Table of content

Page

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………….1

Is previous structure plan was evaluated before the new one……………………………………...…1

Evaluating the Assosa town Structure Plan Study's quality ………………………………………….2

Are thematic areas and their elements assessed?........................................................................3

Are planning issues or problems of thematic area adequately identified?.......................................4

Are planning concerns transferred to the land use plan and road network proposals?....................5

Evaluating the city's vision setting?................................................................................................6

Is the implementation strategy developed with the successful execution of the structure plan
prepared for the city under consideration?.....................................................................................6

Any further ideas, experiences, and abilities you gained while at university?.................................7

A. Incorporating informality into urban and regional planning………………………………7

B. Introducing Ethiopian-based urban planning practice……………………………………8

C. Introducing the system view of planning…………………………………………………..9

D. Communicative planning theory……………………………………………………………9

Reference …………………………………………………………………………………………….….10
Acknowledgment

First of all, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength, passion, and patience to finish
this work. Second of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Berhanu Woldetinase for
initiating and facilitating the internship. Last but not least, I want to say thank you, Mr. Belayneh,
for believing in me to do this task and for your kindness and welcoming. Thank you, sir.
1 Evaluation of Assosa Town Structure Plan 2019

Introduction

The Ethiopian Civil Service University is well-known for offering consultancy and training on a
wide range of urban challenges to several cities and towns. It also helps by developing a structure
plan for each town and city in the country in order to make them more contemporary and
convenient for their residents. Assosa town is one of its initiatives that provided a structure plan
and was completed with the involvement of many stakeholders. The essential thing is to revise
prior town structure plans. The town's structure plan, as we all know, is updated every ten years.
Various towns and cities request the Ethiopian Civil Service University to do a structure plan
modification for an existing city or a new town and city. Because it has so many respected elites
in the urban planning sector, the institution was chosen and recommended to be viewed as an
excellence center in the structure plan sector. The main objective of preparing a structure plan is
to make Ethiopian cities and towns lead and be guided by rules and regulations. and also, to
reduce and give solutions by preparing urban resilient plans for various urban encounters.

The structure plan was originally known as the master plan. The primary reason for changing the
name of the structural plan is to address the town's issues from the ground up. It fills gaps in the
town's economy, government, roads, building, and land usage. The Assosa Structure Plan
agreement was signed in February 2010 G.C. The pan preparation procedure is divided into many
sections. The first step of the plan was to examine the town's current situation by examining it
from many angles, such as housing, roads, drainage system, building usage, economics, tariffs,
demographics, and so on.

The previous SP expired in 2008 G.C and experienced significant obstacles in execution,
including maladministration and a mismatch between what was in the plan and what was
happening on the ground. However, because of the desire to comprehend and provide a solution
to the current urban-rural difficulties that Assosa town was facing, several efforts were made
before it was completed. This entire project was completed in December 2013 G.C. This report
develops the idea of planning monitoring as a framework for evaluating the efficacy of the Assosa
Structure plan and its planning process. The evaluation is based on a system for linking goals
and objectives to a particular policy and program initiatives.

1. Examining if the previous structure plan was evaluated before the new one

There isn't specific paragraph in the report that states that the new Assosa structural plan
examines the previous plan, which expired five years ago when the plan was being prepared. It
lacks the old structural plan's assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and concerns.

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The new structure plan, on the other hand, was developed by assessing the town's physical
characteristics for appropriateness, availability, and achievability and was constructed outside of
current settlement boundaries and regional influential regions. Beginning the town's structural
design surely assists the Assosa town in identifying primary potentials and bottlenecks.

2. Evaluating the Assosa City Structure Plan Study's quality

Assosa Town's new structure plan is split into three components citywide situational study,
proposal, and implementation strategy. However, these procedures do not entirely correspond to
the structure plan manual 2018. It lacks some Structure Plan Preparation and Implementation
procedures.

The new structure plan specifically identified the root causes of the problem and proposed
solutions. The new structure plan conducted multi-sectoral planning issue study by concentrating
on thematic areas such as peri-urban and regional, population and social, urban economic, urban
finance and government, physical and environmental, housing, infrastructure, road, transport, and
land use studies. It delineates future Natural and Man-Made growth routes, as well as the limits
that will apply to them. The revised structure plan forecasted population users and locations for
extra land requirements for service provision and infrastructure. It also identifies the parties in
charge of the plan's development as the Assosa Town Administration of Benishangul-Gumuz
Regional State and the Ethiopian Civil Service University. It generalizes the planning issues by
listing a bunch of negative and positive key findings. Although, this phase lacks to prepare the
existing manmade and natural features of an urban center and its expansion areas base map of
the town. According to Assosa's new structure plan, primary data such as site surveys and
secondary data [literature review] were the key data gathering methods. The overall sorting out
of all the multiple causes for most of the planning problems was extensively explored, but the
overall structure plan lacks identification of prioritizing of significant issues in terms of ranking and
voting for setting the maximum and minimum score points.

