Urbanization refers to the general increase in population and the amount of industrialization of a settlement. It includes an increase in the number and extent of cities. It symbolizes the movement of people from rural to urban areas. Urbanization happens because of the increase in the extent and density of urban areas.
Since urbanization involves mass movement of populations from rural to urban settings, it consequent physical changes to urban settings. According to 2019 the United Nations estimation, more than half the world’s population (4.2 billion people) now live in urban areas and by 2041, this figure will increase to 6 billion people.
Urbanization attracts many rural citizens since the rural population thinks that cities are land for many opportunities it creates in bettering their quality of life. However, urban areas, if they are not planned for carefully, could turn burdensome for a city and its citizens. Among others, the plan must include the effective use of the limited land resources of a given country.
Land management requires all activities concerned with the management of land as a resource both from an environment and economic perspective. Besides, land management could be seen from an institutional perspective that includes the formulation of land policies, legal frameworks, resource management, land administration arrangements, and land information management.
Therefore, inefficient urban land management can result in uneconomic use of land, uncontrolled informal settlements, urban sprawl, illegal landholdings, weak provision of basic services and infrastructure.
Studies indicated that in Africa due to high population growth and market developments, there is mounting competition for land resources, especially in towns and cities, and in productive high-value areas customary land management is under pressure, and the coverage of formal land institutions is generally very limited.
As a result, land tenure and shelter are insecure for many ordinary Africans in both urban and rural areas. This is also true for all Ethiopian towns and cities which are exhibiting a high rate of urbanization and high land demand for various utilization.
Cognizant of this, the Ethiopian Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure is working for the integrated urban land management system. Land management is key to solving problems related to urbanization. Especially, most urban poor live in unregulated slums, have congested conditions, are overcrowded, are positioned near open sewers, and restricted to geographically dangerous areas such as hillsides, riverbanks, and water basins subject to landslides, flooding, or industrial hazards.
All of these factors lead to the spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases, pollution, poor nutrition, road traffic, and so on. The problems faced by the poor spill over to other city dwellers. As the trend to urbanization continues, this spillover effect increases and takes on a global dimension as more and more of the world’s populations are affected. Hence, the land management system of the country must be effective.
According to Ethiopian Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure Minister ChaltuSani, maintaining and developing new infrastructure, creating jobs, revenue collection, and related activities to solve the problems of the society and ensure its benefits has been done in cities since over time, there have been gaps in understanding and managing these challenges.
Ethiopian Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure State Minister Fanta Dejen in his part noted that land is a key resource for the development of our country and cities. Hence, urban land management is being given due attention to its important role in urban development and good governance.
Ethiopian Civil Service University Urban Design and Planning Associate Professor Daniel Lirebo said that “as urbanization is inevitable and is not a unique feature for Ethiopia, we have been not managing this dynamic shift with effective urbanization policy and we have failed to translate into industrialization like many countries. For me, if we will not accommodate the phenomena of urbanization, the trend will be directed into a bad situation.”
Hence, a new policy approach and urbanization strategy is imperative for Ethiopia to give everlasting solutions for squatting problems. Moreover, mismanagement, weak government control on open spaces, and lack of comprehensive legal response towards the problem should be solved through coordination of city programs and plans, he added.
National and international researchers and policymakers have indeed explored various strategies to address problems related to urbanization, yet the problems remain. For example, research on solutions for megacities has been ongoing since the early 1990s. These studies have concluded that pollution, unreliable electricity, and non-functioning infrastructure are priority initiatives; nevertheless, air pollution, quality of water in cities, congestion, disaster management issues, and infrastructure are not being systematically addressed.
Therefore, policies and practices should be considered toincorporateaccessibility for employment, community participation, mobility/ migration, and social transition, to break generational poverty cycles. The urban land management also focuses on urban environmental issues, such as planned urban space and taxes on the use of vehicles to reduce use or to encourage vehicles that use less fuel as well as encourage bicycle use, walking, and other forms of human transportation.
Besides, the government and the Ministry should encourage greater cooperative planning between rural and urban regions to improve food security, social protection, and universal health coverage to reduce wealth disparity among urban dwellers by introducing programs and services for health, for example by establishing primary healthcare clinics accessible and affordable for all including those living in urban slums.
Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure Land Development and Management Bureau Head BizalemAdmasu leading urban expansion through planning and ordering will enable cities to move in the right direction. Hence, the cities in Ethiopia need to be properly managed before they randomly develop and expand.
Although most cities in our country have plans, there are many gaps in the implementation of urban planning. Therefore, the country needs to ensure sustainable development in the cities by implementing the plan properly,” he noted.
It is indeed imperative to seek to order and regulate the use of land efficiently and ethically. Land use management, more importantly, help the country to create a convenient and conducive environment for present and future generations. Therefore, it is key to work on fundamental land-use control mechanisms, policies, and strategies.
BY EPHREM ANDARAGCHEW
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 16 MARCH 2022
