ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the trends and prospects for overall population growth. It examines the dynamics and problems of urbanization in Ethiopia, charting rural-to-urban migration and its causes. Demographic variables such as population size, vitals, and growth rates have major impacts on the demand of urban social and economic infrastructure. The overwhelming proportion of the urban labor force in Ethiopia works in informal sector employment—the production and exchange of petty commodity goods and services outside the regulated formal market sector. The establishment of the Derg regime in 1974 involved a restructuring of urban land policies to break the virtual monopoly of a few landowners. Urban real estate in Addis Ababa is falling into the hands of fewer and fewer individuals or political organizations, while the need for housing in the city increases. The urban management problems are further worsened by the high rate of official corruption and mismanagement of public money among many personnel in charge of city administration.
