Over the past two decades China has become increasingly involved in Africa. From rising trade and investment capital to a rapid climb in industrial and construction activity, a new foundation has been laid for Africaâs development. While Africaâs economy is growing and its cities urbanizing rapidly, many African leaders follow the Chinese Model in order to modernize and develop its cities. This thesis studies the continentâs diplomatic capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where China plays a significant role in construction and development, notably in the much-needed transportation sector. China is involved in numerous road and rail projects and now Addis Ababa is equipped with the first modern Light Rail Transit (LRT) network in Sub-Saharan Africa. An urban superstructure such as this not only changes the cityâs primary mode of transportation, but also affects Addis Ababaâs urban fabrication. Perhaps most importantly, however, the LRT serves as an icon of Africaâs rapid modernization and development. Addis Ababa is transforming rapidly. The government introduces modern master plans for its large-scale urban renewal approach and tackles the challenges of transportation through top-down planning and the implementation of new transportation systems. This construction leads to a fundamental transformation of Addis Ababaâs public spaces, which impacts the accessibility of its users as well as physical changes within the built environment. On a secondary level, this thesis explores Chinaâs financial and technological assistance to Ethiopia and questions in what manner Addis Ababa may develop into a city âmade by China.â Only little existing literature concerns Chinaâs impact on architecture, urban, and social spaces in Africaâs transformation. Inspired by the Grounded Theory Methodology, this research accumulates empirical data gathered in Addis Ababa by using photographic studies throughout the LRT construction phase. This visual exploration method occurs along the North-South and East-West corridors of the Addis Ababa LRT and is strengthened by a detailed study of five selected public spaces, which showcase a historic, cultural and political importance to the city. These studies reveal the LRT impact onto Addis Ababaâs urban as well as social transformation. The first evidence â spatiality - shows that the two LRT lines create a physical barrier and consequently fragments the city. This spatial transformation leads to the transformation of urban movement, thus mobility. By introducing a modern transport technology, existing movement patterns change in both spatial as well as temporal means. In addition, the LRT furthers the hierarchization of transportation and favors the countryâs rapid development and modernization. But this growth also leads to a disproportionate development. Referred to as an emerging global city, Addis Ababaâs path to modernization is successively neglecting its long and omnipresent history, its locality. The phenomenon of radical transformation, rapid urbanization, development, economic growth and industrialization, has more prominently been observed in China after the post-Mao market reform. Since Chinaâs presence in Africa is increasing substantially, this thesis proposes a theoretical concept described as the âChinaizationâ of urban Africa, which indicates fundamental dynamics and tendencies of Chinaâs recent development and questions the extent to which this impacts Africaâs current urbanization.
EPFL2015