The proposal part was developed by considering the planning guide principles, planning
assumptions, and future expansion directions. The proposed vision for the new structure plan is
short and explanatory which indicates the professional and the general public opinions for
combating the existing problems. And also, I believe it was developed according to the local
context by not neglecting the agricultural production potential for sustainable growth. However,
the proposal does not clearly state the goals and objectives based on the vision stated in the plan.
But then again, the plan tried to develop two alternative conceptual plans. And both have their

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advantages and disadvantages. Scenario one is about developing Corridor-Led Spatial Growth
and Maintaining the current urban growth pattern. And the new structure plan chose scenario two
as the best alternative which seeks to integrate and balance the spatial growth than scenario one.
However, I strongly disagree the second alternative is not considering the urban poor and what
those people prioritize [lack of incorporation of the urban poor]. It also neglects the accessibility
for the dominant urban-rural communities living in Assosa town. The proposed Base-map ss
shown in figure 2-2 of Assosa structure plan 2013, represents fine urban grain which is very
convenient for the non-motorized community because it is based on compact development and
accessibility but the proposed plan chose the second alternative [figure 2-3 of Assosa structure
plan 2013] by neglecting the existing street development pattern.

The implementation strategy was developed for effective and smooth implementation of the plan.
It enlarges the implementation guidance framework and designates the implementation bodies.
As the planners considered and described in the study, the issues should be scheduled in
descending order of importance. They also attempted to categorize the execution phase in
chronological order. For instance, two and a half years per phase. They did not, however, suggest
which thematic areas were most in need. Furthermore, it fails to estimate the expenditure for each
priority issue's implementation.

3. Are thematic areas and their elements assessed in accordance with the plan
preparation manual's requirements?

Yes indeed. I believe the new structure plan emerged by offering required inputs to spatial
planners based on analyses done and outcomes from numerous studies of Assosa town and its
effect regions. For instance, in the socioeconomic proposal for the rural community, they tried to
address the gap by incorporating the agrarian population with new urban development in a
sustainable manner. The structure plan aimed to bring together the urban and rural communities
through the incorporation of housing, employment, infrastructure, and service provisions, which
is seen as a positive step. In the housing sector, for example, it attempted to incorporate
contemporary urban planning principles such as land readjustment, condominium housing, and
cooperative housing. As a result, these types of interventions and efforts are required for
sustainable urban expansion.

However, because the rural and urban poor are new to this new contemporary environment, the
plan should contain several techniques of building housing so that they may maintain their
localized character. From the conducted situational analysis, most of the rural and urban poor use

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the local material to construct their houses by using mud and wood just because they are cheap
to construct.

The new structure plan is quite interesting in that it adopts integrative and participative
approaches to land use allocation and links it to anticipated population. This involves preventing
development in well-defined regions for environmental, cultural, and historical reasons. The land
use plan, which is framed by these principles, allocates land for diverse socioeconomic activities,
with the goal of achieving vitality in the local economy and the sustainability of the urban
environment.

4. Are planning issues or problems associated with each thematic area adequately
identified? If so, how? If not, indicate the gap.

Yes, I believe they do. The plan report begins with a peri-urban and regional study, then moves
on to Physical and Environmental sector studies, Population and Social studies, Urban Economy,
Urban Finance & Governance, Urban Economy, Urban Infrastructure sector, and finally Urban
Land Use and Transportation Planning sector studies. The planning concerns were effectively
documented and enumerated in pointing out those main problems and their causes, and even the
report indicated what could be done to battle the problems.

For instance, in the summary of planning issues of Peri-Urban and Regional Sector Study, the
negative and positive major findings of economic, market, and Infrastructure linkages and their
forward and backward factors were identified. They also conduct environmental and natural
resource investigation to fill the gap in truism industry. The social service provision was evaluated
and they suggested the government to fulfil the standard by participating the community at least
to minimize distance and inadequate transport infrastructure.

