Introduction

The rate of urbanization, over the last century, increased significantly making the global urban population double in less than 70 years. Subsequently, more than 55% of the global population now lives in urban centers. Furthermore, this number is also expected to grow to more than two-thirds of the global population by 2050.

Growing Urbanization in the Global South 

Yet, even though the rate and level of urbanization of the global south countries are increasing, their share of the urban population is minimal. As one of the global south countries, Ethiopia has one of the lowest urbanization levels, close to half of the sub-Saharan countries` average, which is 42%. Moreover, one-fourth of the nation`s urban population is concentrated in the nation`s capital, Addis Ababa which is expected to grow to 6 million by 2025. As an economic and administrative center of the nation, and the seat of the Organization for African Union and other international institutions, the city has been a melting pot that hosts a huge concentration of people in the Horn of Africa region. 

Overburdening of Resources and Service-Providing Sectors Associated with Growing Urbanization

Thus, associated with the population boom the city has experienced over the last two decades, the resources the city has and its service-providing sectors have been overburdened, deteriorating the quality of life in the city. For instance, according to the study report published by UN-Habitat in 2007, close to 120,000 people are added to the city`s population each year which has increased the housing backlog of the city. Besides, the Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia stated in 2016 that the city’s population has increased by more than half since 2004. So, the number of people in need of housing became way more than the city`s capability of supplying houses. Accordingly, the city’s housing backlogs were recorded to be 233,000 and 376,000 housing units by the end of 2000 and 2010 respectively. Thus, this puts a huge burden on the city’s financial resources since the majority of the housing supply throughout the city is government-led and financed. Yet, with such a government-led approach, the housing units built by the city administration until 2010 were only 80,000 housing units. 

Interventions to Meet Housing Needs and their Failures 

Thus, neither urban housing programs envisioned by the city administration of Addis Ababa nor housing supply by private real estate could meet the city’s growing housing demand. This has forced people to search for alternative self-housing mechanisms both formally and informally. As a result, squatting and land speculation have been practiced throughout the city massively which has heightened the proliferation of informal settlements. The study done by the Office for the Revision of Addis Ababa Master Plan (ORAAMP) indicated that about 25% of housing in the suburbs of Addis Ababa is held by squatting on vacant land and spaces preserved for various uses. This has, in turn, staggered a huge challenge in the city’s development prospects. 

Conclusion

In general, urbanization without proper planning is catastrophic and it has a higher tendency of deteriorating the quality of life that should exist in urban centers. Therefore, Urbanization needs to be backed up with strategic planning that has various housing supply modalities that can suit the needs, financial capabilities, and aspirations of urban dwellers. The first approach towards promoting home ownership of urban residents is devising mechanisms for reducing the cost of housing using different techniques. The techniques may range from using locally available building materials to introducing cost-effective construction techniques that include modular architecture. The second and most appealing intervention mechanism would be boosting the economic capability of urban residents. The income-boosting mechanisms include promoting income-generating means and saving culture. Facilitating means of enabling the urban poor is the best intervention to assist the urban poor in affording the type of housing available in the housing market. Furthermore, Addis Ababa city administration needs to plan ahead of time and share the responsibility of housing supply with the private sector and other stakeholders. Unless otherwise, with such a conventional government-led and financed housing strategy, it might take more decades to house the city’s inhabitants.