Visibilizing the invisibilized: innate circular networks in Addis Ababa

Abstract

Across cities worldwide, millions of people engage daily in circular practices that recover value from waste and, in doing so, claim their right to the city. These self-organized ‘innate circular networks’ sustain livelihoods, shape urban culture, and provide environmental services, yet remain largely overlooked in policy and research. In Addis Ababa, they support more than 300,000 people and revalorize large volumes of discarded resources while facing growing pressures from circular economy (CE) initiatives and urban redevelopment.Drawing on immersive ethnographic fieldwork following waste workers and materials across the city, this paper examines how circularity is sustained through self-organized relations between people, resources, and spaces. Conceptually, it introduces the notion of ‘innate circular networks’ to challenge dominant CE imaginaries that privilege formal infrastructures over grounded urban practices. Findings reveal complex socio-spatial systems governed through tacit rules, mutual trust, and everyday negotiation, yet also shaped by tensions and inequalities. Minalesh Tera emerges as a ‘real circular space’ for resource revalorization, collective learning, and grassroots innovation. Beyond resource circulation, these networks perform socio-cultural and economic functions within Addis Ababa. The study argues that these networks constitute critical urban infrastructure and that inclusive circular governance should build on existing practices rather than displacing them.