2017 Reports

Heritage, Tourism, And Urbanization: The Landscape and Development of Lalibela, Ethiopia

Avrami, Erica C.; William, Raynolds; Aluri, Jahnavi; Chuah, Veronica; Cruz, Jessica; Tatiana, Kopelman Martin; Liao, Cheng; Reddan, Sarah; Robertson, Cameron; Tomczyk, Stacy; Zhan, Mengjie; Alam, Tania; Deng, Boer; Kazmierski, Nicholas; Lubitz, Adam; MacAusland, Dorothy; Neill, Matthias; Weinstein-Berman, Laura

A sustainable future for Lalibela, Ethiopia, is contingent upon balancing issues of rapid urban growth, increasing tourism, natural and cultural resource protection, spiritual values, and community quality of life. To explore these challenges and how they might be addressed, faculty from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and from Addis Ababa University’s Chair of Conversation of Urban and Architectural Heritage, Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (AAU-EiABC) collaborated with World Monuments Fund to develop a student research project at Lalibela, which involved a workshop in Summer 2016, and a semester-long studio of historic preservation and urban planning students in Fall 2016.