In developing cities across the globe, as in Addis Ababa, the number of residents is growing while the amount of good-quality housing remains low. The demand for low-income housing is rising rapidly due to the contemporary aim to eliminate the unhealthy living conditions and the influx of migrants. Without newcomers a city would not be able to grow, as internal migration is essential for urbanization. Research has shown that migration within a country can even play a role in poverty reduction and economic development. A large amount of migrants can, on the other hand, also put pressure on a city when the city fails to have the capacity to adequately house all the newcomers. In turn this may lead to the formation of informal settlements, as previously mentioned. This describes in very few words what has and still is happening in Addis Ababa. The cities government realized at the beginning of this century that the capital suffered a tremendous housing backlog and initiated the previously mentioned IHDP with good intentions. Unfortunately the result did not live up to its initial goals or the citizens needs and expectations. Only half of the predetermined amount of units were built, thereby the construction costs increased making the units unaffordable for one of the target groups; the lower-income. This so-called urban renewal begins with clearing out the site, meaning the often clinical demolition of entire neighbourhoods. Moreover, this means that the places which used to function as a foothold, the informal settlements, are being destroyed and replaced by static housing units where the newcomers and other poor can only dream of living in. This research and design proposal aims at investigating the importance and potential of transitory spaces within developing cities. Eventually it has the goal of providing the poor with a foothold in the city, by creating truly cheap housing for a temporary period, through the creation of a permanent structure, which encourages the individual or group to develop.

The project is a part of the Global Dwelling studio in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The focus of the studio is on Affordable Housing for the Global Urban South. This project looks to continue with the current method of affordable housing in Addis Ababa in the form of mass housing condominiums. These developments are appearing in huge numbers across the city. They are dense and efficient but are not affordable to those displaced for their development and do not meet the needs or express the qualities for and inherent to the existing low income communities. The existing communities, called sefers represent resilient communities and the condominiums represent a backbone of efficiency. Through the design of it's next implementation and additions to the existing condominium, the Condominium 3.0 creates a balance of efficiency and resilience resulting in an affordable, inclusive, efficient and resilient approach to housing Addis Ababa.

How can an affordable housing scheme in Addis Ababa be an open border that generates economic and social exchange? And how can this scheme respond to the topography and the future plans of the government? The design of an affordable housing scheme which integrates social and economic exchange of the residents but also the city dwellers.

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world. Addis Ababa as capital and most populous city in the country, will have to cope with the pressing problem of how to provide accommodation to a wave new urban inhabitants. After an analysis of the current development strategies applied in Addis Ababa, the thesis proposes a new low-rise high-density solution to cope with the problem of density and heterogeneity in the central areas of the city.

Addis Ababa is undergoing a fast trend of densification as people seek for job opportunities and rural to urban migration is occurring. Analysing the new developments in the city and the existing situation of the informal settlements, the project addresses a found balance between the two entities. The project introduces the implementation of the Anchor and ‘Space for time’ catering for a controlled environment with essential facilities and space for personal expression.