Urban Expansion, Tenure Rights and Informality in Ethiopia: The Case of Shashemene City and its Surrounding in West Arsii Zone
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2021-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This MA thesis deals with some major outcomes of urban expansion, existing tenure arrangement, informal land transaction and house construction on the life of Former and current farmers, informal urban dwellers and the city administration in two Kebeles of Shashemene city of West Arssi Zone. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select research respondents from farmers, informal urban dwellers, middlemen and land speculators. Mainly qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected mainly through FGD, in-depth interviews, informal interviews, document review, individual case studies and extensive observation methods. Gathered data were, analyzed and interpreted in order to answer research questions. The findings of this paper revealed that informal land transaction and the subsequent horizontal expansion are becoming major features of Shashemene city. The current land policy in contrast to its written goals and rhetoric has created large scale informal land transaction and house construction that resulted in peasants’ displacement either willingly or unwillingly in the study Kebeles. In this regard, first government expropriation of peasants’ land with a very low compensation rate and without facilitating alternative livelihood sources, and other socio-cultural and economic factors are forcing peasants to proactively sell their land. Secondly, urban residents were and are engaging in informal land transaction principally because of the current lease policy, progressive hike of urban land value, residential house price and preferential allocation of land based on political allegiance that sealed off their access to formal residential house. On the other hand, informality is not only limited to the above mentioned social groups but business men, land speculators, engineers, and government officials too are actively engaging in informal land market to expand their fortune. In all these process, peasants are the prime victims who lost and are losing their lifelong generational asset together with their land and subsequently have been facing challenges like homelessness and joblessness and their adverse outcomes. Though late informal land sellers are said to be in a better livelihood condition compared to early sellers, by investing their money in income generating business, the sustainability and success of their business can be difficult to predict. The outcome of unplanned horizontal expansion has not only affecting peasants but also informal urban dwellers by causing tenure insecurity and lack of access to services and infrastructures; and the city administration by denying free space, land and property transaction tax; peasants of neighboring weredas due to informality that created spillover effect on them. Thus, this study recommended that, unless horizontal informal urban expansion of Shashemene is managed properly, the outcome of informality will produce a series of socio-economic and political unintended consequences on the above stated stakeholders.
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Urban Expansion, Tenure Rights and Informality in Ethiopia: