Propiedades de localización

The current housing situation in Addis Ababa is particularly worrisome and it represents the by-product of decades of inaction and inappropriate and misguided urban development policies and programmes (UN Habitat, 2007:67). Under the rule of the Derg, all cities in Ethiopia, particularly Addis Ababa, went through acute housing shortages and significant deterioration of housing conditions. Nearing the end of its rule, the Derg realised the damage its lack of policies had caused to the urban housing sector and it set about introducing corrective policy measures. (UN Habitat, 2007: 11). In 1986, it launched a housing reform which attempted to standardise the building code; encourage community involvement in housing production; and make more effective use of the existing housing stock, by allowing co-dwelling (Yntiso, 2008:63). However, this attempt to rectify the housing situation failed and as a result rapid proliferation of squatter settlements began to spread throughout the capital.

When the democratic government took over power in 1991, the urban

economy was in very poor condition. The most important decision the EPRDF made immediately after coming into power was the implementation of a federal system of governance. The nation was divided into nine regional

states, with Addis Ababa being placed under direct federal government control (Bihon, 2008:7). This decentralisation was intended to establish local

authorities, thus enabling housing issues to be tackled in regional sections and at a community level. Upon his departure in 2005, the former mayor of Addis Ababa spoke about efforts made by the administration to undertake four main policy reforms, in order to improve the urban environment. These

included decentralisation; community participation; civil service reform; and improved service delivery (Rahmato, Bantirgu & Endeshaw, 2008:10). Under the new government, the political structure was reorganised into three levels: city, sub-city and kebele4, with the lower levels entrusted with significant power to decide on matters regarding urban development (Yntiso, 2008:62).

The decentralization has had a considerable influence over the course of urban development in Addis Ababa but the concept of local authority continues to remain largely underdeveloped (Yntiso, 2008:63).

The second most important change the EPRDF implemented within the capital city was the Urban Land Lease legislation (UN Habitat, 2008a:5). This legislation ensured that all land in Addis Ababa remained government

property and the implementation of a leasehold system to generate revenue to improve municipal services was to take place (UN Habitat, 2008a:6).

However, the leasehold system fell short of generating the expected amount of income.

Its failure was mostly due to the insensitivity it showed toward the housing plight of the urban poor, as it asked for large deposits to be paid before land would be released for development (Clark, 2000:5).

Until recently, there were few national coordination policies regarding housing and urban development. In 2005, the government formulated an Urban

Development Policy to link together with small-scale efforts that had been

4_{Kebele - A kebele (Amharic ‘neighbourhood’) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia}

made by regional governments since 2000 (UN Habitat, 2008a: 4). It was in this year that the Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MWUD) was also established, in order to guide the overall development of all major urban cities and to conduct much needed studies on urbanisation patterns (Bihon, 2008:9).

Despite efforts by the government to rectify the escalating housing crisis, informal and unplanned housing constitutes 40 per cent of the housing in Addis Ababa (UN Habitat, 2008a: 5). The existing housing stock is of very low physical quality with 80 per cent of Addis Ababa classified as a slum5 and 70 per cent of this stock is comprised of government owned rental housing

(HFHE, 2010:10). Houses are typically constructed from mud, wood and other discarded material, with many being erected decades ago with little or no maintenance (HFHE, 2010:11). In addition, the majority of the city lacks access to water, electricity and sanitation facilities, which are factors contributing to the raft of issues in the city. Accurate data on the amount of dwellings within the city is limited, but the administration has estimated that 60,000 informal squatter settlements have been built that represent 20 per cent of the total housing stock (Addis Ababa City Administration, 2010).

The government estimates that the current housing deficit is around 900,000 units and that only 30 per cent of the current housing stock is in fair condition, with the remaining 70 per cent in need of total replacement (UN Habitat, 2008a :6). This large housing deficit is only going to increase, due to the rising population and migration flows into the city. In order to accommodate future growth, the Urban Sector Millennium Development Goals Needs Assessment have predicted that, if MDGs are to be met by 2015, it would require the building of 225,000 houses per annum (MoFED, 2005: 33). This is an overwhelming and unachievable reality for a city that has a wide range of pressing issues needing to be addressed. The need to improve the urban housing situation in Ethiopia has been recognised since 1991, but the sheer size of the problem has so far dwarfed any efforts made to date (UN Habitat, 2008a :8).

5_{For the purpose of this paper, ‘slum’ is defined as “a heavily populated urban area characterized}

An evaluation of the current housing situation is relevant to this research, since it can identify the scale of the problem that needs to be addressed.