A Geographical Study of Urban Development the Case of Jimma Town
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2001-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Jimma is one of the oldest towns which rendered urban service for areas located in
south-Western Ethiopia.
The early origin and the later development of the town benefited its strategic location,
early discovery of coffee and participation in distant trade. it also depend on the wise
management of its leaders who pacified the region and allracted more people with different
views and wealth to the area.
The italian plan to promote the town as the second "Rome" and the monarchical rule
Jimma as "Yewubet" ketema accelerated it progress.
The town covers 4622.58 hectares of area. The population of the town projected for
the year 2000 is 119510.
The study area is divided into three keflegnas which further clustered into 19 kebele
units, though hazy with distinctively definedfimctional centers.
The objectives of the study was set 10 evaluate the level of its development by assessing
the trends of the inter relationship between the growth of its population, economic, and,
infrastructural foundations.
The present urban environment of the town is characterized by population pressure
and fast expanding physical area.
The town lacks stable management due to unsustainable bureaucracy which is
organized on poor staff profile, which in one way or another contributed to the town to posses
poor revenue base.
The factors illustrated in combination compounded the problem and there by
exaceberated the infrastrur;.tural foundation.
The problems are analyzed interms of administrative, demographic and economic
effects on the infrastructural foundation of the town.
It has emphatically examined the sources of revenue, budget selling (allocation), and
sector plan implementatiOn. Therefore found out the existence of weak correlation in the first
and stronger one in the later. It also surveyed the income variation of the population
understudy, which also manifested in serious gap. High unemployment rate and the basic
variables that contributed to sluggish economic development of the town were rooted to the
current fall in coffee price.
in its conclusion the paper tried to suggest for alternate policy measures to ameliorate
the prevalent poor economic and infrastructuralfoundation.
To mitigate the issues, it suggested for an inquiry of policy amendment for sustainable
bureaucracy for the town administration and continuing education opportunity for the staff
profile.
It also opinionated for institutional mechanism that can fully enforce collection and
promote more buoyant revenue internally and policy guaranteed enough to allract external
source of revenue for more and more business in the town.
For the time being the intensively implemented family planning exercises no doubt
could stabilize the population growth, nevertheless for greater progress the town
administration must seek ways to strengthen the productivity of the tertiary sector
management (trade, transports). The town could best serve and benefit in this sector till the
realization of industrial economy.
Description
Keywords
Geographical Study of Urban