THE IMPACT OF URBAN EXPANSION ON THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF ARBAMINCH CITY; GAMO ZONE SOUTH, ETHIOPIA

Abstract Urban expansion in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia, is posing significant challenges due to the lack of proper urban planning. This study focuses on the case of Arbaminch City in the Gamo Zone of the Southern Ethiopia, with the aim of assessing the impact of urban expansion on peripheral farming communities. The researchers utilized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques to analyze the transformation of agricultural land into urban areas. Data sources that were both quantitative and qualitative were used. The change detection method was applied to investigate land use and land cover changes (LULCC). ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 was used to acquire and process Landsat images for the years 1990 and 2020. Land use/land cover maps were created using the Maximum Likelihood Algorithm of Supervised Classification program. A confusion matrix was used to evaluate the accuracy of the classified maps, and the results were higher than the minimum and maximum threshold levels. According to the analysis of satellite images, the built-up areas grew by (5.49)16.66% between 1990 and 2020. Meanwhile, Farmland decreased by 3.49(10.60) over the entire study periods. The study also indicated a decrease in employment opportunity which accounts 26.90% of the household lost their job due to urban expansion. Additionally, 62.07% of the household farmers responded that they are not satisfaction with compensation served for their evacuation due to urban expansion. The study also highlighted an increase in the displacement of households engaged in farming due to urban expansion. Generally, this study provides valuable insights into the impact of urban expansion on peripheral farming communities in Arbaminch city. The findings underscore the need for effective urban planning strategies that consider the preservation of agricultural land and the mitigation of negative consequences on livelihoods.