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This article analyses the Ethiopian transition, particularly its social and political dimension based on an urban situation. It contributes to the debate over the right to the city in a dynamic way by articulating the analytical fit between political experiments and city dwelling, which are apparent in an Ethiopian context in a triangle of political emancipation, urban relocation and access to private property. It focuses on the question of access to housing in a recent condominium development on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The article uses a situated, qualitative and localist approach to analyse the social project of housing policies, and especially the drive to create an urban middle class. It breaks down the profiles and strategies of condominium dwellers and deconstructs the mechanical link between condominium and middle class. Finally, it addresses the capacity of citizens to produce a new social – and potentially a new …