On the population and social studies front, the findings further showed that a demographic review
found several implications for the Assosa town's population. As a result, the planning issues are
emphasized by defining the problem, its distinctive features, the underlying cause, and giving
solutions for the town. This entails that massive investment in job creation, schools, health
centers, and other recreational facilities, as well as improved social services, is required.

The urban economic sector study, on the other hand, attempted to investigate the potential of the
urban area to bring about sustainable development and growth by analyzing the existing urban
economic situation in terms of characteristics and importance of economic activities from the
perspective of employment observing capacity, growing and declining economic activities, exiting

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economic structure, as well as opportunities and challenges. According to the report, the town's
unemployment rate is greater than the regional unemployment rate. Perhaps this is due to large
migration into the town as well as the private sector's little engagement in employment creation.
The study revealed that the agriculture sector has the ability to meet the raw material needs of
various agro-processing and industrial firms.

The absence of an administrative boundary as a result of territorial disputes and security issues
with neighboring inhabitants was highlighted in an urban finance and governance sector
investigation. The study also revealed that the town's current municipal service delivery and
provision operations make use of outdated and insufficient equipment and resources. These
constraints, along with other related variables, all played a critical role in the evolution of inefficient
service delivery, and the annual budget outlay was not accessible to the general public.

Several issues were highlighted when studying the present condition in the Physical and
Environmental Sector Study, such as Assosa's undeveloped and poorly maintained green areas
and parks. The city lacks its own nursery site, which is an important component of urban
vegetation. Overall, there is a lack of coordination across government institutions, stakeholders,
and community participation. The investigation discovered that the municipality had serious
problems with garbage collection, storage, environmental deterioration, and no system for liquid
waste management, transportation, and disposal.

Numerous problems were identified in the housing sector study, including insufficient public
housing development and poor management, the presence of low-quality or dilapidated housing
units, the presence of informal settlements and problems with tenure security, and a backlog of
housing stock and projected housing needs.

5. Are all of the planning concerns from thematic areas transferred to the land use
plan and road network proposals?

During the proposed plan preparation phase, I am confident that the plan proposal is designed to
serve as a bridge for the town's potential development by taking into account existing constraints
and opportunities, as well as the town's history and contemporary urbanization trends.
Furthermore, as input for the new structure plan proposal, people's interests were gathered
through open discussion sessions. As a fundamental framework, the proposed plan takes into
account the town's relationship with its hinterland, the current structure of the town, the
topographical aspect of the area, and the development in population and activity in the town.

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For example, in the planned land use preparation, the plan aimed for sustainable development
by resolving gaps in the town's current expansion, and the planning team gave special attention
to deciding on disposal sites and other sensitive municipal duties such as cemetery and
slaughterhouse services. The strategy aims to connect present social services with the
underprivileged, who may come from Assosa as well as other hinterland rural communities and
urban areas. In the previously defined environment, the proposal assumes one major center and
four subcenters. An adequate size of the land was recommended for industries and manufacturing
in the town's northwestern and southern parts.

Major roads are scheduled to be built, as well as a half-ring road that will cover the eastern portion
of town and eventually connect to the major routes. Apart from their unique needed criteria,
transportation infrastructure such as bus stations, freight terminals, and taxi terminals are
developed based on the necessity of centrality and area suitability. Apart from those to be
integrated at the local development planning level, the plan highlighted the building of suitable
leisure places that could be clearly visible in the structure plan.

6. Evaluating the city's vision setting?

The vision of the new structure plan is of high quality since it is articulated in a single statement
specifying the year and the town's growth ambitions. In addition, the planning team assessed the
town's potential for growth as well as the center's ability to serve the town and nearby woredas.
They attempted to devise a strategy for Assosa Town to have a good vision. Multiple urban
planning concepts were investigated in the context of Assosa's growth. Among these are the
linear urban planning method, the garden city planning idea, the eco-city, and new urbanism, all
of which include essential principles that are crucial for the growth of urban centers like Assosa.
As a result, the team came up with the vision "to see Assosa town as livable, diverse, and a center
of commerce, Agro-processing, and tourism in 2029." I suppose they were visualizing
development plans for the future expansion of Assosa town and taking into account the existing
agricultural land and water bodies in the surrounding areas, which are equally vital in its future
growth.

7. Is the implementation strategy developed with the main goal of guaranteeing the
successful execution of the structure plan prepared for the town under
consideration?

