Lessons of informality: Architecture and Urban Planning for Emerging Territories by Birkhäuser

Never before have cities been so important. Today, cities are home to the majority of the world’s population, accommodate most of global production, and are the goal of millions of migrants around the world. Yet, increasingly, our cities are growing informally, planned and built by non-professionals. Informality resembles an evolutionary process more than a simple absence of rules. In itself, informality is neither illegal, nor dysfunctional, nor indicative of poverty; in fact, its actors, skills and housing crisis. While informal settlements are rightly criticized for their lack of hygiene and low-level living conditions, their underlying social and cultural networks are a testimonial to the unwavering courage and resilience of their inhabitants. Equally, the associated informal economic activities proliferate and basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. Using the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as an example, this publication by an interdisciplinary team of authors from urbanism, sociology and architecture analyzes informal housing options as well as economic strategies such as microloan or bottom-up insurance systems. It introduces typical informal professions such as the Kuré-Yalew (refuse collector), who acts as an “urban miner” and contributes a valuable service to the community by recycling materials. Thus, Lessons of Informality describes an array of planning strategies and possibly even

The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.

www.birkhauser.com

Lessons of Informality

a roadmap to a resilient city in emerging territories.

Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle (eds.)

capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing

Felix Heisel Bisrat Kifle (eds.)

Lessons of Informality

Architecture and Urban Planning for Emerging Territories – Concepts from Ethiopia

Visual impressions of Addis Ababa Photography by Thomas Aquilina

The qualities of informality are not limited to its physical manifestation or architecture, but also encompass its underlying spatial, social, cultural, traditional, economic and urban evolutionary processes. Rather than an absence of rules, informality represents negotiation, trial and error and continuous updating throughout time, involving a multitude of actors. In these images, Thomas Aquilina presents the stock and flow of people and goods on the border of formal and informal economies throughout Ethiopiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital, highlighting the incredible density of interactions and activities. Informality, in one way or another, clearly affects almost every citizen of Addis Ababa in daily life.

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Contents 11

Contents Preface: From documentaries to architectural strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Introduction: Informality in emerging territories Felix Heisel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Space creation and a sense of responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Housing in an informally grown city Fasil Giorghis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Landownership and the leasehold system Wubshet Berhanu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 A “new” Addis Ababa Marjan Kloosterboer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The ruralization of urban centres in Ethiopia Heyaw Terefe, Felix Heisel. . . . . . . . 71

Social, cultural and traditional context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Social dynamics and development Alula Pankhurst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Persisting meaning and evolving spaces Genet Alem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Bottom-up insurance systems Bisrat Kifle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Self-employment as economic empowerment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The economic importance of recycling Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Microeconomies, a formalized strategy Lia GabreMariam W.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Addis Ababa, a rental city Perrine Duroyaume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 City preservation through tourism Tadesse Girmay Gebreegziabher. . . . . . . . . . . 142

Paradigm shifts in urban strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 From density to intensity Felix Heisel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Materializing informality Dirk E. Hebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Building laws for innovation Elias Yitbarek, Felix Heisel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Decentralized infrastructural systems Tesfaye Hailu Bekele. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Spatial dialogic Sascha Delz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 _Spaces / The documentary series Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Editors and contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Illustration credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 DVD _Spaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Backcover

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Introduction: Informality in emerging territories Chances, challenges and visions Felix Heisel While working on this book, we engaged with a world that is often described by what it is not rather than by what it is. Even the words that appear most in this introduction are often defined antonymically: the informal is characterized by an absence of formal regulations instead of the presence of informal qualities; developing countries are marked by the fact that they are not yet developed. Although we do not consider this tendency a problem, but rather an opportunity to work within a wide range of possible meanings, we still aim to use these first pages to communicate our understanding of informal settings and our interpretation of these terms as well as the historic context of their development. The second part of this introduction argues for the relevance of Ethiopia as a case study for the international phenomenon of informality and the importance of understanding its processes for planning a resilient city. It is this mindset that led us to collect, edit and publish the following contributions, and this introduction is intended to convey these underlying thoughts to create a common basis for discussion.

