Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia
Bahir Dar city, a rapidly urbanizing city in Ethiopia, faces acute housing and urban land demand, resulting in the prevalence of informal land acquisition and housing development. Therefore, this study aims to examine the informal land acquisition for housing in Bahir Dar, resulting in informal sett...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Dynamics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2025.1477944/full |
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| author | Dereje Tessema Adigeh Dereje Tessema Adigeh Endale Belay Mekuria Birhanu Girma Abebe |
| author_facet | Dereje Tessema Adigeh Dereje Tessema Adigeh Endale Belay Mekuria Birhanu Girma Abebe |
| author_sort | Dereje Tessema Adigeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bahir Dar city, a rapidly urbanizing city in Ethiopia, faces acute housing and urban land demand, resulting in the prevalence of informal land acquisition and housing development. Therefore, this study aims to examine the informal land acquisition for housing in Bahir Dar, resulting in informal settlement expansion, focusing on the conditions, contributing factors, participants, and procedures of informal land transaction settlements. Data were collected by interview from purposefully selected key informants, including land sellers, buyers, brokers, urban land administrators, and code enforcement officers, supplemented by field observations and desk reviews. The study reveals that informal land transactions are the primary means of urban land acquisition for housing in Bahir Dar city, especially in peri-urban rural expansion areas, because the formal system of land access lags far behind. The key causes for this are high urbanization rates, inefficient urban land administration, which fails to supply formal residential plots, and low compensation payments to peri-urban landholders. Peri-urban farmers are the leading land sellers, inner-city residents in rental homes are the primary buyers, and brokers facilitate the transactions, with local administrators often legitimizing informal acquisitions. The study recommends that the government improve the efficiency of formal urban land supply and provide affordable housing to alleviate informal land developments and settlements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04acbfb7ca604d0a8be665805d4dd818 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-2726 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Dynamics |
| spelling | doaj-art-04acbfb7ca604d0a8be665805d4dd8182025-08-20T03:24:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Dynamics2673-27262025-06-01710.3389/fhumd.2025.14779441477944Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, EthiopiaDereje Tessema Adigeh0Dereje Tessema Adigeh1Endale Belay Mekuria2Birhanu Girma Abebe3Department of Housing and Real Property Valuation, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Urban and Regional Planning, EiABC, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaSchool of Law, Ethiopian Civil Service University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Urban and Regional Planning, EiABC, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaBahir Dar city, a rapidly urbanizing city in Ethiopia, faces acute housing and urban land demand, resulting in the prevalence of informal land acquisition and housing development. Therefore, this study aims to examine the informal land acquisition for housing in Bahir Dar, resulting in informal settlement expansion, focusing on the conditions, contributing factors, participants, and procedures of informal land transaction settlements. Data were collected by interview from purposefully selected key informants, including land sellers, buyers, brokers, urban land administrators, and code enforcement officers, supplemented by field observations and desk reviews. The study reveals that informal land transactions are the primary means of urban land acquisition for housing in Bahir Dar city, especially in peri-urban rural expansion areas, because the formal system of land access lags far behind. The key causes for this are high urbanization rates, inefficient urban land administration, which fails to supply formal residential plots, and low compensation payments to peri-urban landholders. Peri-urban farmers are the leading land sellers, inner-city residents in rental homes are the primary buyers, and brokers facilitate the transactions, with local administrators often legitimizing informal acquisitions. The study recommends that the government improve the efficiency of formal urban land supply and provide affordable housing to alleviate informal land developments and settlements.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2025.1477944/fullurbanizationinformal land acquisitioninformal settlementshousing demandland transaction proceduresEthiopia |
| spellingShingle | Dereje Tessema Adigeh Dereje Tessema Adigeh Endale Belay Mekuria Birhanu Girma Abebe Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia Frontiers in Human Dynamics urbanization informal land acquisition informal settlements housing demand land transaction procedures Ethiopia |
| title | Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia |
| title_full | Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia |
| title_short | Informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia |
| title_sort | informal land access for housing and associated settlement developments in bahir dar city ethiopia |
| topic | urbanization informal land acquisition informal settlements housing demand land transaction procedures Ethiopia |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2025.1477944/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT derejetessemaadigeh informallandaccessforhousingandassociatedsettlementdevelopmentsinbahirdarcityethiopia AT derejetessemaadigeh informallandaccessforhousingandassociatedsettlementdevelopmentsinbahirdarcityethiopia AT endalebelaymekuria informallandaccessforhousingandassociatedsettlementdevelopmentsinbahirdarcityethiopia AT birhanugirmaabebe informallandaccessforhousingandassociatedsettlementdevelopmentsinbahirdarcityethiopia |