The Role of Local Actors in Urban Management and the Emerging Trends of Informal Settlements in Peri-Urban Woldia, North Wollo, Ethiopia
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Date
2023-03-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The role of local actors in urban management and the emerging trends of informal settlementsin peri-urban Woldia, North Wollo, Ethiopia. There has been a steady growth of informal settlements in peri-urban Woldia. Therefore,understanding what triggering factors, what local actors are, and how informal land and
infrastructure are accessed and secured in these areas can assist decision-makers in making an informed decision. However, little is known about these issues in peri-urban Woldia. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the main triggering factors, prominent local actors, and the mechanisms of accessing and securing land and infrastructure in Woldia’s peri-urban areas. Data were collected from 336 individuals through questionnaires (242 persons), interviews (85 persons), FGDs (9 persons), field observations, and reviewing documents. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Several factorscontributed to informal settlements' development, including socioeconomic, demographics, administrative failings, and legal failures. Administrative failings have been cited as the main cause of informal settlements in Woldia's peri-urban areas by 21.49% of questionnaire respondents. A large amount of money through informal deals, compared to meager legal compensation, was also mentioned by 14.46% of respondents. Inefficient land provision (by 12.81% of respondents), an ever increasing urban population, backdoor deals (by 11.16% of respondents), and an increase in the peri-urban land price (by 10.74% of respondents) were also considered driving factors for informal settlements. In addition, 10.33% of respondents cited difficulty obtaining land for housing cooperatives, whereas 9.09% cited easily accessible land on an informal basis as a key factor. Lengthy bureaucratic procedures to acquire land formally (by 5.37% of respondents) and rural-urban migration (by 4.55% of respondents) were cited as contributing factors. It also found that old-age urban land management policies contributed to informal settlement proliferation. Various local actors are involved, including land brokers, peri-urban farmers, non-governmental organizations, farmers, speculators, and retirees. The primary method by which peri-urban land is accessed and secured is through loan-borrow agreements, fake sales, and fake donations. Farmers in peri-urban areas were convinced to enter informal land deals through various strategies. People in peri-urban areas, for example, are told their lands will be taken by people unfamiliar with their culture. Peri-urban farmers are also persuaded by iv local actors to sell their land before moving to the urban area with meager compensation. Informal dwellers are also hindered from establishing basic infrastructure due to spatial, economic, social, and political barriers. Without basic infrastructure, suppliers and clients (informal dwellers) frame coping strategies. Charcoal, firewood, and torchlight can be substituted for electricity by informal dwellers. Various interventions were tried, yet all failed. As a matter of witness, informal settlements are perpetuated. Hence, to make the most
of urban advantages, proactive strategies are recommended: urban land and housing affordability, neighborhood renewal, infilling unused land, rural-urban linkages through planning, building Land Information Systems (LISs), and breaking up corruption chains.
Keyword: Actors Informal Settlement, Peri-Urban Land Management, Woldia.
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Keywords
Actors, Informal Settlement, Peri-Urban, Urban Land Management, Woldia