Spatial Profiling in Ethiopia

Qoloji, located in the Somali Region of Ethiopia is the largest of the many settlements housing internally displaced communities in the country. The urban planning technical support that URBANLOGIC provided to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) helped to provide a succinct overview of the local and regional context. It is part of a wider set of project initiatives that examine how the socio-economic development of the area can be enhanced holistically to benefit the communities living there. In order to design interventions of that nature, it is critical to begin with fully and comprehensively comprehending the existing situation. URBANLOGIC carried out comprehensive spatial mapping, analysis and visualisations to support the development of the Qoloji Spatial Profile.

The profile provides entry points for regional and settlement-level practitioners to feed into longer-term sustainable urban development processes. The analysis considers the various scales of work and the relevant outcomes, e.g., strategic and country level information decision makers as well as settlement technical information. The analysis and final document was developed to be used as a basis for open and informed decisions with local government and community members. The spatial assessment and participatory scenario building was developed through remote sensing and hybrid virtual workshops.