The Contribution of Architectural Design Concepts for Sustainable Urban Farming: The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

The city of Addis Ababa is in the rapid urbanization era which leaves the city with less farm land, less green cover, unemployment, increase in market price of food and increasing greenhouse effect. Since, Food supply and production are still from the rural parts. And urban farming is showing potentials to solve these problems. There are many practices and advancements that take the idea of urban farming beyond possibility and make it wholly sustainable in the city. This research on the contribution of architectural design concepts for sustainable urban farming in selected urban farms from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Has a main objective of assessing and evaluating urban farms on the selected criteria of sustainability, then identify the problem areas and prospects to forward architectural solutions. To achieve this goal six criterions were devised, all based on the three pillars of sustainability (ecological, social, and economical), with the help of reference materials covered in the literature review. The case study method was helpful to gather, analyze and evaluate input data. In this research it was evident that most of the urban farm in Addis Ababa didn’t fully achieve the sustainability criteria. For an urban farm to be wholly sustainable a variety of systems must be in place. The systems must range from different growing methods, to a multifunctionality of systems involving and educating the public, and they must utilize different aspects of the site. It is also equally important that the systems are interdependent and work toward functioning as a larger system.