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Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa

Received: 13 December 2023     Accepted: 3 January 2024     Published: 18 January 2024
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Abstract

The Addis Ababa city government has taken urban upgrading as one of the major interventions to improve and maintain infrastructure and services for the benefit of the community and to make the city economically vibrant, socially equitable, and environmentally viable without relocating the local residents. It requires the need and interest of inhabitants and stakeholders' involvement in the planning and decision-making process because participation is the heart that pumps the community’s lifeblood—its citizens—into the community’s business; it is a condition for success. The government will only achieve many of its objectives if it fully involves citizens and communities. Therefore, the general objective of the research is to assess participatory issues in urban upgrading in Addis Ababa in the context of community participation by taking the 35 Meda LDP upgrading project as a case study. The researcher used both a qualitative and quantitative approach to a descriptive type of research. The data sourced for the study were primary and secondary data sources, including interviews, group focus discussions, desk reviews, and archival research of official records. The study employed 46 sample sizes, which consisted of 38 in-depth interviews with key informants and 8 participants in FGD through purposive sampling methods. The data was collected from kebele and private land owners’ residents, youths, traditional peacemakers, gender, technical experts, woreda, and sub-city leaders, as well as archival and desk reviews. The findings were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. The findings of the research showed a low level of participation that did not involve the integration of different stockholders during the planning and decision-making processes of local development projects, resulting in less demand responsiveness, less efficiency, less effectiveness, and less coverage due to structural, administrative, and socio-economic factors such as political influence, bureaucracy, weak governance, and barriers to information dissemination that were the main factors influencing community participation in the project area. Based on this, the study recommends promoting capacity buildings, ensuring active participation by all groups of community and stakeholders, ensuring integration and cooperation among different stockholders by the lead agency, and ensuring good governance.

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 9, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13
Page(s) 24-34
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Local Development Plan, Urban Upgrading, Structural Plan, 35 Meda, Community Participation

References
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[2] Blackburn, J. & Holland, J. (1998). Who Changes? Institutionalizing participation in development. London: Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd. Community Capacity Building. London: Home Office.
[3] Davies, A. R. 2001, "Hidden or Hiding? Public Perceptions of Participation in the Planning System", The Town Planning Review, vol. 72, no. 2.
[4] Home Office (2004) Firm Foundations: The Government’s Framework.
[5] IAP2. (2014). International Association for Public Participation. Journal of public De Dietz. T. and Stern, P. C. (2008). Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making. Library of Congress-In-Publication Data. liberation. Institute, Addis Ababa.
[6] Jamal, A. &Julia, M, (2009). Factors affecting compliance with residential standards in the city of Old Salt, Jordan. Habitat International; Oct2009, Vol. 33.
[7] Kakumba, U & Nsingo, S 2008, 'Citizen participation in local government and the process of rural development: the rhetoric and reality in Uganda', Journal of Public Administration, vol. 43, no. 2.
[8] Kakumba, U. & Nsingo, S. (2008). Citizen participation in local government & the process of rural development: the rhetoric and reality of Uganda. Journal of Public Administration, 43(2), 107-123.
[9] Legesse, M. (2015). School of Graduate Studies Community Participation in Urban Infrastructure Development : Experience from Bishoftu Town, Oromia National Regional State By: Meskerem Legesse Advisor : Dr. Filmon Hadaro A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies. July.
[10] Kumar, S. (2002). Methods for Community Participation: A complete guide for practitioners. London: ITDG Publishing.
[11] Mathewos Consult (2006), Integrated Urban Infrastracture and Service Planing Manual, Ministry of Works and Urban Development Federal Urban Planning.
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[14] Mulu, W. T. (2016). The Challenges of Current Urban Upgrading Projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A Case study of Chew-Berenda Upgrading Project. May. https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2449762/Mulu Weldegebreal Tesfay - MPSVDEV - 2016.pdf?sequence=1
[15] Oakley, P. 1991, Projects with people: the practice of participation in rural development, International Labour Office, Geneva.
[16] Selle, Klaus (2006), Ende der Bürgerbeteiligung? Geschichten über den Wandel eines alten Bildes. In: ders. (Hrsg.): Zur räumlichen Entwicklung beitragen, Band 1, Dortmund.
[17] Stone, L. (1989). Cultural cross-roads of community participation in development: a case from Nepal. Human organization, 48(3).
[18] Tag-eldeen, Z. N. (2003). Participatory Urban Upgrading Participatory Urban Upgrading the Case of Ezbet Bekhit.
[19] Thwala, W. D. (2006). Community participation in urban renewal projects: Experiences and challenges of the case of Johannesburg, South Africa. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 93, 753–761. https://doi.org/10.2495/SC060721
[20] UN-Habitat & UNEP 2010, State of African Cities 2010: Governance.
[21] Urban Land Markets, First edn, UN-Habitat, Nairobi.
[22] Yang, J., Yang, L., & Ma, H. (2022). Community Participation Strategy for Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Xiamen, China. Land, 11(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/land11050600
[23] Yin, R. K. 2003, Applications of case study research, 2nd edn, Sage Publications, Thousand.
[24] Waweru, R. (2015). Factors Which Promote Community Participation in the Community Driven Development Approach. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS) A Peer-Reviewed Bi-Monthly Bi-Lingual Research Journal, 6959(13), 788711.
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  • APA Style

