IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i19p12788-d935673.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rapid Urbanization in Ethiopia: Lakes as Drivers and Its Implication for the Management of Common Pool Resources

Author

Listed:
  • Aklilu Fikresilassie Kabiso

    (School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Eoin O’Neill

    (School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Finbarr Brereton

    (School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Wondimu Abeje

    (Center for Regional and Local Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 1176, Ethiopia)

Abstract

Recent history has been marked by a shift from rural to urban living. Studies show that urbanization is most prevalent at coastal areas and river basins and these are the locations where most megacities are established. However, in the African context, there is a deficit of research in this area. The focus of studies in the ‘urban’ field show the expansion of cities towards waterbodies but with little or no attention to the implications of this expansion—‘the rural to urban shift’—particularly as they concern lakes as commons in a rapidly urbanizing world, such as African countries and the Global South. Thus, using the case of lakes in Ethiopia, this study explores the trend of urbanization vis-à-vis lakes and its implications for the management of lakes, where historically the Ethiopian urban system has been characterized by settlements on mountain areas as strategic places located far from water bodies, particularly lakes. Using secondary data on population of urban centers and distribution of lakes in Ethiopia, this paper finds that urban centers that are located adjacent to lakes have been growing faster than those cities and towns that are not. The study argues that lakes are an attraction factor for urbanization. Moreover, rapid urban expansion around lakes implies that, in the future, the management of lakes (as common pool resources) critically depends on how urban centers are planned and managed.

Suggested Citation

  • Aklilu Fikresilassie Kabiso & Eoin O’Neill & Finbarr Brereton & Wondimu Abeje, 2022. "Rapid Urbanization in Ethiopia: Lakes as Drivers and Its Implication for the Management of Common Pool Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-20, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12788-:d:935673
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12788/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12788/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agrawal, Arun, 2001. "Common Property Institutions and Sustainable Governance of Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1649-1672, October.
    2. Lisa Benton‐Short & Marie D. Price & Samantha Friedman, 2005. "Globalization from Below: The Ranking of Global Immigrant Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 945-959, December.
    3. Tiffen, Mary, 2003. "Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Agriculture, Urbanization and Income Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1343-1366, August.
    4. Douglas Gollin & Remi Jedwab & Dietrich Vollrath, 2016. "Urbanization with and without industrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 35-70, March.
    5. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2004. "Evidence on the nature and sources of agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 49, pages 2119-2171, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yanzheng Zhu & Yangbo Chen & Yanjun Zhao & Feng Zhou & Shichao Xu, 2023. "Application and Research of Liuxihe Model in the Simulation of Inflow Flood at Zaoshi Reservoir," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-14, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jedwab, Remi & Vollrath, Dietrich, 2015. "Urbanization without growth in historical perspective," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-21.
    2. Richard Bluhm & Christian Lessmann & Paul Schaudt, 2021. "The Political Geography of Cities," SoDa Laboratories Working Paper Series 2021-11, Monash University, SoDa Laboratories.
    3. Sakketa, Tekalign Gutu, 2022. "Urbanisation and rural development in developing countries: A review of pathways and impacts," IDOS Discussion Papers 5/2022, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    4. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2017. "The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it)," CEPR Discussion Papers 12473, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Kamei,Akito & Nakamura,Shohei, 2020. "Urban Agglomerations and Employment Transitions in Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9184, The World Bank.
    6. Remi Jedwab & Noel D. Johnson & Mark Koyama, 2020. "Medieval Cities Through the Lens of Urban Economic Theories," Working Papers 2020-9, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    7. Henderson, J. Vernon & Nigmatulina, Dzhamilya & Kriticos, Sebastian, 2021. "Measuring urban economic density," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    9. Bluhm, Richard & Krause, Melanie, 2022. "Top lights: Bright cities and their contribution to economic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Grover,Arti Goswami & Lall,Somik V. & Timmis,Jonathan David, 2021. "Agglomeration Economies in Developing Countries : A Meta-Analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9730, The World Bank.
    11. Andres Rodriguez-Pose, 2018. "The revenge of the places that don?t matter (and what to do about it)," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1805, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2018.
    12. Shohei Nakamura & Kseniya Abanokova & Hai-Anh H. Dang & Shinya Takamatsu & Chunchen Pei & Dilou Prospere, 2023. "Is Climate Change Slowing the Urban Escalator Out of Poverty? Evidence from Chile, Colombia, and Indonesia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-21, March.
    13. Grover, Arti & Lall, Somik & Timmis, Jonathan, 2023. "Agglomeration economies in developing countries: A meta-analysis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    14. Giulio Cainelli & Carlo Ciccarelli & Roberto Ganau, 2021. "Administrative reforms, urban hierarchy, and local population growth. Lessons from Italian unification," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2109, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Feb 2021.
    15. World Bank, 2020. "Ethiopia Poverty Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 33544, The World Bank Group.
    16. Haque, A.B.M. Mahfuzul & Visser, Leontine E. & Dey, Madan M., 2011. "Institutional Arrangements in Seasonal Floodplain Management under Community-based Aquaculture in Bangladesh," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, June.
    17. María Ayuda & Fernando Collantes & Vicente Pinilla, 2010. "From locational fundamentals to increasing returns: the spatial concentration of population in Spain, 1787–2000," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 25-50, March.
    18. Thomas Baudin & Robert Stelter, 2022. "The rural exodus and the rise of Europe," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 365-414, September.
    19. Guy Michaels, 2011. "The Long Term Consequences of Resource‐Based Specialisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 31-57, March.
    20. Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer & Florian Mayneris, 2008. "Spatial Concentration and Firm-Level Productivity in France," Sciences Po publications 6858, Sciences Po.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12788-:d:935673. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.