Our CUI project team has been working in Bahir Dar for over a month now to collaborate with the City Administration & Regional Urban Planning Institute (RUPI) on a 10 Year Sustainable Vision & Waterfront Plan.
RUPI has provided us with guidance and background information and data, while our team has been managing the planning process. We have reviewed and prepared background research, identified issues and developed supporting goals, principles and design strategies to frame the project vision. It has been a multi-stage, stakeholder-driven, and design-based initiative marked by a number of public consultation meetings. Guided by the City’s previous Local Development Plan (LDP) and recent Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) targets, the project approaches development through the lens of sustainability – balancing the socio-economic needs of the waterfront community with that of the environment.
A successful planning process is grounded in a strong and reasonable set of goals and principles. In this plan the City of Bahir Dar & public stakeholders helped us establish a clear VISION: “to create a vibrant, livable and sustainable waterfront that provides for the social and economic needs of its people”. Through publicly approved municipal policy, consultation meetings and design charrettes, we then developed 5 fundamental principles to provide the logic for sustainable development. These principles represent simple but informative rules for the design of Bahir Dar’s waterfront, including but not limited to: (1) public access to the waterfront and its natural areas; (2) green, beautified and sanitary infrastructure & design; (3) mixed-use corridors; (4) appropriate housing and jobs for all; and, (5) access to urban-rural linkages.
A healthy Lakeshore & Riverfront ecosystem provides vital goods and services to the City of Bahir Dar. Given the growing ethic of sustainability, our CUI team is focusing on creating a Plan that looks at the greater City Waterfront Boundary and areas sensitive to development pressure. Through meetings with the Mayor & Cabinet, Government Officials, Experts, University Students and the general public, we are just in the midst of establishing clear strategies for the western, central & eastern edges of the Lake Tana & Blue Nile River Waterfront. The eastern wetland area, on the one hand, consists mostly of informal settlement, agricultural activity and fringes of development. The central Downtown Core, on the other, has high population density, continued investment opportunities and a threatened natural environment. The far western shore (surrounding the Abagerina Peninsula) shows yet another reality, one that is under-utilized and soon to experience development pressures from the expansion of the downtown core and fishing docks.
Once our team finalizes the 10 Year Vision & Waterfront Plan, it will only be useful if it assists the City to achieve the project’s goals and principles. The intent of the Vision is to serve as a useful, illustrative image of what the future might look like. It is also meant to guide planning by informing government policy and decision-making.
The question then remains in my mind – will the plan in fact guide government decision-making? I can’t wait to see.
Ciao from Bahir Dar!
Krystie
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Journeying North to Bahir Dar and Lake Tana
Bahir Dar is the largest City and tourist centre in the Tana Region, lying on the Southern shore of Lake Tana and at the mouth of the Blue Nile River. Lake Tana is seen by many as a jewel and reflects the changing face of Ethiopia - a land of extreme juxtaposition where urban modernity meets ancient orthodoxy.
Meandering through the downtown core of Bahir Dar, you can get a taste of the bustling market and the underlying poverty. It is a crowded downtown filled with shoe shiners, street children playing with garbage, disabled people begging and reverent people resting at the gates of the St. Gyorgis Church. The market, rebuilt a few years ago by the Municipal government after an unfortunate fire, is full of life. Women, children, teenagers try to sell everything from fruits and vegetables to goatskin injera-holders and traditional shama cloth. Further down the main thoroughfare is an open piazza leading to the Lake Tana waterfront. Hundreds of people, young and old, rest by the water. They sit on the terraced patio and along the cobbled waterfront pathway. Young men bathe in the lake while papyrus tankwa’s sail passed in pursue of fish. Dotted island monasteries rise from the lake lines revealing the importance of Christianity in this area.
The Lake Tana waterfront and its landscaped corridors contrast sharply with the images of poverty, unemployment and squatting settlements. This is where a little service can go a long way to improve the lives of the vulnerable. For the next two months, our Canadian Urban Institute team has embarked on a journey away from Addis Ababa to support the city of Bahir Dar with an integrated Waterfront Development Plan.
We are working in partnership with Bahir Dar’s Mayor & the Urban Planning Institute to create a Waterfront Plan that balances the socio-economic needs of the people with that of the environment. This is an exciting project that requires a great deal of collaboration. We have already made inroads into the Bahir Dar University and its Department of Wetlands, Fisheries & Biology. We have also met people everywhere truly vested in the future of Bahir Dar’s waterfront development. While walking along the illegal farming and grazing settlements on the lakefront wetlands, we met so many children eager to be apart of our work.
This week we are (1) delineating the Physical boundary of our Plan and Special Focus Areas and (2) collaborating with the Mayor’s Office to lead consultation meetings with Sub-Sectoral Offices, Kebele Officials and (cross our fingers) key community members. With the Mayor’s guidance, many doors previously shut have been opened. As usual, though, timelines & deadlines are an ephemeral concept here in Ethiopia, constantly changing and evolving at a whim. We will just have to see how it goes. One thing I have learnt is this planning process must be owned by the City & its people for it to be successful… and this is my goal for the next few weeks.
Talk to you soon.
Ciao!
