The waste management system in Addis Ababa struggles to keep up with the city's rapid population growth. Currently, the city relies on a single waste-to-energy facility and a landfill to manage its waste, a setup that falls short of meeting the needs of its expanding northern neighborhoods. In informal areas like Upper Kebana, the narrow streets cannot accommodate large garbage trucks, leading to inadequate waste services. Currently, a majority of Addis Ababa's residents (90%) use unconnected sewage systems, such as pit latrines and septic tanks, which might work for smaller communities but are overwhelmed by the scale of Addis. Often, stormwater and wastewater overflow into street drains, contaminating the Kebana River.

The Recreative Landscapes project proposes a decentralized approach to waste management for urban areas, emphasizing local-scale treatment using existing infrastructures and the integration of public spaces. This strategy envisions a harmonious development of dense urban areas into future sustainable metropolises. Using Upper Kebana as a pilot, the project organizes the neighborhood around public nodes that blend infrastructure with community facilities. Waste is collected at local sites, sorted, and sent to a nearby Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for further processing. This system not only manages waste efficiently but also supports a neighborhood-scale material microeconomy.




The initiative integrates both grey and green infrastructure to treat wastewater right within the neighborhood, ultimately returning purified water to the Upper Kebana River. This model transforms infrastructure into a community asset, intertwining social and civil functions. For instance, the MRF doubles as a base for recreational activities, fostering a landscape that is both productive and recreational.

Moreover, linking septic systems to a sequential, piped infrastructure allows for more effective wastewater management. Small streets with open drains connect to ecological treatment systems before integrating with the city's sewage network. On larger streets, bioswales filter rainwater runoff ecologically. This process begins with anaerobic treatment, followed by filtration through a green buffer, ensuring a thorough cleanup of wastewater. This approach to waste and wastewater management exemplifies how infrastructure can serve as a public amenity, promoting a vision of urban development that balances social and environmental sustainability.