https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7557-0188
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ABSTRACT
From the Derg’s restoration of Meskel Square for its military parades and Meles Zenawi’s Light-Rail Transit (LRT) and condominium social housing projects to Abiy Ahmed’s high-end luxury real estate and urban tourism schemes, megaprojects have collapsed Ethiopia’s political history into an urban bricolage of shifting ideologies and new priorities. At this critical juncture, where questions of political rupture and continuity become salient, this paper examines what we can learn about Ethiopia’s political dynamics through its latest urban megaprojects. Drawing on ‘LaGare’ and ‘Beautifying Sheger’ as case studies, this article argues that there is a new urban aesthetic emerging in Addis Ababa targeting domestic elites, the Ethiopian diaspora and tourists. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Gulf-emulated luxury real estate projects and major riverside renewal schemes are intended to generate revenue through increased land values and urban tourism. At the same time, issues around inclusive consultation with local stakeholders, the lack of coordination with the relevant bureaucracies and the highly centralized decision-making process are reminiscent of the modus operandi of previous Ethiopian regimes. These urban megaprojects are useful analytical lenses to disentangle political rupture from operational continuity.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Dereje Feyissa Dori and Halellujah Lulie for the invitation to participate in an author’s workshop on Ethiopia’s political reforms in April 2019, which offered valuable initial feedback for an earlier version of this paper. The author is also grateful to Ezana Weldeghebrael, Tom Gardner, Jason Mosley and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and critical feedback. Most importantly, the author would like to thank the interviewees, as well as the city’s urbanists and architects that were open to engage critically on these matters.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1 Mosley, “Ethiopia’s Transition”; Woldemariam, “The Eritrea-Ethiopia Thaw”; and Melvin, “New External Security Politics.”
2 De Waal, “The Future of Ethiopia”; Fischer and Gebrewahd, “Game Over? Abiy Ahmed.”
3 Schneidman, “Ethiopia: Africa’s Next Powerhouse?”
4 Giorghis and Gérard, The City & Architectural Heritage.
5 Kloosterboer, “The ‘New’ Addis Ababa.”
6 Venkatesan et al., “Attention to Infrastructure.”
7 Harvey and Knox, “Enchantments of Infrastructure.”
8 Rode et al., “Cities and the Governance.”
9 Jones et al., “Africa’s Illiberal State-builders.”
10 Scott, Seeing Like a State, 6.
11 The paper also benefitted from critical public discussions about these two projects by key stakeholders at the Urban Age conference in November 2018 and among leading architects at the monthly meeting of the Association of Ethiopian Architects in January 2019.
12 Weis, “Vanguard Capitalism.”
13 Donham, Marxist Modern; Zewde, History of Modern Ethiopia; McVety, “Point Four in Ethiopia”; Markakis, The Last Two Frontiers.
14 Regassa and Korf, “Post-imperial Statecraft.”
15 Ibid., 6.
16 Ibid., 4.
17 Scott, Seeing Like a State; Donham, Marxist Modern; Regassa and Korf, “Post-imperial Statecraft.”
18 Regassa and Korf, “Post-imperial Statecraft,” 4.
19 Puddu, “State-building, Rural Development”; Fantini and Puddu, “Ethiopia and International Aid.”
20 Jones et al., “Africa’s Illiberal State-builders,” 11.
21 Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia.
22 De Waal, The Real Politics, 162.
23 Vaughan, “Federalism, Revolutionary Democracy”; Clapham, “Ethiopian Developmental State.”
24 Vaughan, “Federalism, Revolutionary Democracy,” 308.
25 Jones et al., “Africa’s Illiberal State-builders,” 9.
26 Rode et al., “Cities and the Governance.”
27 Mains and Kinfu, “Making the City,” 640.
28 Kloosterboer, “The ‘New’ Addis Ababa.”
29 Clapham, “Ethiopian Developmental State.”
30 Aalen, “Ethiopia after Meles”; Terrefe, “The Renaissance Railway.”
31 Wolde-Michael, “Urban Development in Ethiopia.”
32 Mbembe, “Aesthetics of Superfluity,” 404.
33 Ibid., 405.
34 Presentation entitled “Leading Change” by Deputy Mayor Takele Uma Banti. Accessed 21 September 2019. See also open source public tracker for all urban megaprojects in Addis Ababa: https://rb.gy/hnhvud.
35 Peck et al., “Neoliberal Urbanism.”
36 Gebereegzhiabeher, “Ethiopia’s Urban Transformation.”
37 African Development Bank, “Sustainable Cities and Structural Transformation,” 218.
38 LSE Cities, “Urban Age Data Matrix.”
39 For a recent critique of the ‘infrastructure gap’ discourse, see Goodfellow, “Finance, Infrastructure and Urban Capital.”
40 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies,” 229.
41 Harvey and Knox, “Enchantments of Infrastructure.”
42 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies.”
43 Carmody and Owusu, “Neoliberalism, Urbanisation and Change.”
44 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies,” 215.
45 van Noorloos and Kloosterboer, “Africa’s New Cities,” 1236.
46 Di Nunzio, “Anthropology of Infrastructure,” 1; Graham and Marvin, Splintering Urbanism.
47 Cirolia and Rode, “Urban Infrastructure and Development,” 7.
48 Pedrazzini et al., “Violence of Urbanization”; Duroyaume, “Addis Ababa and Urban Renewal”; Goodfellow, “Urban Fortunes and Skeleton Cityscapes”; Kinfu et al., “Genesis of Peri-urban Ethiopia.”
