restrictions.
 B road:- Regional in nature and used to connect areas of
lesser importance. Usually shown as brown or yellow on
maps and have the same white signs as non-Primary A-
Class routes.
 C road:- used as local authority designations for routes
within their area. Their numbers are not supposed to be
advertised, even though many local destinations may be
signed along them. Occasionally one will see a sign for a
C-class road where a local authority has loosely
interpreted the guidelines.
 Unclassified:- are local roads with no defined
destination. Local destinations may, however, be signed
along them.
21
 Addis Ababa street standards
 The street pattern of Addis Ababa is the result of the
spontaneous development of the city. As the following
figure indicates the major arterials and collectors but the
street system does not have the proper language to
express as to which category a particular street is placed
in hierarchy. The major streets show an organic pattern
of the city. As mentioned in the literature part, the very
spontaneous nature of the city development puts a
question mark to the efficient working of the system.
The existing streets of the city lack proper pedestrian
walkways and street widths.
February 3, 2011
 . Design Standards for Road Cross Section and Elements
 Road width determined by Local Development Plans shall prevail
over those specified in the table above for areas to be covered by
such plans.
 The minimum corner curvature for roads entering a junction or
round about squares should be 7 -15 m depending on the required
design speed and angles of the junction.
 The radius of Roundabout Island should not be less than 8 m and for
greater carriage ways it should be greater than one-third of outer
carriage way boundary.
 The minimum horizontal alignment curvature of a road for design
speed of 60 km/h R is 150 m (allowable urban speed) and for the
urban high speed (80-100 km/h) minimum radius is 230 km.
 The maximum recommendable vertical grade for asphalted arterial
street is 12%
 The standard (requirement) of vertical open space for motor ways is
4.7 m and for the rest 4.5 m
 Minimum average road density in the city should be 20%
 Minimum access roads
 In core areas should be minimum of 4 m for single plot and 6 m for
shared access (if more than one plots use). Special design and traffic
management considerations should be taken into account to use
existing streets in the built-up city areas efficiently.
 In intermediate zones should be 8 m and
 10 m in expansion areas.
22
 Addis Ababa street standards

No Streets Right-off-way width (m) Remarks

Core areas Intermediate Zone Expansion Areas

1 Principal arterial -PAS 25,30 25, 30 30, 40, 50, 60, In existing built up areas, where
100, 120 m widening is difficult, 25m streets
are also categorized as principal
arterial ones.

2 Sub-arterial-SAS 20,25 20,25,30 20 and 25 m In some cases, existing streets of 30 m

width with less important
connections are categorized as
sub-arterial streets.

3 Collector streets -CS
>11 and <20 >11 and <20 >11 and <20 Within the built-up area where widening
is difficult, streets with width less
than 12 m having important
function in collecting traffic are
also categorized as collector ones.

4 Local Streets- LS 4-10 8-10 10-12 Special design and traffic management
considerations should be taken
into account to use existing
streets in the built-up city areas.
Widening of streets targeting at
optimum size should be
considered in Redevelopment
projects.

February 3, 2011 23
 Addis Ababa street standards

Street spacing Pedestrian ways width standards

No Streets Standard Spacing No Street types Average width of pedestrian

ways (m)
1 Urban motorway No pedestrian ways
1 Principal Arterial Streets (PAS) Maximum of 1.5
2 Sub-arterials 2.5-4 both sides 5-8

3 Principal arterial Should not be less than 3.5m and

maximum 5. both sides total 7.00 -
2 Sub-Arterial street (SAS) 0.8 km-1.5 Km 10.00m
4 Collector streets Should not be less than 2.00m
3 Collector Street (CS) 300-800 meters
5 Local Should be decided based on local
4 Local Street (LS) 150-300 meters conditions.

