Addis Ababa Urban and Metropolitan Transport and Land Use Linkages Strategy Review
Since 2004 Ethiopia has experienced strong and generally broad-based real economic growth averaging 10.7 percent per annum. It is one of the most populous countries in the world, but it is not highly urbanized. Nevertheless, urbanization in Ethiopi...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530551468252655573/Ethiopia-Addis-Ababa-Urban-and-Metropolitan-Transport-and-Land-Use-Linkages-Strategy-Review-note-on-urban-and-metropolitan-transport-and-land-use-for-inclusive-green-growth-in-Addis-Ababa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26080 |
| Summary: | Since 2004 Ethiopia has experienced
strong and generally broad-based real economic growth
averaging 10.7 percent per annum. It is one of the most
populous countries in the world, but it is not highly
urbanized. Nevertheless, urbanization in Ethiopia is taking
place rapidly, and is expected to increase over the coming
few decades. Addis Ababa, is its commercial and political
center and exemplary of the rapid urban growth of Ethiopia.
The rapid urban and metropolitan growth in Addis Ababa is
exacerbated by poor planning and land-use, inadequate
infrastructure, and chronic housing shortage. A key
challenge for housing in the Addis Ababa metropolitan area,
and, indeed, of planning in general, is that lack of
coordination with transportation. The one factor that has
mitigated the growth in congestion has been that
motorization rates in Addis Ababa are very low by global
standards. Over the past seven years, Addis Ababa has been
making a concerted effort to improve the urban transport
situation, largely through large investments in new
infrastructure, including roads, a new Light Rail Transit
(LRT) system (under construction) and plans for a new Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) system, and improved standards and
practices for improving and integrating pedestrian
facilities in major transport capital projects. It has
invested heavily in its road asset stock, with 26 percent of
its capital investment budget dedicated to transport. These
investments in the road network may provide less economic
and mobility value for residents than their planners may
have intended, for four reasons. Indeed, at the current low
rates of motorization, the frequent and ubiquitous
congestion in the city suggests substantial shortcomings in
how traffic is managed, rather than a fundamental mismatch
between transport supply and demand. In order to improve
public transport, for the city’s largely non-motorized
population, substantial investments in mass transport
network have been made or identified. The current public
transport provision/operation has a number of weaknesses,
with governance being a critical one. Even though most trips
in Addis Ababa are made by walking, facilities for
pedestrians tend to be inadequate and substandard.
Integrating transport with land-use development has also
proven to be very difficult in Addis Ababa. In terms of
overall urban development, although the Ethiopian government
is making attempts at planning and catering for the rapid
urban growth, urbanization still takes place largely in an
unplanned/informal way. In recent years, the rate of spatial
expansion of the city is outpacing the rate of population
growth, resulting in a less than efficient overall physical form. |
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