The Impact of Rapid Urbanization and Public Housing Development on Urban Form and Density in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Larissa Larsen, Kumelachew Yeshitela, Tilahun Mulatu, Sisay Seifu and Hayal Desta
Additional contact information
Larissa Larsen: Urban and Regional Planning Program, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Kumelachew Yeshitela: Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Tilahun Mulatu: Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Sisay Seifu: Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Hayal Desta: Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (EiABC), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia

Land, 2019, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Urban development is occurring in many Sub-Saharan Africa cities and rapid urbanization is underway in the East African city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In an effort to address urban poverty and increase homeownership opportunities for low and middle-income residents, the City Administration of Addis Ababa initiated a large-scale housing development project in 2005. The project has resulted in the completion of 175,000 units within the city with 132,000 more under construction. To understand the impacts of both rapid growth and the housing program’s impact on the city’s urban form, we compared the type and distribution of land uses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between 2006 with 2016 using hand-digitized, ortho-rectified satellite images in Geographic Information Systems (GISs). While residential density has increased, overall density has decreased from 109 people/ha to 98 people/ha. We found that between 2006 and 2016, land occupied by residential housing increased from 33% to 39% and the proportion of informal housing decreased from 57% to 38%. Reflecting the country’s economic prosperity, there was a dramatic increase in the presence of single family housing, particularly on the city’s western side. In 2006, only 1% of residential areas were occupied by high-rise condominiums (4 floors or greater) and this increased to 11% by 2016. The majority of the new, higher density residential developments are located near the eastern edges of the city and this outlying location has significant implications for residents, infrastructure construction, and future development.

Keywords: urbanization; Africa; land use; informal housing; sub-Saharan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/4/66/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/4/66/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:4:p:66-:d:224097

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().