Cycle tracks:-There should be track segregation if large number

Average width of pedestrian ways along sides of
arterial streets in
 Industrial areas - 1.8 m
 Shopping frontages - 3.7 - 4.5 m
 Business and commercial areas- 3-5 m and
 Areas along all purpose road - 2.7 m
of cyclists are using a street. The following standards should
be considered as a basis in detail studies and implementation
 Minimum width of pavement = 2m (2 lanes)
 Vertical clearance= 2.25 m minimum
 Gradients of 5% and 3.5% may be allowed for short
lengths of 20m and 50 m respectively
 Tracks should be clear of obstructions such as hedges,
ditches, tree roots, curbs etc. by at least 0.5 m

February 3, 2011 24
 American street standards

February 3, 2011 25
 European street standards

February 3, 2011 26
 Existing Road Net work

No hierarchy Main defects of the existing road pattern of the

area:
 No hierarchy of streets and pattern in terms of local and
collector road system
too narrow  The access roads are all very narrow and they don’t
allow vehicles to properties or in emergency cases such
as ambulances, and fire cares.
 Acute angle intersections at collector streets and arterial
roads
 Short distances between important traffic junctions, and
as a result inadequate reaction time for automobiles to
poor stop.
intersections  most street intersections are not designed according to
standards
 Prevalence of acute angles without proper
treatment which makes the intersections accident
prone
 Poor management of intersections in cases where
multiple street legs meet
 the existence of a number of roads at a very close
distance from the intersections reducing the
reaction time less than the required standard.
 on most places on the planning area the transition
lack legibility from one type of street (say local street )
 Most of the roads lack legibility and connectivity to
the surroundings.
 poor

February 3, 2011 27
 Alternative1:- using American street standards

 Street types used in alternative

one
Cul-de-sac 1.Minor arterial(MA)- 24m
2.Collector street-20m
3.Cul-de-sac-15m(27mturn around) and not
having length greater than 152m
 Advantages
 Maintains the existing major roads
 Its intersections are properly designed
Disadvantages
 Too many cul-de-sac are used for this
proposal
 Some of the street intersections form
an acute angle.
 The use of cul-de-sac is not suitable
as an access road could create
congestion.

February 3, 2011 28
 Alternative 2:- using European street standards

 Street types used in alternative two

1.Higher street(arterial)-25m
2.Collector street(col.s)-15m
3.Local street(local.s.)-12m
Advantages
 Maintains the existing major streets.
 Its has a good legibility
 Its good connectivity
Disadvantages
 It does not allow for proper reaction time.
 most of the plots that are formed by the streets are
not
 suitable shape since the create negative spaces
when blocks are implemented.
 They create a very bad blocking shape, thus
leading to a poor urban design

February 3, 2011 29
 Alternative 3:- using Addis Ababa street standards

 Street types used in alternative 3

1.SAS(Sub-arterial street)- 25m
2./Cs(collector street)-15m’
3.The local streets are developed with the blockings
system.
Advantages
 Out of the above three alternatives the third
alternative is selected as a road network plan for
the action area and its surroundings. In this case:
 All road intersections to arterial and collector roads
are at right angles.
By taking maximum speed in arterial roads as 60
kilometers per hour ,
all junctions between collector and arterial streets
are at a distance of more than 150 meters to each
other.
 Maintains the existing major streets.
 Widening the existing road width
 some adjustments on intersection of arterial and
collector street for reaction time of 3.5 seconds
for40 kilometer per hour speed of vehicles and 5
seconds for 6 kilometer per hour speed.
disadvantages
 Fails to maintain existing access road entrances thus
decreases the connectivity to the surrounding.

February 3, 2011 30
 Proposed junctions

Semin hotel street

junction

Aboune petrois square Meniltk square

February 3, 2011 31
 Proposed street sections

February 3, 2011 32
 VI. Progress 2 :- Aesthetics & Scale

In literatures there are so many theories and

approaches of achieving proportion. When a
certain type of proportion is used in
determination of relative size, the whole
composition and pattern will get a certain logic
and reasoning so that the result will be
harmonious. These approaches of proportion
have been used in history. Some of them are:
 The Classic Orders
 Renaissance proportions
 Platonic Lambda Series
 Palladio's favored proportions
 GMR-FIBONACCI Series
 Modular (Le-Corbusier)
 Plastic number Series
 Van der Laan Series with plastic number
 The 'KEN‘
 Anthropomorphic Proportions
 Some Proportion as above are applicable to
buildings only like KEN, ORDERS, Regulating
Lines & anthropomorphic Proportions while
others like GMR/Modular, & Renaissance
proportions are equally applicable to even larger
spaces of" towns, as
 Renaissance Proportions in Versailles and
London,
 GMR ( Golden mean ratio/Modular - in Marseilles
, Chandigarh and Brasilia

February 3, 2011 33
 Types of blocking and spatial organization

Blocking and spatial organization-

 In practice there are five types of spatial
organizations. These are linear, radial, centralized,
cluster and grid.

