SUSTAINABLE RURAL HOUSING AND THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE: EXPERIENCES FROM ETHIOPIA

There is now overwhelming evidence that global warming is taking place, but the impacts on the built environment are less effectively documented. Similarly, climate instability is an additional factor in increasing movement of rural populations to ur-ban centres. Inadequate living conditions in rural areas are also recognised as key components in encouraging such migration – hence efforts to create improved rural housing which is sustainable, affordable and desirable is a fundamental challenge. The Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) at Addis Ababa University is committed to developing research and practice into ways of planning and designing housing and settlements to make them more responsive to both to climatic instability and the challenging socio-economic circumstances of Ethiopia. This paper reports on an on-going experimental sustainable rural housing project which is working with local communities to improve traditional vernacular housing through a range of innovative technologies and practices. Following detailed research into local construction technologies and lifestyles, full size prototypes were constructed to explore the positive elements of vernacular architecture within the framework of sustainability, and to test both the technologies and response of residents. This project is one of several live construction projects in the university which is also developing proposals for urban communities. These innovative projects are analysed in the context of climate change responses and sustainable development paradigms

Revisiting "Slums", Revealing Responses : Urban upgrading in tenant-dominated inner-city settlements, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

About eighty percent of Addis Ababa’s settlements are considered “slum”. The study examines the phenomenon of urban upgrading in tenant-dominated non-planned inner-city settlements of the city. It focuses on tenants’ responses and spatial transformations. The phenomenon is investigated through the analysis of case studies located in three localities. The data are primarily collected through qualitative techniques supplemented by a quantitative technique. The investigation is carried out from the perspective in which upgrading is viewed as a process embedded in a dynamic context, rather than a decontextualised static project. Based on the case studies analytical generalizations are made. The study found neither the theories that assert the non-responsiveness of tenants nor the ones that emphasize the sole role of tenure security explain the reality and the needs of tenant-dominated settlements. The relationship among improved property rights, legal frameworks and grassroots organizations are rather found to be central in both stimulating tenants’ responses and curbing uncontrolled spatial transformations. The advantages of social network, connected to indigenous voluntary associations, are also found to be very instrumental in motivating and mobilising tenants. The study also found exclusion-right, in addition to the often emphasized use- and transaction rights of housing, as an important element, not only in unleashing the resources of low-income dwellers, but also in engaging them in upgrading processes. Equally important finding is the way the housing rights/values are manipulated to both avoid gentrification and sustain upgrading processes. Upgrading paradoxes, related to both uncontrolled spatial transformations and the need of the individual and the collective, are revealed and their possible remedy is indicated. The substantive findings are abstracted into generative themes, namely, triggers of change, trigger-based grassroots organizations and actors’ relationships. A trigger-based upgrading process is suggested and recommendations are put forward that lead to a differentiated and flexible policy

Neighbourhood Open Spaces : Co-production and Spatial Transformation in Addis Ababa

The open spaces of a city are its lungs. They are places for people to exercise and carry out social activities, they influence the water cycle, and have considerable impact on air quality. In the developed world, companies are attracted to locations that offer well-designed, well-managed public spaces and these in turn attract customers, employees, and services (Byrne and Sipe 2010) . The presence of green parks, squares, gardens, and other public spaces in urban areas have therefore become vital marketing tools. Well-planned areas with green open spaces offer benefits to the local economy in terms of raising real-estate prices (ibid. ) . Open spaces facilitate social communication, relaxation and recreation, and promote trade and tourism (Thompson 2002) . Open spaces are among a city’s most valuable assets that are threatened by rapid urban transformation. Protecting these open spaces and maintaining sustainable...peerReviewe