Journal of Business Faculty

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EQUITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND QUALITY OF CONDOMINIUM HOUSING IN

ADDIS ABABA

Wondimagegn Assefa*

Abstract: The research assesses the effectiveness of the housing development programme in   the provision of affordable condominium housing to the right target groups. The research explores the quality of the houses as well as their environment. A structured questionnaire was administered to selected residents of condominium houses by first stratifying them in to sub-groups respective to their housing typology and selecting them randomly. This involved the selection of sites in the two areas, core and periphery, into which the city was stratified. A total of 160 copies of the questionnaire were administered and 154 were responded to obtain data on the socio economic and housing conditions of the households. In addition unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and direct observations were also conducted. Consequently, the research reveals that the intended target groups have not benefited from the programme as promised. It also shows that, considering the current price, the

Houses are not affordable to the target group. In addition to this the residents have also faced problems due to the quality of the buildings, the surroundings of the houses and; the availability and functionality of infrastructures and utility services. The research argues that even if the condominium housing projects have created an opportunity to housing access, there is a need to look back to the objective of the programme and the socio economic condition of the city residents in order to benefit the urban poor.

 

1.      INTRODUCTION

1.1.      Background of the study

 

Ethiopia is an ancient country located in north-east Africa, or, as it is generally known, the Horn of Africa, so called because of the horn-shaped tip of the continent that marks off the red sea from the Indian ocean. It is bounded by Sudan in the west, Eritrea in the north and north-east, and Djibouti in the east. To the outside world, it has long been known by the name of Abyssinia. This appellation apparently derived from ‘habashat’, one of the tribes that inhabited the Ethiopian region in the Pre-Christian era (Bahru, 2002: 1).  

He also states the absolute location of Ethiopia as ‘present day Ethiopia is located between longitudes 33⁰and 48⁰E, and latitudes 3⁰ and 15⁰N. Although thus lying very near the Equator, the country on the whole is far from “Tropical” in the accepted sense of the term’ (Ibid).

As one of the ancient countries, according to National Urban Planning Institute (NUPI) (2003a: 29), Ethiopia is also one of those countries of the world that have a rather long history of urbanization. However, according to NUPI (2003a: 1) ‘the country is under-urbanized, even by African standards. Presently, only about 16 percent of the population lives in urban areas while the average for the African continent is about 30 percent’. Although the country is under-urbanized, its rate of urban growth is about 5 percent per annum on the average, which is one of the fastest in the world (Ibid).

This highly accelerated urban growth, which is mainly due to high rates of natural increase and rural-urban migration, is the main reason for the problems that the urban centres of the country have faced. Due to this high rate of urban growth, according to NUPI (2003a: 92) ‘urban centres of Ethiopia are facing high rate of unemployment, housing problems (slum, squatter and over crowding), environmental problems (degradation, flooding, pollution, bad sanitation, congestion, etc), inadequate/inefficient social and physical infrastructure, food non-food expenditure insecurity, and so on’.

The city of Addis Ababa, which is the capital of Ethiopia, is one of the urban centres of the country that are suffering from the above problems. According to Addis Ababa Housing Development Project Office (AAHDPO) (2007: 1) ‘housing shortage is among one of the most critical problems of the city. As per the study of Addis Ababa city government, there is a shortage of 300,000 houses. In addition to this the quality of the available houses was very low’.

To solve the housing problem, the city government of Addis Ababa has started implementing an integrated housing development programme with the main objective of benefiting low and middle income city dwellers and as of 2008, 32232 condominium houses are built in 103 sites.

Although condominium housing projects appear to provide opportunities for ownership of houses by the low and middle income groups, not only are houses unaffordable, but also lack qualities to be able to be habitable.

In general, this study attempts to assess the socio-economic condition of the beneficiaries who have started living in the condominium houses, the affordability of the houses and the quality of the building and the quality of the built environment.

1.2.      Methodology

This part explains the methods and techniques that were used in carrying out the study.

1.2.1.      The General Perspective

The research report embodies both qualitative and quantitative perspectives.

1.2.2.      Research Method

As the purpose of the research was mainly to describe the state of affair as it is, survey method was used to describe the research population.  

1.3.      Sources and Techniques of Data Collection

Both primary and secondary sources were used to collect data. Primary data were collected by using the following techniques:

¨   Structured questionnaire: This was used to collect data from the residents of condominium houses

¨   Unstructured interview: This was conducted with selected residents and  committee  members of the owners’ association

¨   Focus group discussion: This technique was also used to collect data from some residents of condominium houses

¨   The above two techniques, unstructured interview and focus group discussion, were mainly used to get further explanation on the quality of the buildings, infrastructures and utility services; and on the surroundings of the houses.

¨   To supplement the data gained by using the above techniques direct observation was also conducted by the researcher. In addition to this, some photographs were also taken

   In addition to the primary sources of data, secondary sources were also used for the study. These were: official documents, reports, research papers, Libraries and books written by different authors.

 

 

1.3.1.      Sampling and Sample Design

The city of Addis Ababa has ten sub-cities. These ten sub-cities are generally categorized in to two as core (inner) areas and periphery (expansion) areas. Core areas of the city include the following sub-cities: Arada, Addis Ketema, Lideta and Kirkos. Periphery areas include - Yeka, Bole, Akaki Kaliti, Nifas Silk Lafto, Kolfe Keranio, and Gullele sub-cities.

 

There are some aspects that differentiate the core from the periphery. These are:

¨   It is highly congested and densely populated

¨   Majority of the houses in the core are slum dwellings

¨   72 per cent of the kebele-administered units are located in the core (Solomon, 2006:      46).

¨   It has better infrastructures and utility services than the periphery.

Generally, inner core areas of the city have problem of congestion, are old and dilapidated, and the majority of the residents are economically deprived than the periphery but it has relatively better infrastructures and utility services.

Taking the above differences into consideration, the study area was also stratified into core and periphery in order to get a better understanding of the situation.

1.3.1.1.      Sample Size

Out of the 103 sites available in the city a total of 10 sites, 5 from the core area and 5 from the periphery, were selected. As it was planned to take 10 per cent of the residents from every house type in all the study sites, the selection of the sites took their number of blocks into consideration in order to increase the number of the study sites. This is because as assessment of the quality of the condominium houses is part of the study, the findings would be more reliable with relatively much number of sites. In addition, this makes the study manageable with the available resource than the same number of sites with large blocks without compromising the quality of the study. After the selection of the sites, respondents were selected randomly from each house type.

As can be seen from the above Tables, a total of 160 questionnaires, 80 each, were distributed. Out of the distributed questionnaires 154 were collected. This was because of the fact that 6 household heads did not respond, despite reminded repeatedly.

1.3.2.      Method of Data Analysis

The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistical methods – percentages and frequencies- that were calculated by using calculator. The data were also presented by using frequency Tables.