Urban land policy and its administration in Addis Ababa: a perception study

The Ethiopian government has established a land administration system to implement land policy principles outlined in the Constitution, the Urban Land Development and Management Policy and Strategy (ULDMPS), and the Urban Land Lease Holding Proclamation No. 721/2011. This study assesses the implementation of urban land policy in Addis Ababa through the lens of global land administration principles, focusing on the perceptions of land administration experts. A mixed-methods approach was used, gathering primary data from 318 experts at federal, city, and sub-city levels working in land development and management offices across Addis Ababa. This was supplemented by 30 in-depth interviews. Preliminary interviews identified six key themes affecting policy implementation: alignment between policy goals and administrative practices, distribution of policy benefits, operational performance of the Land Development and Management (LDM) Office, urban land supply for affordable housing and redevelopment, persistence of informal properties, and protection of public land from illegal occupation. Reliability analysis showed moderate to good consistency among expert responses, with intra-class correlation coefficients ranging from 0.562 to 0.857. The findings reveal significant gaps between policy intentions and implementation outcomes, emphasizing the need for improvement in Ethiopia’s urban land administration system. The study highlights areas where current practices fall short and offers evidence-based insights to support informed decision-making by city officials. The paper recommends institutional reforms, improved transparency, increased citizen participation, and technology-driven solutions to strengthen land administration processes and rebuild public trust in Addis Ababa’s land governance system.