Metadel Sileshi Belihu

1) Why are you researching at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar?

As an architect and urbanist, the historical importance of Bauhaus has always been significant since my bachelors study. Later, through a longstanding partnership with the university at my home country, I came to know Bauhaus uni-weimar and the city Weimar almost 3 years before I started studying here. It is what I now call home. Both the technical and human infrastructure of the University and my chair in particular, has been a great support to me personally, as well as my research. I am truly thankful of the community here.

2) What is special about your project? Why is it relevant?

"The city is a commons project". But what does common mean to residents of Addis Ababa who have been living in the historical inner-city neighbourhoods for generations, and how is it expressed in everyday life? How contrasting is it to the practice of mass demolitions and modernization projects of recent years, which not only destroy historical indigenous urban patterns but also social structures, cultures, way of lives and livelihoods among others. The research contrast two types of neighbourhoods in the inner-city of Addis Ababa located next to each other, and both targeting a common type of life. One is the organically grown unplanned settlement and the other a condominium housing initiated and implemented by he government, which in recent years is only developed in the peripheries of the city. When I framed my research project to focus on Addis Ababa's inner-city neighbourhood, I had no idea that the mass demolitions of prominent city centers of 2024 were going to take place displacing thousands of people. The study, is thus, even more relevant now. With surveys, interviews and mapping of everyday activities and physical features, the study aims to shade light on social, governance, and physical patterns for commons based neighbourhood planning.