Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is no paradise for most of its residents and workers. The majority of the population lives in substandard housing and many citizens lack running water or electricity. The existing housing shortage, which is the main problem of the city, is created as aresult of rapid population growth rate and insufficient housing supply to satisfy thenewly formed households. The units, built with mud and wood, are in poor physical condition and in need of complete demolishment and replacement.Sources: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/intro.html, http://www.hdm.lth.se/fileadmin/hdm/alumni/papers/sdd2006/sdd2006-12.pdf

Growth occurred in three waves following world war II, with the lagest population boom during the late 60's, as rural to urban migration reached its peak. War and famines in the last 10 years have increased in-migration to the capital.Source: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/kshively/intro.html

What if city administration concentrated on infrastructural development and motivated the creation of an atmosphere to increase the participation of real-estate developers and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in low income housing production? If units would be built on a stronger foundation rather than mud and wood, it would withstand for decades. The government could buy materials in bulk, instead of buying each piece seperately as needed. What if the city administration understood residents received lower forms of income? What if the city administration allocated a larger percentage of money toward housing construction? Then, it would offer lower interest rates and houses at subsidized prices. If the city administration allocated a larger amount of money to housing the poor, it would allow low-income families and residents shelter.

Addis Ababa is characterised by its spontaneous growth as an indigenous city with very little impact of external forces. The city began to develop as a political, economic and cultural centre in subsequent years. Services such as piped water, electric light and other facilities attracted migrant population from other parts of the country. In addition to this rate of rural-urban migration drained rural labour force from agricultural production created problems of unemployment, congestion and strains on existing inadequate social services in Addis Ababa (Solomon Gebre, 1996) Source: http://www.globenet.org/preceup/pages/ang/chapitre/capitali/transver/ethiopie.htm

What if the government allowed for more funding for social services such as piped water, electric light and other facilities to compensate for the influx of increased migration. Unemployment would become less of a problem as more workers are compensated for. The strains and congestion on the existing inadequate social services would also be diminished if the government were to add additional funding for these services.

Addis Ababa has an extremely limited sewage system. It was originally designed for approximately 200,000 residents but budget constraints and management problems allow the sewage system to serve only 6,000 households in the city. Of an estimated 1386 cubic meters of waste generated each day in the city, only 750 cubic meters are collected or accounted for by the city sewage system. According to a study by Meson (1996), solid waste and sewage are ranked as the top environmental problems in Addis Ababa, ahead of population congestion. Concern about the urgency of the waste problems in the city has been growing steadily in the last years, though several measures for promoting recycling and proper waste management are still needed for the city to even begin solving the problem. With more secure municipal funds, the city can integrate an expanded sewage system that may more adequately address the needs of the city. Source: http://www.globenet.org/preceup/pages/ang/chapitre/capitali/transver/ethiopie.htm

What if the municipal budget was able to maintain secure funds and a stable budget to bolster the construction of a new sewage system for the growing population?The city would be able to more adequately house its population, solving pollution problems and improving sanitary conditions. Addis Ababa prides itself on being a city with potential, but only when it improves its waste management system can it truly become a better city. Though often overlooked, waste management is one of main problems any urban area faces and deals with.

The city of Addis Ababa and its citizens were experiencing poor urban governance as manifested in a highly centralised government system, un-participatory governance, poor service delivery, and lack of transparency. The political system was heavily bureaucratic involving a four-layered decision- making structure with most of the real power concentrated at city level. In particular, the lowest administrative structures, the Kebele Administrations, were almost solely preoccupied with routine administrative tasks. They were not involved in urban development and good governance endeavours in any meaningful way. A highly centralised political system also meant that active community participation in the socio-economic and political affairs of their neighbourhood was undermined. Delivery of municipal and public services was often inefficient and non-transparent, while levels of corruption were high in some areas.Source:http://www.worldmayor.com/manifestos05/addis_ababa_05.html

What if the nation improves the overall urban governance of Addis Ababa by reforming these four policies: decentralisation, community participation, civil service reform and improvement of service delivery.

The workshop on “Promotion of Clean Fuelsand Vehicles in Ethiopia” was spearheaded by a nationalPCFV affiliate, the Forum for Environment (FfE) workingin partnership with the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise(EPE), the Ministry of Transport and Communication(MoT&C), the Federal and the Addis Ababa EnvironmentProtection Authority (FEPA and AAEPA), and Environmentand Development/Ethiopia (ENDA-Ethiopia). It was heldon 22 July 2008 in Ghion Hotel. The workshop had twoprincipal objectives, namely to sensitize stakeholders onthe health and environmental benefits of lowering sulphurlevels in fuels and adopting cleaner vehicles and cleanervehicle technologies to reduce urban air pollution, and tourge Ethiopia to import lower sulphur diesel fuels (at least500ppm).Source: http://www.unep.org/pcfv/pdf/AddisAbabaHighlightsVol5No8.pdf

What if the air quality pilot study project that is aimed to measure the levels of pollutants such as particulate matter, lead, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and other hazardous toxins that have yet to be quantified is successful with the funding being provided generously? It could not only lead to longer-term air quality monitoring programs but also help the Ethiopian EPA better understand the links between air pollution and health problems while laying the groundwork for setting and enforcing air quality standards in Addis Ababa, which is home to about 3 million people.