A history of the informal Historically, the meaning of the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;informalâ&#x20AC;? has developed over time and only today includes the wide array of topics scholars associate with the word. In the 1970s, two influential publications framed the term as a way to describe an economic phenomenon in relation to (un)employment in developing territories. The British anthropologist Keith Hart, who later became the Director of the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge, made the distinction between formal and informal sectors based on personal observations in Ghana. In preparing an often-cited 1973 study, Hart initially aimed to assess the high levels of unemployment that resulted from limited formal employment opportunities in combination with a high migration rate. Instead he discovered a widespread informal economy in which people creatively mingled formal and informal strategies to generate their livelihoods. He thus argued that workers who were surplus to the

20 Lessons of Informality

Developing and emerging Despite the obvious importance of categories like “developing” and “developed” in world affairs, the exact criteria separating developing and developed countries remain unclear. Often, developing countries are described simply as not yet developed. Consequently, one would assume that “developed” has a

Use of mobile phones in Addis Ababa

distinct meaning. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, has summarized a developed country as “one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment”.14 There is no internationally accepted and more specific definition available, yet strategists, business leaders and the media often use these terms to describe the world. Throughout time, this black-and-white system has dissolved into five smaller stages: least developed, frontier, emerging, newly industrialized and advanced. Several considerations influenced these changes, ranging from the rather cruel assumption that the progressive verb form (develop-ing) assumes evolution and is thus not always applicable, to the correct realization that the word should be replaced because of its negative connotation. Increasingly, the term “country” has been substituted with “territory” or, most recently, economic descriptions, as the underlying criteria mostly take into account market values rather than the qualities of a country.

The emerging territories The title of this book refers to one of these categories, the emerging. The International Finance Corporation first used the term, which was coined in 1981, to promote new mutual fund investment in selected and potentially profitable developing countries. Since then, references to emerging markets have become ubiquitous, but definitions of the term vary widely. Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu warn that in order “to understand emerging markets, it is important to consider carefully the ways in which they are emerging and the extent to which they are genuine markets.”15 In 2008, the Russian economist Vladimir Kvint published an article in Forbes that defined an emerging-market country as “a society transitioning from a dictatorship to a free market-oriented economy, with increasing economic freedom,

Introduction: Informality in emerging territoriesâ&#x20AC;&#x192; 27

The five housing typologies in Addis Ababa Villa (A), Row house (B), Condominium (C), Apartment (D), and Small house or Shed (E)â&#x20AC;&#x2030;29

Space creation and a sense of responsibility Photography by Marta H. Wisniewska

Along with its historically grown social and functional diversity, the heterogeneity of typologies, mass, void and greenery in Addis Ababa is one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important values. Marta H. Wisniewskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photographs depict this multiplicity of scales and elements in overlapping formal and informal areas of the city. While the images show that the boundary of formality is often hard to define, they also illustrate the importance of the human scale and a feeling of identity in the design of climate-responsive, adaptive, flexible and local spaces.

Visual impressions of Addis Ababaâ&#x20AC;&#x192; 41

The ruralization of urban centres in Ethiopia 71

The ruralization of urban centres in Ethiopia An excerpt from interviews with Heyaw Terefe Edited by Felix Heisel In principle, the typologies used by the majority of the population in rural and urban settings are very similar. In the countryside, people have lived for many centuries in tukuls, the rural shelter model. And in cities, people now live in korkoro

bets, which is the urban shelter model. However, there are very few differences between these two typologies, while the newly developed homes of high-income settlers, independent of their location, are very different from either tukuls or kor-

