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The book examines the urban land use planning and management practices and problems in a newly emerging regional town of Arba Minch, Southern Ethiopia. Unlike many other towns of Ethiopia; Arba Minch was fortunate to have land use plans right from its establishment in 1950s, which were aimed at guiding its growth and expansion. Situated between the two major rift valley lakes of Abaya and Chamo, having an excellent natural scene, its growth and expansion was not adequately guided by these plans. This was due to capacity constraints, vague institutional and legal frameworks, top-down planning process and less regard for community participation. In effect, informal land transactions, expansion of squatters in topographically unsuitable parts of the town, illegal land occupation and land speculation and land use conflicts were appeared to be the problems of land management in the town. SWOT analysis of the study has identified the opportunities and challenges of land use planning and management in Arba Minch town.

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Engida Esayas had BED from Debub University,Ethiopia, in Geography in 2002 and had MA from Addis Ababa University in Geography & Environmental Studies (Specialized in Regional & Urban Planning) in 2009. Engida served at Lante High School, Goffa HAPCO & Arba Minch TTC. Currently Engida is Lecturer of Human Geography at Dilla University.

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