Speaker
Description
Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing countries in terms of economic development and urbanization processes in the African region. The rapid urban expansion and substantial increase in the number of new towns indicate the reality of Ethiopia's new city growth. These new cities are highly correlated with a series of national strategies such as industrialization, privatization reforms, and open economic policies. Contrary to this, there is a lack of content related to new city planning in Ethiopia's planning system and national development strategies, as well as a neglect of research on Ethiopia's new urban growth.
In light of the tension arising from the existing state and the absence of related discourse, this research aims to forge a nexus between Ethiopia's new towns and national strategic imperatives. This research examines the role played by new towns in Ethiopia within the framework of national institutions, spatial structures, and planning systems by analyzing the developmental trajectory and typologies of these new towns. Additionally, it employs a political-economic analytical approach to investigate the relationship between national strategies and the production of new towns.
This study initially establishes definitions for the concepts and typologies of new cities based on existing research on African urbanization and studies specifically focusing on new towns in Ethiopia. Subsequently, it collects information on the recent development of new cities in Ethiopia through internet resources and official planning documents. Furthermore, interviews with relevant experts in Ethiopia's pertinent fields are conducted to gain deeper insights into the traits characterizing typical new towns.
Research indicates that new urban projects in Ethiopia can be broadly categorized into four types: (1) Towns developed around Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Industrial Park (IP); (2) Comprehensive sub-centers integrating residential, public service, and production sectors; (3) Satellite towns with a predominant single function; and (4) New Eco-tourism towns (NET) initiated based on major national landscape projects and promoting tourism services. sub-centers and satellite towns, due to their strong association with high-energy centers, are primarily located in or near the suburban areas of the country's central cities. SEZs and IPs tend to be situated along transportation arteries around provincial capital cities. The spatial distribution logic of NETs is based on landscape resources rather than locational logic. This study explores the structural functions of new cities from three dimensions: national planning structure, national spatial governance, and national large-scale projects. New towns represent indirect measures within Ethiopia's spatial planning system to implement macro development strategies such as industrialization and open economy, rather than direct planning targets. New cities play roles in spatial governance such as reducing urban-rural disparities, creating enclaves for globalized economies, and addressing issues of uneven development. Moreover, large national engineering projects are integrated organically through new towns, which coordinate multi-targets among different projects through package projects. In summary, Ethiopia's new cities reflect the path dependence of the top-down national governance structure and demonstrate the government's efforts to actively seek flexible solutions within the framework of the globalized order.
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
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