koro bets. The distinction is less a question of location and more a question of resources. A shelter can and will be used for different functions, yet a house is designed for a single, specialized purpose. This constitutes the basic difference between a shelter and a house. In a shelter, there is usually no differentiation of functions: animals and humans live together, sleeping and living take place in the space, and businesses can operate from within the same structure. The objective of a shelter is to serve basic needs, most importantly protection from weather and other external hazards. A house, on the other hand, is based on more advanced objectives: in addition to meeting basic needs, it aims to satisfy desires, which in social science are called “wants”. In short, wants are concerned with satisfaction, while needs address survival. Over time, one can clearly observe how – with a rise in income – occupants start to introduce wants into their housing typologies in order to add an element of satisfaction, beyond being content with survival. However, it is important to remember that in Ethiopia, the majority of living arrangements in both rural and urban areas, especially in informal settlements, are shelters. The similarities in these living arrangements are one reason for and possibly also a result of ruralization. While urbanization in rural areas is a commonly accepted and often-described process, Ethiopia and many other emerging territories also experience the opposite – the ruralization of their urban centres. These cities

72 Space creation and a sense of responsibility

A tukul and korkoro bet next to each other

In tukuls, animals and humans live together.

all face unprecedented growth caused mostly by high migration rates. Understandably, people moving from rural to urban areas carry with them the luggage of their past lives. Their values and traditions do not change overnight simply because of a change in location (assuming that this would be necessary to lead a life in the city). Migrants bring their rural life into the cities – and in such high numbers that as a result the cities begin to change, rather than the migrants. Ruralization involves traditions, social hierarchies, perceptions of life and housing, and economic activities. The phenomenon helps to explain the scale of economic activity in informal settlements, or the way settlers live and construct their houses whenever an opportunity arises. All of these actions are very much related to what settlers were doing daily in rural areas. Both urban and rural have in recent years altered their definitions, with direct effects on terms such as urbanization and ruralization. While urbanization used to be understood as an increase in the proportion of inhabitants living in cities, it increasingly refers to an increase in the number of people living an urban life. The same can be said about ruralization, which then consequently also applies to the number of migrants in cities living a rural lifestyle. Mobile services, TVs and newspapers – communication systems that originated in cities and are increasingly available in rural areas – are parts of an urban lifestyle. On the other hand, street vending, urban agriculture and living with extended family in a single room are all examples of ruralization in urban areas. These practices can be observed everywhere in Addis Ababa, but also in many other African or developing territories. Interestingly, this understanding reduces the importance of location in the definition of urban and rural: if a person has access to urban facilities or activities while residing in a rural area, he or she is basically urbanized. This happens even

_Spaces / The documentary series 201

_Spaces / The documentary series From cinematic documentation to implementation strategies Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle From 7 to 11 April 2014, the documentary series _Spaces, specifically the two films Disappearing Spaces and Emerging Spaces, was screened at the seventh World Urban Forum (WUF) in Medellín, Columbia. The WUF is a biannual, non-legislative forum organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Each time, a different city hosts the event, which generally attracts an estimated 10,000 participants from 160 countries. The conference’s goal is to examine the most pressing issues facing the world today in the area of human settlements, including rapid urbanization and its impact on cities, communities, economies, policies and climate change.1 As part of an Ethiopian delegation, Bisrat Kifle travelled to Columbia in order to display Housing Sector Development: Making Shelter Assets Work, a project funded by the Cities Alliance and organized by the Housing Development and Government Buildings Construction Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Construction in Ethiopia. In one of the forums at WUF7,

_Spaces was screened to international guests in the presence of high-ranking government officials from Ethiopia. The screening started with high expectations and anxiety from the audience, up to the moment when a minister walked out of the cinema and ordered the Ethio pian delegates to halt the screening immediately. For the presenters, this was unexpected and shocking, and raised the question of whether to terminate the screening of the film or respect the wish of the remaining audience to continue. Ultimately, the decision was made to continue with the presentation. At the end, the minister returned to attend the discussions. He seemed genuinely surprised by the warm response from the audience and the appreciation of the Ethiopian government and its efforts to solve the housing problem. One spectator was overwhelmed by the scale of the housing programme, while for others the involvement of micro and small-scale enterprises and the commitment of the government made the strongest