Centralized
Linear
A central, dominant space about
A linear sequence of repetitive
which a number of secondary
spaces
spaces are grouped.

Radial Clustered
A central space from which Spaces grouped by proximity or
linear organizations of space the sharing of a common visual
extend in a radial manner trait or relationship.

Grid
Spaces organized within the
field of a structural or other
three-dimensional grid.

February 3, 2011 34
 Progress 2 - Building Blocking

 After assessing the all the theories and

approaches to blocking systems, the major
blocking systems used are as follows.
 Low income housing concept
 The idea is to arrange a row of plots that are
easily accessible and have open spaces to
enjoy and play grounds for children.
 Each plot have an area of 105m2
Using linear arrangement

February 3, 2011 35
 Progress 2 - Building Blocking

 The second arrangement follows the same

pattern using the linear arrangements the
open spaces are defined by the raw housed.
 The open spaces have an area of 1734m2
 The plot area is 180m2.

Using linear arrangement

February 3, 2011 36
 Progress 2 - Building Blocking

 Apartment buildings
 Concept used in this case is cluster of
buildings. Forming a central open spaces
 The buildings are 21mx34m
 The other buildings 20mx20m
 Open spaces have twice the height of the
buildings.
Using central arrangement

February 3, 2011 37
 Progress 2 - Building Blocking

 Apartment buildings
 Concept used in this case is cluster of buildings.
Forming a central open spaces
 The buildings are 21mx34m
 The other buildings 20mx20m
 Open spaces have twice the height of the buildings.

February 3, 2011 38
 Progress 2 - squares

 A center is created for the whole of the

neighborhood.
 The center will have a community hall building a
postal building, a bank, and administrative center
and a youth center.
 By putting all the above things a central square is
created.
 The square is properly enclosed by the buildings.

February 3, 2011 39
 Progress 2 - markets

 The idea of having a market and shopping area

near the st..george church is very I important for
creating jobs
 The shopping arcades and the small shops will
provide variety of goods. For the whole of the city.
 The open markets are arranged linearly .
 The are designed in a way they are pedestrian
friendly.

February 3, 2011 40
 Progress 2- Around the st.george church

 The existing st george church is maintained

 As mentioned before the church is one of the oldest
in the city.
 The grave yard of the church is changed to a small
market.
 There is a small greenery attached to the church,
this greenery is maintained and is expanded by
creating a small recreational center around the
church

February 3, 2011 41
 VII. .Progress 3- parking

Back Ground
Parking in Addis Ababa

 Since Addis Ababa was established in 1896, the city has gone through lots of changes. In
the early times the transportation means was only animals and was by foot. After those
tough times, like any other city or country the emergency of automobiles change the whole
of the city. Automobile becomes the main mode of transportation in all countries and their
cities.
 How ever, Addis Ababa was not ready for the automobiles because streets and roads were
not developed properly, and most of the early plans of the city didn’t seem to consider the
growth of automobiles within the city. Even though, through time the city begin to develop a
road network system suited for automobiles, most of the buildings and areas of the city
fails to consider one of the necessities for cars that is proper parking areas.
 In the early times hardly any regulations or requirements were there to construct buildings
by proving sufficient parking for the cars. This problem seem to continue to this day,
although, the city is experiencing high level of construction boom, most of the building
design or street designs doesn’t seem to learn from past history. The functional and
aesthetical beauty of any building is when it fulfils the users need. At present time, there is
high demand for parking since number of cars is increasing rapidly. If you ask most car
owners within the city; they all face problems of parking, at home, at work or in shopping
areas, in recreational sites.
 The new regulations for parking are making a difference by solving the problem, the city
officials are collecting parking tax’s, forcing new developments to have a proper parking
design that follows the cities required standards and which are internationally accepted.

