Displaced for housing: analysing the uneven outcomes of the Addis Ababa Integrated Housing Development Program

Abstract

The population of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and largest city is growing at a remarkable pace. Similar to other places in the Global South, rapid urban population growth poses significant challenges for Addis Ababa, the most important of which is acute housing shortage. Around 80% of the housing stock in the city is considered sub-standard, lacking essential utilities and services. In recognition of the severity of the housing crisis, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which governed Ethiopia from 1991–2018 introduced the Integrated Housing Development Program (IHDP), an ambitious plan to construct hundreds of thousands of condominium units. However, despite the IHDP’s pro-poor aims, the program has been criticized for failing to benefit the city’s poorest residents. Focusing on IHDP-induced displacement and resettlement to re-politicize the issue, this article demonstrates how in some instances, the IHDP not only failed to benefit the urban poor but actually deepened material inequality.

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