Urbanization in Small Cities and Their Significant Implications on Landscape Structures: The Case in Ethiopia

Berhanu Keno Terfa,Nengcheng Chen,Dev Niyogi,Xiang Zhang

doi:10.3390/su12031235

Abstract

Fundamental ideas concerning urbanization are primarily based on studies performed in large cities. It is of interest to study whether or not similar phenomena take place in smaller cities. Small cities are an inherent component of urbanization, and in the future, the majority of globalization is expected to occur in small and mid-sized cities. Understanding the effects of small cities on landscape structures is, therefore, an essential component in planning city land expansion. Accordingly, this study focused on six towns of the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinnee, Ethiopia, which is broadly known to be experiencing dramatic growth. Time-series Landsat images from 1987 to 2019 with an integrated method, landscape metrics, and built-up density analysis were employed to characterize and compare the dynamics of landscape structures, urban expansion patterns, process, and overall growth status in the towns. The results highlight that all the towns experienced accelerated growth in the built-up areas and highly scattered nature in spatial growth. Landscape ecology analysis confirmed a highly fragmented urban landscape, a significant loss of natural land covers, and disconnected and complicated agro-vegetation patches in all towns, suggesting a lack of rigorous implementation of the master plan. Results also indicated that the Oromia Special Zone surrounding Finfinnee has failed to control urban sprawl to surrounding ecological sensitive areas. The study results, more broadly, highlight that the small cities would have a limited physical and demographic footprint and relatively less contribution to the national economic agglomeration; nonetheless, they can have a notable and important impact in terms of their ecological and environmental influence. Hence, the study suggests policies for monitoring such dynamics and protecting agro-environmental connectivity with particular focus on the small cities.

Highlights

Rapid population growth and the related need for housing and other amenities have resulted in an increasing urbanized land cover, mostly along the major roads and rural countryside, which is typically scattered and inefficient in resource utilization [1,2]
This study addresses the following questions: Are the urbanization processes in small cities similar to the large and medium-sized cities? In what way do smaller cities affect landscape structures, and what are the possible drivers for urbanization? These questions are addressed by focusing on six towns of the Oromia Special Zone surrounding Finfinnee, Ethiopia
The results revealed that: (1) all towns under the study experienced accelerated growth in the built-up area, scattered urban spatial growth along the outskirts, and irregular patterns of built-up density

Summary

Introduction

Rapid population growth and the related need for housing and other amenities have resulted in an increasing urbanized land cover, mostly along the major roads and rural countryside, which is typically scattered and inefficient in resource utilization [1,2]. The scattered urban growth and disaggregated landscape structures as a result of human activities influence the function and structure of the ecosystem [3,4,5]. Some studies argue that the potential for damage to urban green spaces [8], increased traffic congestion, pollution, and crowded services [9] are notable shortcomings of compacting urban development. Exploration of the urban spatial dynamics and landscape structures analysis continues to of interest due to its high importance in creating sustainable cities

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion