Urban Open space Use in Addis Ababa: The case of Meskel Square

Abstract: Urban planning and design has proven to be an important element in shaping life styles, solving problems and giving new ways of living in the urban arena. The quality of urban life is one of the big goals that the field tries to reach. Urban open spaces are known to enhance the quality of urban life. So, every city needs these spaces. The planning and design of urban open spaces have been practiced in different parts of the world in different ways. The practice and use of these spaces differed from place to place as well as from time to time. A good approach in the planning and designing of these spaces is to first study the past and current trends of urban open space usage in a place. The existing local culture acts as a guiding element to design a space suitable for the need of the locals. This paper is a study on a local culture of using urban open space. The study is about the user trend of urban open spaces in the city of Addis Ababa. The paper covers a general history and development of urban open space usage in the city. It focuses on a case area which is found in the center of the city and has a significant historical perspective as well. The development and current use of this space will indicate the direction of urban open space trends in the city. This will in turn help the future approaches in planning and design of such spaces. So, the paper includes the case area study, its data analysis, findings and finally suggestion of problems found on the case area stud