Developments in Spatial Referencing Systems in Urban Ethiopia: Cases from Addis Ababa Wubshet Berhan

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Developments in Spatial Referencing Systems in
Urban Ethiopia Cases from Addis AbabaWubshet
Berhanu (Dr.ing)Assistant Professor Department
of Architecture and Urban PlanningAddis Ababa
UniversityPaper for the UN-ECA Workshop on
Information as Economic Resource
(CODI-IV)Situs Addressing in Africa
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Introduction

• Urban areas composed of spatial, social and many
  other sub-systems that operate with high
  overlaps
  
• Major means to organise space include
• Giving physical order through planning-geographic
  
• Using spatial reference systems that take note of
  the physical and the social aspects (Designating
  area and street names and numbers)

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Objectives of the study

• To explain the manner of spatial referencing
  systems used in urban Ethiopia, with special
  emphasis on residential areas in Addis Ababa.
  
• To contribute to the understanding of situs
  addressing system in urban Ethiopia and possibly
  that of African cities in general
  
• Most of the material for the study collected as
  part of a major research on the formation of
  social and spatial patterns of urban areas in
  Ethiopia (1999-2001). Fresh data added March
  2004-April 2005.

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Conceptual framework for spatial reference

• Physical environment requires organising
  references fixed locations, areas, directions,
  hierarchies, and peculiarities
  
• Residents utilise area names to
• organise their surrounding
• reduce complexity and uncertainty.
• create a communications system where members of
  the community understand each other.
  
• Therefore, reference for space/place emanates
  from social practice and social need for
  communication

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Space and place concepts

• Space has different connotations for example for
  
  
• Physical planners expanse of natural features
  that are of interest are called planning areas,
  or regions.
  
• Architects/urban designers the physical boundary
  as well as the emptiness therein
  
• Physicists the Earth, its atmosphere and the
  emptiness between celestial bodies
  
• Place is a social making
• Spaces transformed into places by society.
• Dominance of social act in space-same physical
  space being changed into a variety of uses.

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Space Place designation paradox

• Are we giving name to the emptiness or the
  materials that encloses the emptiness?
  
• In reality it seems, the essential element is
  the emptiness however, the two are dialectical
  copulates that have no existence without each
  other.
• The usefulness of a solid form lies in the void
  space that it encloses
  
• (Lao Tzu a famous Ancient Chinese philosopher)

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Spatial referencing systems

• Defn Official designation of an organising
  principle to identify areas for planning
  purposes, for addresses, and general
  communication.
• Where the system is refined, it might incorporate
  references to a national grid according to a
  given survey format.
  
• Coordinates facilitate the identification of
  specific location of a place
  
• a plot/or a building is referenced in a
  system of locations starting from a national
  level through the different hierarchies of maps
  down to the building block level.
• In such cases, reference systems bear strong
  relationship with physical contiguity. A
  combination of letters and numbers common
  practice.
• Spatial referencing systems affected by spatial
  pattern-culture

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Purposes of place naming

• primary purpose-facilitating communication
• to express belongingness, ownership of an area
• to honour a person,
• to disown the past and start new life
• to express religious affiliation,
• to preserve the memory of an historical event,
  former settings, cultural roots
  
• Examples
• The Masai took with them names of their hills,
  plains, and rivers, when moved north of the
  Railway
  
• Several place/city names in USA, Australia,
  Canada transplanted from Europe

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Boundary setting for places

• Kevin Lynchs category of urban areas
• districts, paths, boundary, node, landmark
• Keller (1972) suggested three lines of boundary
  setting
  
• how people themselves identify an area
  (Cognitive)
  
• how a given group uses the facilities in an area
  (Utilitarian)
  
• how people feel about an area (Affective).
• Place names follow boundary setting principles.
  What is different is given a different name.
  