February 3, 2011 42
 Addis Ababa parking
standards

building type and parking requirement standards

Building type zz Parking requirement

Flats in rental apartments and condominium 1 parking /flat

Offices 1 parking/every 40m2 floor space

Super markets, department stores, trade fares etc 1 parking/every 60m2 floor space

Primary and secondary schools 1parking /2class room

Universities 1parking/every 5 employees

Hospitals 1parking/every 40m2 floor space

Museums and libraries 1parking/every 40m2 floor space

Hotels and motels 1 parking/every 5beds

Theatres and cinemas 1parking/every 10sitting spaces

Stadium 1parking/every 10 spectator

Restaurants bars, coffee houses, pastries 1parking/every 10 sitting spaces

February 3, 2011 43
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PARKING ARRANGMENT

February 3, 2011 44
 Progress 3 - parking

 Almost all of the parking used in the design

process are 90 degree parking and 45
degree parking.
 For every plot one parking is provided,
 For the apartments since the buildings are
G+3, and they are residential apartments
parking per flat is provided.
 Extra parking is also provided for guests
and other people as well. There is a map
showing the provision of parking for the
blocks.
 All of the parking are provided by following
Addis Ababa parking standards.
 There a bus terminal which can
accommodate 17 buses.
 As we know the menlike square is the
central point of Addis Ababa and starting
point for distant measurement.
 Parking is provided with the consideration of
comfort and accessibility and aesthetics.

February 3, 2011 45
  Parking for 16 cars
 Parking for 98 cars  Parking for 160  Parking for 160  Its used for the
 Its provided for 44 plot cars. cars. shopping arcade.
areas and two  Its used for  Its used for
shopping arcades apartments apartments

 bus station
 for17buses

 Parking for 44cars

 Its 90 degrre parking  Parking for 46 cars
 Parking for 128 cars
 Its used in the for the  Its provided for the
 Its designed for the st. market shopping
central park and for geroge church
the community center. arcades

February 3, 2011 46
 Progress 3 - parking

February 3, 2011 47
 Progress 4- open spaces

Open Space” means an “ a not Open Spaces as Renaissance Proportion

shut, unclosed, unobstructed entrance and exit into and Aesthetics –Formation of Space
out of an amount of room designated for a particular A, 45°---H=Distance----only
partial details of a building
Internal space – signifies personal space designated for an are clear(appreciated).
individual or family
B, 27°---2H=Distance----individual
Social open spaces – spaces that serve social events like building is seen.
marriage, bachelor parties, etc.
A, 17°---3H=Distance----group of
Cultural space – signifies space allocated for cultural buildings are seen.
activities or festivities like music shows.
Health-oriented spaces – spaces used for exercising, jogging,
In the medieval towns,
etc. relationships between space
Religious space – signifies space allocated for religious and buildings were highly
activities acknowledged.
Political space – spaces used for rallying or other political Based on such principles piazzas
activities and open spaces look
Buffer spaces – spaces around pools, dams, nurseries, etc beautiful.
Recreational space – spaces allocated for recreational
activities at various levels;
A. Squares and plazas
B. Playlots
C. Playgrounds
D. Playfields
E. Parks

February 3, 2011 48
 Progress 4- open spaces

February 3, 2011 49
 Progress 5- parking and landscaping

February 3, 2011 50
 Progress 5- parks and landscaping

February 3, 2011 51
 Progress 5- cluster open spaces and
landscaping

February 3, 2011 52
 Progress 6- public services and public
utilities

 Public facilities such as public toilets is provided for

the each cluster.
 Public utilities such as street benches and street
lights, phone booths , garbage canes are also
provided.
 This public faclties will enhance aesthetical value
and beauty
 Services such as kg and elementary schools are
provided
 Clinics and small stationeries and small cafes are
also provided

February 3, 2011 53
February 3, 2011 54
February 3, 2011 55
 VI. Bibliography
• Urban Planning and Design Criteria: Joseph De Chiara and Lee Koopleman
• Homes, Towns and Traffic: John, Tetlow and Anthohy, Goss
• New Towns: Osborn and Whittick
• Planning the Modern City: Volume I and volume II Lewis Halord Mackleon
• Handbook on Urban Planning: Claire
• Town planning in hot climates: A.Ruinsha
• The Urban Pattern, A.B. Gallion
• Town Design, Frederic Gibberred
• Urban Design, Streets and Squares, Cliff Moughtin
• Urban Design: the Architecture of Towns and Cities-Paul D. Spreiegen
• The City Square: Michael Webb
• The Image of the City: Kevin Lynch
• Designing the New City: A Systematic Approach- J.E. Gibson
• Character of the New Urbanism: edited by Congress for the New Urbanism
• The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form? Mike Jenks, Elizabeth Burton
and Kathie Williams
• Study documents of Structure plan of Addis Ababa, OORAMP-2002
• Dejene Mulugeta, Urban design project for Cathedral Area, 2005, AAU

February 3, 2011 56