**3. Research methods and materials**

The primary objective of this study was to create an understanding of the process of new urban property and property right formation in the transitional peri-urban areas of Ethiopia. To attain the objective a mixture of desk review and case study research approaches were employed. As a case study area, Bahir Dar city located in the north western part of Ethiopia was chosen (see **Figure 2**). Bahir Dar city is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Ethiopia where a lot of rural

**21**

informal market.

*Urban Built-Up Property Formation Process in the Peri-Urban Areas of Ethiopia*

agricultural land has already been converted into urban built-up properties. It is also the area where there is a huge land demand for urban development purposes. Focus group discussion (FGD) was undertaken with urban and rural land agency officials and experts. The officials and experts shared their views on how new urban built-up properties and property rights are being evolving. In addition, the discussants shared their views on how rural land rights are disappearing in the process of urban expansion. The focus group discussion was complemented by key informant interviews and site observations in the peri-urban areas. Key informant interview was held with key stakeholder such as planners, academia, local and regional government officials and the community leaders in the peri-urban areas. In addition to primary sources of data, an intensive desk review was conducted with a purpose to get a clear picture on the process of peri-urbanization. In addition, reviews on legal and policy frameworks and urban development strategies been

Urban areas in Ethiopia are growing and over spilling into the peri-urban areas in terms of space and population [12]. Peri-urban areas located adjacent to the municipal boundaries have become the most dynamic areas in Ethiopia. They are places where all forms of lively competitions for land are fierce. Due to the rural-urban dichotomy of land holding systems in Ethiopia, urbanization and urban development in peri-urban areas involves land holding right acquisition and transfer issues. In the process of urban expansion and development in Ethiopia, peri-urban landholders or farmers' land rights are forcibly taken by the state and thereafter reallocated to urban residents and private developers through lease agreement. At the same time the informal acquisition and development of land is a commonly seen phenomenon in the transitional peri-urban areas of Ethiopia. This section deals with the formal and informal ways of built-up property formation

The formal urban development strategy of Ethiopia is solely dependent on compulsory expropriation and re-allocation of land. Expropriation measures as a mechanism to supply urban land are largely implemented in the transitional periurban areas and it is the single formal way of trading between the dichotomized rural and urban tenure systems where by the output would be the formation of urban built-up property. The formal urban built-up property formation process by expropriation decisions of the government involves a three step process of land acquisition and delivery [11]. First, the peri-urban area must be included within the city's master plan; in the second step, expropriation decisions should have to be made; and third, the expropriated land need to be reallocated to different private and public users through lease contract on the basis of annual ground rent for the period specified in lease contract. As soon as previously peri-urban and rural territory is planned for urban expansion, its inhabitants become the subject of "default" expropriation, with compensation only in cases where they have legal rights to the land, and at prices that are many times lower than those farmers can fetch on the

The process of urban built-up property formation through the formal channel also reveals that the mechanism to convert peri-urban/rural land rights into urban

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86708*

conducted.

**4. Results and findings**

process in the peri-urban areas of Ethiopia.

**4.1 Formal channel of urban built-up property formation**

**Figure 2.** *Location map of Bahir Dar city. Source: author produced.*

### *Urban Built-Up Property Formation Process in the Peri-Urban Areas of Ethiopia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86708*

agricultural land has already been converted into urban built-up properties. It is also the area where there is a huge land demand for urban development purposes.

Focus group discussion (FGD) was undertaken with urban and rural land agency officials and experts. The officials and experts shared their views on how new urban built-up properties and property rights are being evolving. In addition, the discussants shared their views on how rural land rights are disappearing in the process of urban expansion. The focus group discussion was complemented by key informant interviews and site observations in the peri-urban areas. Key informant interview was held with key stakeholder such as planners, academia, local and regional government officials and the community leaders in the peri-urban areas. In addition to primary sources of data, an intensive desk review was conducted with a purpose to get a clear picture on the process of peri-urbanization. In addition, reviews on legal and policy frameworks and urban development strategies been conducted.
