In our next IUSD lecture, we are happy to welcome Dr. Zegeye Cherenet Mamo again, who will talk about the redevelopment of Addis Ababa. The lecture takes place on Monday 22 June 2026, 13h in room 9.06 of the K1 building in Stadtmitte.
The Lecture
Addis Ababa, capital of Africa’s second most populous country, Ethiopia, has long resisted external imposition — yet today it is being radically remade. A sweeping inner-city redevelopment program is projecting bold skylines while displacing communities, eroding urban commons, and driving the poor to the periphery. This lecture examines the paradox at the heart of African urban ambition: the pursuit of global capital creating conditions of massive displacement and producing cities for the few. Against the backdrop of explosive demographic growth, it calls for a reimagining of hopeful urban futures in Africa — ones created with and formed by the communities who call these cities home.
The Lecturer
Zegeye Cherenet Mamo (Dr. -Ing.) is a practicing architect and urbanist. He studied architecture in Ethiopia, India, and Germany. He is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design in SBE-AAU. He also heads a collaborative research lab called Emerging Cities Lab (ECL-AA). He has been teaching and researching on architecture and urbanism for more than 30 years at various universities and has published several journal articles, book chapters, and a book on architecture and cities. Currently he is a Visiting Scientist at KIT- Karlsruhe.
