Urban land policy and urban land use efficiency: An analysis based on remote sensing and institutional credibility thesis

Ethiopia has an urban land lease policy in place to facilitate the transfer of land for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. Because of the lease policy, many cities have experienced significant expansion through massive conversion of agricultural land. Although the lease policy has been in place for nearly three decades, little is known about its effectiveness in promoting sustainable urban land use. This paper examines the effects of the lease policies on urban land use efficiency (ULUE). Building on the institutional credibility thesis, this paper investigated the performance of land institutions using the urban land use efficiency approach. Remote sensing data was used to investigate urban land use efficiency through spatiotemporal analysis of land use change. Analysis of satellite imagery was performed using ArcGIS. Moreover, quantitative and qualitative data from secondary sources were studied. The study findings show that in almost all study areas, urban land use efficiency is low, which is mainly reflected in the forms of land hoarding, land banking, illegal land grabbing, informal settlement, land use fragmentation and urban sprawl. A significant portion of the land transferred for various urban uses has remained vacant or underutilised for years, in direct violation of the provisions of the lease policy. This means that the lease policy has hardly been enforced to ensure efficient urban land utilization. This demonstrates the ineffectiveness (dysfunctionality) of the existing land institutions. It is concluded that some elements of the lease policy have evolved into an empty institution, i.e., a symbolic institutional arrangement that is largely ignored by socioeconomic and political actors.