The spatial impacts of informal land use and interpreting the conformance of informal settlement growth with the adopted land use plan: The case of Burayu City, Ethiopia

Tefera Beyera Bayuma ^*

• Policy Studies Institute (PSI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The conformity of informal land use with the planned land use of a city is an unusual phenomenon in informal settlement areas, which requires interpretation of the reasons for the conformity of informal land use. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial impact of informal land use on the plans, determine the extent to which these informal land uses conform to land use plans, and the reasons for this conformity. This study applied a case study with a qualitative and quantitative research approach. The quantitative spatial data in this study was explained and contextualized by qualitative data. Primary data were collected by interviews with eight informal settlers and twelve experts. The secondary data included are the proposed land use map and the city’s parcel-based informal land-use inventory types. The findings revealed, 81% of the informal houses occupied more than 140m2 parcel of land due to demand for larger plots size. This led to a shortage of space for service provision. This study found, 69.10% of informal land use types adhere to the land use plans. This is due to the administrator’s conscious decision to include informal land use in the city's structural plan and the deliberate efforts of informal settlers to be part of the structural plan by obtaining information from city planners. This implies that the behavior of government and individual actors can cause the conformity of informal land use types with the adopted plan.