Krystie
Journeying North to Bahir Dar and Lake Tana
Bahir Dar is the largest City and tourist centre in the Tana Region, lying on the Southern shore of Lake Tana and at the mouth of the Blue Nile River. Lake Tana is seen by many as a jewel and reflects the changing face of Ethiopia - a land of extreme juxtaposition where urban modernity meets ancient orthodoxy.
Meandering through the downtown core of Bahir Dar, you can get a taste of the bustling market and the underlying poverty. It is a crowded downtown filled with shoe shiners, street children playing with garbage, disabled people begging and reverent people resting at the gates of the St. Gyorgis Church. The market, rebuilt a few years ago by the Municipal government after an unfortunate fire, is full of life. Women, children, teenagers try to sell everything from fruits and vegetables to goatskin injera-holders and traditional shama cloth. Further down the main thoroughfare is an open piazza leading to the Lake Tana waterfront. Hundreds of people, young and old, rest by the water. They sit on the terraced patio and along the cobbled waterfront pathway. Young men bathe in the lake while papyrus tankwa’s sail passed in pursue of fish. Dotted island monasteries rise from the lake lines revealing the importance of Christianity in this area.
The Lake Tana waterfront and its landscaped corridors contrast sharply with the images of poverty, unemployment and squatting settlements. This is where a little service can go a long way to improve the lives of the vulnerable. For the next two months, our Canadian Urban Institute team has embarked on a journey away from Addis Ababa to support the city of Bahir Dar with an integrated Waterfront Development Plan.
We are working in partnership with Bahir Dar’s Mayor & the Urban Planning Institute to create a Waterfront Plan that balances the socio-economic needs of the people with that of the environment. This is an exciting project that requires a great deal of collaboration. We have already made inroads into the Bahir Dar University and its Department of Wetlands, Fisheries & Biology. We have also met people everywhere truly vested in the future of Bahir Dar’s waterfront development. While walking along the illegal farming and grazing settlements on the lakefront wetlands, we met so many children eager to be apart of our work.
This week we are (1) delineating the Physical boundary of our Plan and Special Focus Areas and (2) collaborating with the Mayor’s Office to lead consultation meetings with Sub-Sectoral Offices, Kebele Officials and (cross our fingers) key community members. With the Mayor’s guidance, many doors previously shut have been opened. As usual, though, timelines & deadlines are an ephemeral concept here in Ethiopia, constantly changing and evolving at a whim. We will just have to see how it goes. One thing I have learnt is this planning process must be owned by the City & its people for it to be successful… and this is my goal for the next few weeks.
Talk to you soon.
Ciao!
Krystie
Ethiopian culture is beginning to present itself as a distinct contrast between the communal and the private. While so many things in Ethiopian life are approached with a shared mentality, others aspects are closely guarded secrets. Eating and meals are notably a communal experience. When sitting down for traditional food, you will be served on a single round plate, injera on the bottom and small portions of meat and vegetable dishes lumped around the side. Everyone eats from the central dish and traditionally use only their right hand. People have told us that they get more pleasure from this experience of sharing than from the food itself.
The idea of sharing is also applied to money in day to day life. As a foreigner, the begging and being constantly approached for money can be a touchy subject. In many countries I have visited, these advances are almost solely directed at those seen as visitors and as a result as extremely wealthy. In Ethiopia however, locals are approached and share their wealth often more freely than those of us not native to the country. As there are few support systems in place for the elderly for example, many individuals see it as their responsibility to share when they can with those in need. I have been told that it comes down to religion. In the west we are not obligated to share our wealth by the strong presence of the church. Here in Addis however, where so much of the population is Orthodox Christian, the concept of sharing what you have with those less fortunate than yourself is standard.
In contrast, the idea of sharing knowledge and information appears to exist at the opposite end of the spectrum. Having requested several forms of GIS data from several sources, I received almost none of it. None of the data was highly sensitive; in fact, none was data that I didn’t already possess. I only requested a newer version. In one case, I was given the information, but only on paper (entirely useless) and in another instance, I was flat out denied. Perhaps it is because guidelines for data sharing are so hazy; no one wants to break a rule that they are unsure exists. All in all though, it seems to be opposite the core cultural value of sharing what you have if you have more than others.
The idea of sharing is also applied to money in day to day life. As a foreigner, the begging and being constantly approached for money can be a touchy subject. In many countries I have visited, these advances are almost solely directed at those seen as visitors and as a result as extremely wealthy. In Ethiopia however, locals are approached and share their wealth often more freely than those of us not native to the country. As there are few support systems in place for the elderly for example, many individuals see it as their responsibility to share when they can with those in need. I have been told that it comes down to religion. In the west we are not obligated to share our wealth by the strong presence of the church. Here in Addis however, where so much of the population is Orthodox Christian, the concept of sharing what you have with those less fortunate than yourself is standard.
In contrast, the idea of sharing knowledge and information appears to exist at the opposite end of the spectrum. Having requested several forms of GIS data from several sources, I received almost none of it. None of the data was highly sensitive; in fact, none was data that I didn’t already possess. I only requested a newer version. In one case, I was given the information, but only on paper (entirely useless) and in another instance, I was flat out denied. Perhaps it is because guidelines for data sharing are so hazy; no one wants to break a rule that they are unsure exists. All in all though, it seems to be opposite the core cultural value of sharing what you have if you have more than others.
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