    Girmay, T. (2024). Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa. Urban and Regional Planning, 9(1), 24-34. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13

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    ACS Style

    Girmay, T. Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa. Urban Reg. Plan. 2024, 9(1), 24-34. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13

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    AMA Style

    Girmay T. Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa. Urban Reg Plan. 2024;9(1):24-34. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13,
      author = {Tomas Girmay},
      title = {Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa},
      journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
      volume = {9},
      number = {1},
      pages = {24-34},
      doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240901.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20240901.13},
      abstract = {The Addis Ababa city government has taken urban upgrading as one of the major interventions to improve and maintain infrastructure and services for the benefit of the community and to make the city economically vibrant, socially equitable, and environmentally viable without relocating the local residents. It requires the need and interest of inhabitants and stakeholders' involvement in the planning and decision-making process because participation is the heart that pumps the community’s lifeblood—its citizens—into the community’s business; it is a condition for success. The government will only achieve many of its objectives if it fully involves citizens and communities. Therefore, the general objective of the research is to assess participatory issues in urban upgrading in Addis Ababa in the context of community participation by taking the 35 Meda LDP upgrading project as a case study. The researcher used both a qualitative and quantitative approach to a descriptive type of research. The data sourced for the study were primary and secondary data sources, including interviews, group focus discussions, desk reviews, and archival research of official records. The study employed 46 sample sizes, which consisted of 38 in-depth interviews with key informants and 8 participants in FGD through purposive sampling methods. The data was collected from kebele and private land owners’ residents, youths, traditional peacemakers, gender, technical experts, woreda, and sub-city leaders, as well as archival and desk reviews. The findings were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. The findings of the research showed a low level of participation that did not involve the integration of different stockholders during the planning and decision-making processes of local development projects, resulting in less demand responsiveness, less efficiency, less effectiveness, and less coverage due to structural, administrative, and socio-economic factors such as political influence, bureaucracy, weak governance, and barriers to information dissemination that were the main factors influencing community participation in the project area. Based on this, the study recommends promoting capacity buildings, ensuring active participation by all groups of community and stakeholders, ensuring integration and cooperation among different stockholders by the lead agency, and ensuring good governance.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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    T1  - Participatory Issues on Urban Upgrading Projects: The Case of 35 Meda LDP, Addis Ababa
    AU  - Tomas Girmay
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    AB  - The Addis Ababa city government has taken urban upgrading as one of the major interventions to improve and maintain infrastructure and services for the benefit of the community and to make the city economically vibrant, socially equitable, and environmentally viable without relocating the local residents. It requires the need and interest of inhabitants and stakeholders' involvement in the planning and decision-making process because participation is the heart that pumps the community’s lifeblood—its citizens—into the community’s business; it is a condition for success. The government will only achieve many of its objectives if it fully involves citizens and communities. Therefore, the general objective of the research is to assess participatory issues in urban upgrading in Addis Ababa in the context of community participation by taking the 35 Meda LDP upgrading project as a case study. The researcher used both a qualitative and quantitative approach to a descriptive type of research. The data sourced for the study were primary and secondary data sources, including interviews, group focus discussions, desk reviews, and archival research of official records. The study employed 46 sample sizes, which consisted of 38 in-depth interviews with key informants and 8 participants in FGD through purposive sampling methods. The data was collected from kebele and private land owners’ residents, youths, traditional peacemakers, gender, technical experts, woreda, and sub-city leaders, as well as archival and desk reviews. The findings were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. The findings of the research showed a low level of participation that did not involve the integration of different stockholders during the planning and decision-making processes of local development projects, resulting in less demand responsiveness, less efficiency, less effectiveness, and less coverage due to structural, administrative, and socio-economic factors such as political influence, bureaucracy, weak governance, and barriers to information dissemination that were the main factors influencing community participation in the project area. Based on this, the study recommends promoting capacity buildings, ensuring active participation by all groups of community and stakeholders, ensuring integration and cooperation among different stockholders by the lead agency, and ensuring good governance.
    
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Author Information
  • Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Addis Ababa University Institute of EiABC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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