49 Planel and Bridonneau, “(Re)making Politics.”
50 Kloosterboer, “The ‘New’ Addis Ababa.”
51 Goodfellow, “Taxing Property in Neo-developmental.”
52 Admassie, “Gated Communities of Inner-city.”
53 Di Nunzio, “Marginality as Politics”; Di Nunzio, The Act of Living.
54 Lefebvre, “The Urban Revolution”; Mbembe, “Aesthetics of Superfluity”; Harvey and Knox, Roads; Buire, “Intimate Encounters.”
55 Adama, “Urban Imaginaries,” 260.
56 Allen and Cochrane, “Beyond the Territorial Fix,” 1167.
57 Swyngedouw et al., “Neoliberal Urbanization in Europe,” 545.
58 van Noorloss and Kloosterboer, “Africa’s New Cities,” 1225.
59 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies,” 225.
60 Sales Brochure produced by Eagle Hills, “La Gare,” 10. Retrieved from: https://lagare.com.
61 Mosley, “Ethiopia’s Transition.”
62 Behuria, “Learning from Role Models.”
63 Personal interview with City Administration official A on 27 November 2019.
64 Ibid.
65 Sales Proposal produced by Eagle Hills, “One La Gare: Sales Proposal.” Created on 2 April 2020.
66 Speech by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Addis Wog “One Year Review of Reforms” in Addis Ababa on 23 March 2019.
67 Clapham, “The Politics of Emulation.”
68 Alawadi et al., “Land, Urban Form and Politics,” 117.
69 Sales Brochure produced by Eagle Hills, “La Gare,” 10. Retrieved from: https://lagare.com.
70 Graham and Marvin, Splintering Urbanisms.
71 Brill and Robredo, “Failed Fantasies,” 4.
72 Gebresenbet, “Land Acquisitions.”
73 Buire, “Intimate Encounters,” 2213.
74 Personal interview with elderly Kirkos resident on 23 March 2019.
75 Cross, Dream Zones.
76 Tweet by Deputy Mayor Takele Uma on 19 November 2018. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/TakeleUma/status/1064569005615316992. Also note that Addis Ababa translates to “New Flower” in English.
77 Harvey and Knox, “Enchantments of Infrastructure.”
78 Kloosterboer, “The ‘New’ Addis Ababa,” 217.
79 Personal interview with shop vendor in Kirkos on 23 March 2019.
80 Pieterse, “Defining African Urbanism.”
81 Carmody and Owusu, “Neoliberalism, Urbanisation and Change,” 69.
82 Personal interview with senior City Administration official on 17 November 2018.
83 Personal interview with Transport planner on 9 March 2019.
84 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies,” 226.
85 Personal interview with Transport planner on 9 March 2019.
86 Brill and Reboredo, “Failed Fantasies,” 5; Herbert and Murray, “Building from Scratch.”
87 Personal interview with City Administration official B on 15 April 2019.
88 ‘Sheger’ is a moniker for ‘Addis Ababa’, often used colloquially by urban youth.
89 This budget was based on a pilot project developed by the Riverside Project Office and was a direct amortization of a bid. Hence, the actual cost is likely to be much higher.
90 Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “The Addis Ababa River Project.”
91 Video released by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “Beautifying Sheger.” Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugeZJQhxavU.
92 Harvey and Knox, “Enchantments of Infrastructure.”
93 Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “Beautifying Sheger.”
94 Mains and Kinfu, “Making the City,” 666.
95 Harvey and Knox, “Enchantments of Infrastructure,” 523.
96 Scott, Seeing Like a State, 4.
97 Speech by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Addis Wog “One Year Review of Reforms” in Addis Ababa on 23 March 2019.
98 Goodfellow, “Taxing Property in Neo-Developmental,” 557.
99 Speech by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Addis Wog “One Year Review of Reforms” in Addis Ababa on 23 March 2019.
100 Goodfellow, “Taxing Property in Neo-Developmental,” 567.
101 Speech by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Addis Wog “One Year Review of Reforms” in Addis Ababa on 23 March 2019.
102 Clapham, “Ethiopian Developmental State,” 1160.
103 South-Korean chaebols are large family-owned industrial conglomerates that have parastatal characteristics. Ethiopian companies like EFFORT, MIDROC and even METEC could be loosely considered as having characteristics that resemble the structures of chaebols. See Vaughan and Gebremichael, “Rethinking Business and Politics” for an analysis of business-state relations under the EPRDF.
104 Tweet by Ambassador Taye Atske-Selassie on 14 May 2019. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/TayeAtske/status/1128104063646797824.
105 Tadesse, “Varnero Awaits Contract for Grand.”
106 He was removed from his post, shortly after the project was announced.
107 Tadesse, “Varnero Awaits Contract for Grand.”
108 Watson, “African Urban Fantasies,” 229.
109 Ibid.
110 Abdelhady, “The Nile and the Grand.”
111 Remarks made by Meskerem Tamiru on 6 June 2019 at Roundtable Discussion at Prime Minister’s Office on Greening & Cleaning Ethiopia.
112 Hirschman, “The Search for Paradigms.”
113 Scott, Seeing Like a State, 345.