Yeka District is awaiting the approval of the 10th Master Plan for Addis Abeba to knock down 3,221 residential houses that were built before April 2005. The residential houses, which will be demolished for redevelopment, are located across six weredas under the district.
The new master plan will have a set ratio for roads, green areas, and residential areas: which is 30pc, 30pc and 40pc, respectively.
Out of the total area to be demolished, an area with 1,032 residential units is reserved for green areas. These residential units were constructed between 1996 and April 2005, the year of the third national election, but the residents do not have title deeds, rather air map, according to Abayenah Yifru communication officer of Yeka District.
Other than the 3,221 residential units in Yeka, there are additional 660 houses those were built after April 2005 whose fate has not yet been decided by the city administration of Addis Abeba, according to Nigussu Teshome, communications head of the Addis Abeba City Administration Land Development & Management Bureau.
“These residences are not included on the list of those that will get replacements,” said Tarekegn Melese, head of Urban Planning Office at Yeka District. “So far, around 95pc of residents have taken their title deeds and the remaining will take them before the due date,” he said.
The deadline for residents to collect their title deeds is March 31, 2017.
“The people whose houses are to be knocked down will be granted 75 square meter plots each in the Ankorcha, Hanna Mariam, and Gabriel areas,” he told Fortune.
The houses will be demolished soon after the 10th Master Plan is approved. Since the 9th master plan of Addis Abeba city was phased out, the Addis Abeba City Planning Project Office developed the 10th version of the master plan, which mainly focuses on redevelopment.
In 2015, the government demolished 297ha of land for the purpose redevelopment, which is 65pc higher compared to the preceding year. Since then the city administration has been working to clear 380ha of land.
“Peoples who settled after 2005 are illegal and the Bureau does not have any program for them now,” Negusu told Fortune.
However, the city introduced a regularisation scheme for residents who informally or illegally constructed houses before 2005. The scheme is limited only to areas that are not identified for purposes like redevelopment, green space and roads.
Over the past two years, the Land Development & Management Bureau has received over 50,000 applications for regularisation but so far only 6,000 were granted title deeds.
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