INTEGRATING UNDERGROUND URBAN SPACES INTO THE SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA OF ADDIS ABABA: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

The city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is one among the rapidly growing cities in Africa and is starting to face problems associated with high-speed urbanization and development, land shortage, congestion, and environmental degradation. The more the city expands, the greater the need to find new, sustainable spatial solutions. This paper will discuss the integration of urban space underground as an agenda of sustainable development in Addis Ababa, as well as the opportunities and challenges that these offer. It discloses the place of underground growth, maximization of restricted surface land, movement, and resilience of the environment.

The research points to the following challenges as the main aspects: complicated geological settings, expensive constructions and maintenance, poor institutions, and poor awareness of people. It also stresses the necessity to legalize the underground land ownership and use, and to coordinate interagency and reform policies. There are proposed technological innovations, collaboration between the government and the private sector (PnPs), and involvement of the community as the important keys to the successful implementation.

More so, the article proposes the implementation of a three-dimensional urban planning structure on the Master Plan of the city and the building on the basis of environmentally friendly construction activities, geotechnical mapping, and community engagement. Through the imitation of the best practices in other nations and modifying them to the local realities, Addis Ababa can extract the untapped potential under the surface. One of them is underground space, and the integrated management of the latter provides a revolutionary possibility to build a small, resilient, and environmentally friendly urban future - turning Addis Ababa into an example to the other fast-growing cities in the African continent.