Mphil. Candidate, Architect Dagnachew Amberbir Ketema

I am a DAAD-funded MPhil candidate in Urban Studies at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town. My research critically examines the intersection of climate resilience, public space design, and vernacular urbanism in Addis Ababa. Focusing on the case of Friendship Square, I explore how top-down modernist planning practices marginalize everyday users and exclude traditional spatial practices. My work advocates for integrating indigenous knowledge, local materials, and inclusive urban design into modern public projects to create equitable, culturally grounded, and climate-smart urban environments. With a background in architecture, I bridge design thinking, socio-spatial research, and policy to reimagine African urban futures from the ground up.

Current professional activity

• Mphil. Student and Assistant researcher – African Centre For Cities, University of Cape Town

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The grey-color coercion: homogenizing the city’s color theme and its repercussion on the urban heritages of Addis Ababa

Urban heritages in Addis Ababa play a crucial role in rendering the city’s skyline and conveying its architectural identity. Most of these edifices go as far back as the period when the city was first found. Over the years some...

Vertical farming architecture as core urban infrastructure: fostering resilience and adaptive governance in Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

The explosive and largely uncoordinated urbanisation trajectory of Ethiopian cities, epitomised by the rapidly expanding administrative centre of Wolaita Sodo, has generated a fundamental structural flaw: a pervasive decoupling of the built environment from essential resource management and food security...