204 Lessons of Informality

Poster for Disappearing Spaces

Poster for Supporting Spaces

Poster for Emerging Spaces

Poster for Recycling Spaces

Poster for Originating Spaces

Poster for Materializing Spaces

The structure developed in these films combines two elements, the subjective and very personal points of view of selected inhabitants of Addis Ababa, and expert opinions of academics and professionals. The aim is a heterogeneous collection of various aspects and interpretations of a theme that enable the audience to reach its own “objective” interpretation. Each 15-minute documentary uses a similar timeline, following the protagonist for about 12 hours on a typical day. When necessary

Editors and contributors 215

Editors Felix Heisel is an architect and researcher currently working in the Assistant Professorship of Architecture and Construction of Dirk E. Hebel at the ETH Zürich as well as the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. He has previously taught and lectured at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and the Berlin University of the Arts. His extensive research on informal processes led him, among other publications and design proposals, to establish the documentary series _Spaces in 2011. Bisrat Kifle is an architect currently engaged in teaching and research work at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development in Addis Ababa. From 2008 to 2009, he taught design studios at the ETH Zürich in the Chair of Architecture and Design of Marc Angélil, where he collaborated on different research projects, including the Addis_Urban Laboratory. Bisrat has designed various neighbourhoods while working for the Grand Housing Programme in Addis Ababa in addition to practising in his own office, which won the prize for best affordable low-cost housing in Ethiopia in 2011. In the same year, he co-initiated the research project _Spaces.

Contributors Genet Alem is a lecturer in International Planning Studies at the School of Spatial Planning at Dortmund University of Technology, where she is also a guest lecturer at the PLIQ (Spatial Planning Education in Iraq) programme. Previously, she worked for several years at the Addis Ababa Works and Urban Development Bureau as an architect and lectured on land and property management at the Ethiopian Civil Service University. Genet holds a PhD and MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from TU Dortmund and an architecture degree from La CUJAE in Havana, Cuba. The built environment and multiculturalism in the dynamics and formations of urban spaces are her research interest. Thomas Aquilina is a designer and researcher in Cambridge. He has practised and researched architecture and urban design for architectural studios in London, the research centre LSE Cities at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in Nairobi.

216 Lessons of Informality

Thomas’s ongoing research explores the architectures of downtown African cities, particularly focusing on the emergent social implications of everyday spatial practices for designing in conditions of informal growth. Wubshet Berhanu is an Associate Professor and holds an MSc in urban design and a PhD in urban and regional planning. For more than twenty-five years, Wubshet taught at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Addis Ababa University. He then continued as Head of Department and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Technology-South (now the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development) for over ten years. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on urban pattern analysis, urban land and housing developments, and urban policy. From 2006 to 2008, he served as City Manager of Addis Ababa. Wubshet is a founding member of the Association of Ethiopian Architects (AEA) and the winner of the 2014 AEA Urban and Regional Planning award. Sascha Delz is an architect and researcher working at the intersection of architecture, urban design and urban studies. After collaborating with Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York, he worked as an exhibition designer, design instructor and researcher at the Department of Architecture at the ETH Zürich and the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. In addition to his MArch, he completed his PhD at the ETH Zürich in 2015, investigating urban transformations under the premise of international development cooperation in Ethiopia. Currently teaching in the Chair of Architecture and Design of Marc Angélil, Sascha directs the seminar Urban Mutations on the Edge. Perrine Duroyaume has conducted research on urban development in Ethio pia for more than ten years, including in Debre Berhan on an urban sanitation programme and in Gondar for a cultural development project. Interested in changing Ethiopian cities, she has focused her fieldwork research on housing access in Addis Ababa during a crucial period, from 2005 to 2010. For the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies, she has coordinated workshops to promote urban research on Ethiopia. Currently, she is the programme officer at F3E, a network supporting French NGOs and local authorities. Lia GabreMariam W. has extensive experience working in the urban sector as both a researcher and a practitioner. She worked for the city administration of Addis Ababa on the revision of its master plan fifteen years ago, and is now working

The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.

www.birkhauser.com

Lessons of Informality

a roadmap to a resilient city in emerging territories.

Felix Heisel, Bisrat Kifle (eds.)

capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing

Felix Heisel Bisrat Kifle (eds.)

Lessons of Informality

Architecture and Urban Planning for Emerging Territories – Concepts from Ethiopia