Rapid Urbanization in Ethiopia: Lakes as Drivers and Its Implication for the Management of Common Pool Resources

Recent history has been marked by a shift from rural to urban living. Studies show that urbanization is most prevalent at coastal areas and river basins and these are the locations where most megacities are established. However, in the African context, there is a deficit of research in this area. The focus of studies in the ‘urban’ field show the expansion of cities towards waterbodies but with little or no attention to the implications of this expansion—‘the rural to urban shift’—particularly as they concern lakes as commons in a rapidly urbanizing world, such as African countries and the Global South. Thus, using the case of lakes in Ethiopia, this study explores the trend of urbanization vis-à-vis lakes and its implications for the management of lakes, where historically the Ethiopian urban system has been characterized by settlements on mountain areas as strategic places located far from water bodies, particularly lakes. Using secondary data on population of urban centers and distribution of lakes in Ethiopia, this paper finds that urban centers that are located adjacent to lakes have been growing faster than those cities and towns that are not. The study argues that lakes are an attraction factor for urbanization. Moreover, rapid urban expansion around lakes implies that, in the future, the management of lakes (as common pool resources) critically depends on how urban centers are planned and managed.