Causes and Remedy of Squatting in Burayu Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

The first dilemma that millions of poor in urban areas of the developing world face and which is likely to persist for a long period is the question of adequate housing. In this regard, 70 per cent of the urban population of Ethiopia is living in slums and squatter settlements. This article is on accessibility of land for residential purpose and existing squatter settlements in Burayu town in Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia. The population of Burayu town is 100,200 (2010) and the town is located about 15 kilo meters from the city limits of Addis Ababa metropolis, the capital of Ethiopia. The town is characterized by many land related problems like proliferation of squatter settlements, expansion of slums and other illegal land developments. This article tries to identify the root causes for squatting and assess the major local government responses in Burayu town. By the combination of random and purposive sampling method, 246 squatter households were selected from different sections of the town and quantitative data and qualitative information were collected from primary as well as secondary sources to analyze. The result shows that on the contrary to many studies conducted on similar areas, the root cause for development and expansion of squatter settlements in Burayu town is not economic poverty of the squatter households. Rather, the main reason found is cumbersome procedures and very poor performance of Land Development and Management Agency to deliver the land to the aspirants. Inability of the local government to cope up with the fast urbanization and increasing demand of land for housing is obvious.

Keywords: Squatter, Accessibility and Squatter Settlements