Addis Ababa, located 2,355 meters above sea level, is one of the highest capitals in the world. Few buildings here have addresses, so taxi drivers operate by landmarks. Located at 9°2' north of equator and at 38°45' east, lying in average attitude of 2,500 meters above sea level. The northern part of the city including the Entoto Mountains is high about 3,000 meters above sea level.
Before its establishment, the area was called Finfinne where various Oromo pastoralist inhabited the area. The area used hot spring where people of the area take bath or drink the water for health treatment. At the beginning of 1860s, the king confiscated pasture land from the Finfinne plain.
To stop the revolt, the king sent soldiers and successfully suppress it. The suppression and the establishment of Catholic mission at Birbirsa in the site of St George Church led Menelik II to transfer his capital to Entoto in 1881, used primarily a strategic garrison base for his army camp against tribal incursion. In 1888, Menelik moved his permanent resident from Entoto to the place where his imperial palace was formed in 1887.
Suggestions that bring Taytu to be credited with co-founding Addis Ababa was she guided military officials with their soldiers and widely the settlement regarded as "Taytu's plan". She also credited with the progenitor of urbanization in Addis Ababa. The head of safar built their house above elevation of the grand palace for strategic purpose, and also notes by the titular noble rank such as Ras, Dejazemach and Fitawrari.
Between 1884 and 1903, ten churches were built that was occupied by safar previously. In 1890s, Addis Ababa experienced rapid population growth into two factors: the 1889-1892 famine, a mass immigration to Addis Ababa and the Battle of Adwa after which traditional militias and other immigrants began settling in the city.
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The 1909 land charter boosted an establishment of municipality in Addis Ababa as well as spatial safar growth led transformation into larger metropolitan area despite still unsupported by the contemporary planning. During 1910s and 1920s, there were significant improvements of modernization of infrastructure and services (roads, schools, hospitals, etc) that transformed original urban form.
During the Italian occupation of Addis Ababa from 1936 to 1941, the city saw manifest modernization and urbanization. The Italians attempted to transfer the capital city to various notable places, such as Dessie to the north, Nekemte to the west, Ambo-Guder to the west, and Harar to the east, in order to build large fortifications and lower latitude. Shortly after their occupation began, the Italian government ordered that a beautified capital city be built according to a new master plan prepared by seven architects.
In 1946, Emperor Haile Selassie invited Sir Patrick Abercrombie, the famous British architect and town planner, to submit a plan that would transform Addis Ababa into being the "beautified capital of the rest of Africa". Sir Patrick prepared a plan with neighbourhood units as a planning module. He enclosed neighbourhood units with green parkways serving as an intersection to green areas.
In 1965, the French Mission for Urban Studies and Habitat led by architect Luis De Marien embarked famous master plan dedicated to implementation rather than spatial growth and monumental axis through Addis Ababa City Hall in the northern part through the railway station at the middle extending to Gofa Mazoria in the southern part of the city.
During the Derg era, the city saw nationalization of urban lands and extra house that prevented to build private investment sector, slowing the growth rate. The Hungarian planner C.K. Polonyi first developed master plan in the Derg era with cooperation of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, comprising two proposals: the first was linkage of Addis Ababa with surrounding towns and cities and the second was the development of residential layout for self-help housing projects. In 1986, master plan was drafted with cooperation of 45 Ethiopian professionals and 75 Italian experts, where 237 sectorial reports documented as references.
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Following the dissolution of the Derg in 1991 and the new transitional government under EPRDF, urban growth was very slow as a result of decentralized policy in the first three years. At the end of 1998, the Addis Ababa City Administration launched new project named Office for Revision of Addis Ababa Master Plan (ORAAMP) with new master plan called "Revisited Addis Ababa Master Plan" covering from 1999 to 2003.
Today, Gotera is typical of many middle class suburbs in Addis Adaba - a middle class compound containing hundreds of condominiums crammed into dozens of five story blocks. Each block looks the same - housing the same mix of retailers, butchers, grocery stores, pharmacists and phone shops.
The Addis Tomorrow Special Economic Zone is expected to transform the city’s appearance, boost its international competitiveness, enhance its beauty, and create numerous job opportunities for residents. The Addis Tomorrow Special Economic Zone is part of the city administration’s broader plan to transform Addis Ababa into one of Africa’s top cities within the next three to five years.
Modern urban development in Addis Ababa.
Economic and Social Dynamics
Today excess Birr amongst Ethiopia’s growing middle classes is fueling a rise in beer consumption and currently a growing number of international brewing giants are capitalizing on this emerging social trend. Still, it’s tricky. If this society has any values at all, Black lives aren’t one of them. We get cops called on us for no reason at all.
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During my brief visit to Ethiopia local newspapers reported an increasing rate of accidental injuries and deaths as bulldozers ploughed through Addis Ababa’s informal housing districts creating new space for local business enterprise. However despite this progress many Ethiopians today are today finding themselves homeless.
The Ethiopian Government will point to this as a barometer of success but for the displaced families the price has been a heavy one. Adebe had been forced to squat, eventually he had been rehoused in a small apartment but not all of his family had been so lucky.
Personal Experiences and Reflections
My friend and I rented an apartment in Gotera Condominium, a neighborhood in Addis Ababa full of high-rises similar to projects in New York. I hung outside every day, and just like when I’m home in San Francisco, I connected with a lot of young people. They yelled for me outside my window every morning.
One of the first Amharic words I learned was መጫወት, which means “play.” We always played between the building where I stayed and the market where we did our grocery shopping (we kept our refrigerator stocked with injera, eggs, and cinnamon tea; an instant favorite of mine). I made friends with Netsanet and Yibekal, the couple who owned the market, and they agreed to store a gift I left for the kids: two professional soccer balls, which we decided should stay at the shop to prevent unnecessary conflict.
Ethiopia is where I started to consciously let go of behavioral patterns and constructs that no longer served me, so that I could make space for new ones. I call it the “re-creation process”: exploring who I am, the roles I play, my character, and my purpose. One of my roles is to tell stories that honor our brilliance and highlight our human nature.
An elder once said to me, “Home is a state of consciousness.” I went home to the motherland. In doing so, I went home to myself. I keep my traveler’s mind as I move about the world, and the city of my birth. I am always an ambassador for myself and my community. I am always learning and sharing. I am always a guest.
Addis Ababa is becoming the city that China built -- but at what diplomatic and economic cost?
In two decades, the Chinese provided Addis with an $86 million ring road, the Gotera Intersection ($12.7 million), Ethiopia's first six-lane highway ($800 million), and the Ethio-Djibouti Railway line ($4 billion), which connects the landlocked country to the sea.
I’ve counted 23 car dealer shops on the 3 km road from Denbel building down to Gotera intersection road. We can say the Meskel Flower area in Addis is the center of car markets, followed by Kera and Bole Brass areas.
The Gotera Intersection in Addis Ababa.
