|
Ethiopia Urbanization
Ethiopia was under-urbanized, even by African standards.
In the late 1980s, only about 11 percent of the population
lived in urban areas of at least 2,000 residents. There were
hundreds of communities with 2,000 to 5,000 people, but
these were primarily extensions of rural villages without
urban or administrative functions. Thus, the level of
urbanization would be even lower if one used strict urban
structural criteria. Ethiopia's relative lack of
urbanization is the result of the country's history of
agricultural self-sufficiency, which has reinforced rural
peasant life. The slow pace of urban development continued
until the 1935 Italian invasion. Urban growth was fairly
rapid during and after the Italian occupation of 1936-41.
Urbanization accelerated during the 1960s, when the average
annual growth rate was about 6.3 percent. Urban growth was
especially evident in the northern half of Ethiopia, where
most of the major towns are located.
Addis Ababa was home to about 35 percent of the country's
urban population in 1987. Another 7 percent resided in
Asmera, the second largest city. Major industrial,
commercial, governmental, educational, health, and cultural
institutions were located in these two cities, which
together were home to about 2 million people, or one out of
twenty-five Ethiopians. Nevertheless, many small towns had
emerged as well. In 1970 there were 171 towns with
populations of 2,000 to 20,000; this total had grown to 229
by 1980.
The period 1967-75 saw rapid growth of relatively new urban
centers (see table 4,
Appendix). The
population of six
towns--Akaki, Arba Minch, Awasa, Bahir Dar, Jijiga, and
Shashemene--more than tripled, and that of eight others more
than doubled. Awasa, Arba Minch, Metu, and Goba were newly
designated capitals of administrative regions and important
agricultural centers. Awasa, capital of Sidamo, had a
lakeshore site and convenient location on the Addis
Ababa-Nairobi highway. Bahir Dar was a newly planned city on
Lake Tana and the site of several industries and a
polytechnic institute. Akaki and Aseb were growing into
important industrial towns, while Jijiga and Shashemene had
become communications and service centers.
Urban centers that experienced moderate growth tended to be
more established towns, such as Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and
Debre Zeyit. A few old provincial capitals, such as Gonder,
also experienced moderate growth, but others, such as Harer,
Dese, Debre Markos, and Jima, had slow growth rates because
of competition from larger cities. By the 1990s, Harer was
being overshadowed by Dire Dawa, Dese by Kembolcha, and
Debre Markos by Bahir Dar.
Overall, the rate of urban growth declined from 1975 to
1987. With the exception of Aseb, Arba Minch, and Awasa,
urban centers grew an average of about 40 percent over that
twelve-year period. This slow growth is explained by several
factors. Rural-to-urban migration had been largely
responsible for the rapid expansion during the 1967-75
period, whereas natural population growth may have been
mostly responsible for urban expansion during the 1975-84
period. The 1975 land reform program provided incentives and
opportunities for peasants and other potential migrants to
stay in rural areas. Restrictions on travel, lack of
employment, housing shortages, and social unrest in some
towns during the 1975-80 period also contributed to a
decline in rural-to-urban migration.
Although the male and female populations were about equal,
men outnumbered women in rural areas. More women migrated to
the urban centers for a variety of reasons, including
increased job opportunities.
As a result of intensified warfare in the period 1988-91,
all urban centers received a large influx of population,
resulting in severe overcrowding, shortages of housing and
water, overtaxed social services, and unemployment. In
addition to beggars and maimed persons, the new arrivals
comprised large numbers of young people. These included not
only primary and secondary school students but also an
alarming number of orphans and street children, estimated at
well over 100,000. Although all large towns shared in this
influx, Addis Ababa, as the national capital, was most
affected. This situation underscored the huge social
problems that the Mengistu regime had neglected for far too
long.
Data as of 1991
|
