EMBELLISHED BEHEMOTH

In-Picture

GREEN TRACKS

When city planners spoke of ‘greening' the transport system, few imagined it would take such a literal form. The Addis Abeba Light Rail Transit (AALRT), which began operating in 2015 as Sub-Saharan Africa's first inner-city light rail, now has pillars draped in climbing vines. The line carries the look of both an urban transit corridor and a set from Tarzan, offering commuters a curious blend of connectivity and wilderness...

FLOW FIX

The Filwuha River is finally getting the attention it's been patiently begging for. Its long-overdue facelift promises green, welcoming banks where city dwellers can escape the urban grind, once the dust settles and the construction noise stops auditioning for a rock concert. The river hums along, apparently resigned to sharing the spotlight with jackhammers and muddy boots. This isn't just a beautification project—it's an ambitious experiment in turning chaos into calm, and pipelines into Ins...

SHINE BREAK

Around Megenagna, Sitting on a massive drainage pipe laid along a rocky, unfinished stretch, young shoe-shine boys find a moment of respite amidst the mud and scattered buckets a small, human pause in the sprawling Addis Abeba Corridor Development Program waitng for their next customer. The infrastructure project, directed towards widening and modernising key arterial roads, has displaced communities and reshaped neighbourhoods, leaving workers, residents, and bystanders negotiating the uneasy i...