Ethiopia is a flourishing country with a rapidly growing economy and population. This is one of the reasons why the capital Addis Ababa is increasingly urbanizing. Due to the free market only providing housing for high incomes, many households live in poor conditions. In addition, these private developments are often built as gated communities out of fear of insecurity and resulting in segregation. This segregation is further enhanced by the government's Integrated Housing Development Program (IHDP), which realizes subsidized housing for middle and low incomes, but by doing so it also segregates these groups. While Addis Ababa has traditionally been an integrated city with an inclusive society, which is still of great importance for the living standard of especially low-income people. This research offers an alternative design for the current scheme of the IHDP and proposes a mixed-income neighborhood whereby stimulating mutual trust between residents through the built environment is central to the project.

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.