Infill city: An urban renewal strategy for housing in Addis Ketema

Addis Ababa is undergoing rapid and radical changes due to population growth and urbanisation. This forces the government to respond to the cities needs, for now mainly on infrastructure and housing. Also Addis Ketema, an inner city neighbourhood known for its commerce and market, is under pressure of development. These changes have proven to be a thread for local communities and micro-economies that exist in these informal settlements, where people inventively produce goods in self built and extended dwellings. On the other hand these changes bring opportunities to improve living conditions. But current solutions for housing, mainly in the form of condominiums, have proven not to be sufficient in terms of preservation of social networks and the adaptability and appropriation of the apartments. The design proposal intervenes on a small scale according to historical plot division to provide an urban backbone. This secures the current urban pattern without disrupting it. Next to that it gives freedom for other developments to take place within the set boundaries by the design proposal. This creates a diverse and vibrant part of the city. The building blocks consist of a support structure with brick cores, in which the piping, bathrooms and kitchens are located, and a concrete skeleton providing structural safety. In this support structure public space and street connections are secured. This support on its turn provides freedom for the dwellings that are in it. Different combinations can be made, varying from a relatively big dwelling with a shop downstairs to two small studio spaces sharing the support facilities of bathroom and kitchen. This concept of providing a more permanent support giving freedom for adaptability for the dwelling infill is present in the materialisation as well; the support is made of brick and concrete while the floors and walls of the infill is mainly made of bamboo and cement screed.