• Identity of places/property, has to be in line
  with the complexity of spatial patterns

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II. Spatial referencing systems in urban Ethiopia
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Evolution of Spatial referencing systems

• Spatial referencing system presupposes urban
  planning practice
  
• Urban planning practice has short history in
  Ethiopia
  
• No clear referencing system so far adopted at
  national level
  
• Place names adopted by the public are adopted by
  planners
  
• Street names limited to major streets in very few
  cities, Most names are foreign names
  
• Building numbering is a practice of post-1975
  period

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Title deeds as reference Title deeds basically
concentrate on the individual plot

• Street widths adjoining the plot are mentioned
• adjoining property owners were mentioned in title
  deeds during the Imperial period, not during the
  Derg era

• North direction is indicated,
• Name of local administration included
• Area in square metre
• Allowed function

• Plot level detail does not identify urban area
  properly
  
• one reason for double allocation of plots
• Practice now changing, but serves only planning
  purpose

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Buildings as reference

• Numbering of buildings was started during the
  Derg
  
• Main concern administration of nationalised
  houses
  
• Numbering followed number of households living in
  a building complex, not identity of buildings.
  
• House number included number of the Higher
  kebele, kebele, and the house number(
  H.--K--H.No.---)
  
• Kebele-wide numbering Location and numbering
  have no direct relationship

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Developments of area reference systems

• The sefer system as a generative model for the
  formation of social and spatial organisation
  
• Area/region name common No street naming
• Sefer designation as a reference
• area-wide name fit for the early period
• Lacks distinct street layout
• urban area on the formation
• At least seven systems of sefer designation were
  practiced in traditional parts

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Sefer designation

• 1. Names based on the original land holder
• Regional chiefs who held land through imperial
  grant thus Aba Koran sefer, Dejach Wube sefer,
  Dejach Balcha sefer, Ras Kassa sefer, etc.
  
• 2. Names based on nodes
• Major functions of buildings examples-La Gare
  Bherawi
  
• churches (e.g. Lideta, Teklehaimanot, etc.),
• landmarks large trees or monuments e.g. Shola,
  Sidstkilo, Aratkilo).
  
• 3. Names based on original individual settlers
  For example Geja sefer, Gulele, etc. are named
  after the original settler.

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Sefer designation (contd)

• 4. Names based on occupational group
• dominant occupation of the group or the land use
  of the area e.g. Beklobait, Temenjayazh, Kera,
  teras (stalls) in the commercial part of the City
  (segantera, berbere tera).
• 5. Names based on dominant groups working/or
  residing in an area
  
• name may indicate the region of origin of
  dominant ethnic groups either by number or in
  terms of their relative influence in an area,
  e.g. Wolo sefer, Adere sefer, Gojam berenda,
  Somale tera, etc..

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Sefer designation-recent

• 6. Names based on important personalities for the
  development of an informal settlement
  
• e.g. Worku sefer.
• 7. Names based on the manner of housing
  development
  
• Names may denote ways of financing e.g. UDPO or
  World Bank for sites financed by the World
  Bank
  
• Ayat after the name of the real estate
  developer
  
• Names of housing co-operatives located at
  prominent sites
  
• the dominant building material used in house
  construction, such as Bloket sefer.
  

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Administrative division as reference system

• In the 1920s the City was divided into ten
  atbiyas for administrative purposes.
  
• The atbiyas were later named weredas (districts)
  
  
• The wereda subdivision was superseded by a
  four-level system of urban dwellers associations
  (UDAs) in the 1975-91 period
  
• The term Atbiya was changed to wereda (prior to
  1975) then to kefitegna (1975-91 period) then
  back to wereda (1991-2002) and now to Kifle
  Ketema (since 2002).
• Changes affect data, designation, governance

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Service zone as a reference system

• In1984 -eighteen different types of zones for
  twenty services (water, electricity, health, the
  post, etc.)
  
• The complexity contributed to the inefficiency of
  service delivery.
  
• Has been improved since 2003
• Current public practices of referring to an
  area
  
• Administrative hierarchy, house number, sefer
  names, street names, parishes (sebeka gubae),
  names of cooperative housing, etc.
  

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Designation of buildings and streets

• The 1961 population and housing census had to be
  conducted with proxy referencing system as the
  lack of any regular street pattern in many parts
  of the town, the absence of names to streets or
  small clearly defined areas,... proved difficult
  to establish a rational numbering system
• (Municipality of Addis Ababa, 1961, p.7).
• Even now data on buildings is confused with data
  on population Number of households occupying a
  distince room and number of buildings the same