The prevailing matter of need for affordable housing in the time of rapid urbanisation and additionally, during the peak of the Anthropocene era, calls for new social, economic and environmental solutions to accommodate the rural-urban migration in Addis Ababa. As the city boundary of Addis Ababa is constantly expanding in the phase of its urbanisation, the farmland is compromised and taken over by new building developments. As a result, the local farmers are losing their livelihoods and are forced to move further out of the city. On the other hand, are the people residing in, often informal, neighbourhoods in the central parts being re-located to the condominium schemes in the outskirts of the city, which often results in interruptions and loss of social contexts and connections. In the time of a global extensive urbanisation and rapid rural-urban migration both around the world and within Ethiopia, the question is if we can re-connect people to their place and engage people with their environment as well as create space for traditional livelihoods and rural practices to take place in an urban environment.

The goal of the Global Housing graduation studio is to research and design housing solutions to improve the livelihood of Addis Ababa’s urban dwellers. Combining analysis, planning and design, the participants in this graduation studio are challenged to use multidisciplinary research methods and tools to elaborate design proposals for mass housing as mass welfare. The research outcomes and analytical output compiled in this book have been instrumental to support several dozens of reflexive and critical design proposals for adequate housing in Addis Ababa. More than just a compilation of material, we believe the work included in this book is also a contribution to help students, educators, practitioners and policymakers exploring and developing new standards for housing that respond to contemporary ideals of sustainability and inclusivity.