User talk:196.189.17.129

Addis Ababa population estimate, c.2010 and now, 2022, via Google Earth
There was a discussion of value here, now invisible or suppressed. A Salvo (Salvatore?) asked how it was possible that Addis Ababa has a last counted census of 2.7 Mio c., while estimates of around 1995 (the 2005 census was the last performed) counted to 4Mio. This stimulated me to perform counts of single homes on 12 random chosen areas of 1Ha each. to multiply the average then for the number of hectares of inhabited parts within the then official city limits. Sorry not to find my full calculation here any more, it was around 700,000 roofs, prior to at least another, 700,000 further condominium flats being then allotted by the Gov't. This I attempted in 2009.

My estimate was then of c. 6,5 Mio, and would stay then now at over 10Mio. This considering the existing homes and the new condos. Total population is a harder guess in this way now, with a much intricate present distribution. No longer is there only a single roof single housing market in town. Other comments noted that if a reasonable estimate c. 1995 was 4Mio, and the population had decreased to 2.7Mio after ten years, soon Addis, self-evidently growing tentacularly, would have dwindled to a village! (sic!!).

The false data in the census are evidently tied to the election rigging of 2005, as the ruling party who had most likely lost the elections overall obtained only 4% of votes in town. They clearly saw town numbers as a menace. The false census has since had tragic indirect consequences, as deaths en masse due to total mismanagement of solid wastes, that in one event alone killed over 300 in a landslide in Reppi, Addis Ababa. Moreover, a rather costly light train system in town was designed for 3mio not 10, with the consequence of its utter mismanagement and little real use. Town planners know all too well the different challenges posed by a 2.7 Mio large town and a real megalopolis, of 10 Mio and above. Marcoetio (talk) 05:38, 24 December 2022 (UTC)