Integrating transport and land use policies for sustainable development; Theory and practice A study of suburbs of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

It has been long since mobility became a major issue in Addis Ababa following the enormous horizontal expansion of the city boundaries as a result of the rapid population and income growth. Although there are studies conducted to understand and solve the problems related to motorized transport in the city, most of them focus on the orthodox approach of improving the physical infrastructure of the transport sector to enhance the service provision by constructing highways, extending road networks and increasing the number of fleet. However, the problem proliferated and reached a critical level, already. This study approaches the problem from a different perspective; designing the city in a transit friendly manner by integrating land use and transport policies. Therefore, the aim of this research was exploring the need and possibilities of integrating land use and transport policies to assure sustainable development of the city. The main research instrument used was the interview conducted with authorities involved in formulation and implementation of land use and transport policies in the city. Thus, interviews were held with seven authorities in the Addis Ababa City Administration and the Federal transport Authority together with a senior researcher in similar areas. In this qualitative research, observations in the research areas and desk studies supported the results of the interview. The initial hypothesis of the research is proved to be fully acceptable since the land use and transport authorities do not recognize the impact of one on the other as validated by the increasing pressure on the public transport system which resulted from the enormous horizontal expansion of the city. However, it was the main finding of the research that most of the activities in the city are governed by informality. Moreover, other factors including market force and politics are highly involved in determining the urban structure of Addis Ababa. Therefore, despite the need for integration of land use planning, transport policies and environmental concerns for sustainable development, the focus on policy alone would be narrow and nugatory.