Planning, as we all know, is a cyclical process that is constantly updated. Implementation plays a
significant role in this process by serving as a guideline for the plan's execution. The Assosa town

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structure plan takes this into account by employing careful implementation procedures and a
logical sequence of activities. The new structure allows the local government to provide effective
management and guidance for the implantation process, which has implications for the plan's
successful implementation. Capacity building for urban local governments to fully understand the
proposed plan and define their specific tasks was also considered for implementation. The
introduction of plan phasing is the other significant change in Assosa's structured plan
implementation strategies. This improves the plan because it is scheduled using rationale and
prioritization. Additionally, the implementation strategy considers the idea of integrating
multisector to align and stick to help the structure be comprehensive. I believe that all of the
initiatives included in the new structural plan's implementation strategy are designed with the
ultimate goal of ensuring effective and smooth plan implementation.

8. Any further thoughts on the prepared plan based on the ideas, experiences, and
abilities you gained while at university?

From my perspective, more effort has to be made on the formulation of urban and regional plans.
As I detected and observed from the prior structural plan or neighborhood development plan, the
proposed plan ignores the urban poor. This creates conflict in both vulnerable groups and the
government. Thus, here are my proposals for Ethiopian towns to effectively change the urban
planning game.

A. Incorporating informality into urban and regional planning

In most towns and cities in Ethiopia, the majority of urban households live in informal settlements
and work in the informal economy. Informal settlements are becoming more important sources of
urban expansion since they are excluded from formal land management and economic activity.
Existing planning and land-use norms and regulations in Ethiopian cities underestimate the scope
of informal land usage. Those who engage in such activities are labelled as social outcasts and
are finally ignored and removed, which means that planners are ill-equipped to deal with the
problem.

Informality is associated with the working poor, whose production is much lower than that of the
modern urban sector. Informal land usage is a symptom of bad urbanization and urban poverty,
as well as failing policies, weak governance, corruption, and dysfunctional land markets. The poor
are particularly affected by environmental degradation, as well as a lack of vital services and
infrastructure in the city's informal settlements. Therefore, planning should intervene, negotiate,
and harmonize conflicting interests in order for Ethiopian’s towns to be appealing to investors.

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Ethiopian structure plan preparation should move forward, as it has become obvious that
planners' abilities demand new knowledge. To address these new problems, indigenous planning
education must be expanded. Planning education should stress the need to broaden planners'
training to encompass topics formerly considered supplementary to planning. It is not necessary
to copy and implement all the western urban planners' practices.

Informality is a phenomenon that did not come up with the planner, but it must be managed via
his/her skill. Traditional planning strategies are unable to address Ethiopia’s present rate of
urbanization. And the present educational programs and laws are insufficient to address the
difficulties brought forth by informality. It is vital to analyze the state of the town’s informality from
a comprehensive perspective, taking into account geographical, social, economic, cultural, and
environmental factors as well as legal constraints. Informality courses, including the concept of
informality, should be incorporated into urban and regional planning programs. It is also critical to
reexamine regulations controlling land use and access. However, relevant town planning
professional organizations must be made aware of the need to incorporate informality.

B. Introducing Ethiopian-based urban planning practice

This planning innovation has the potential to provide much-needed human resources to address
the problem of urban development. Most planning activity in Ethiopian cities and towns is
influenced by planners whose capacities, theory, practice, and models do not relate to the
country’s urban development techniques, as we discovered. To address the difficulties of
Ethiopian urbanism, planning education must propose new solutions to home-based and small-
scale industrious activities such as housing, transportation, and industry. After meeting with local
residents and politicians, planners should develop a well-accepted structural plan. Planning must
take into account "societal values." And planning practitioners must use a community-based
approach and use it as a testing ground for new ways for communities to engage in decision-
making. For a long time, communities were regarded as "receiving" rather than "being on the
receiving end of solutions." It is worth noting once again that dismantling a neighborhood may
require massive resources as opposed to gradually and incrementally recreating it with the
community. By this we can provide excellent opportunities to assist planning innovation,
knowledge development, and making informed planning interventions. For instance, some of the
significant takeaways included the incorporation of environmental measures into a proposed plan
at the micro-level and space confinement technologies that promote productive neighborhood
areas.

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Planning is the process of deciding which specific goals are to be achieved and how these goals
should be achieved. First there must be some problem or goal which prompts the need for a plan
of action - from this a definition of the problems or goals is arrived at. The second stage is to
consider whether there are alternative ways of solving the problem and, if there are, to clarify
which of these is most likely to achieve the desired end. The third stage is then to decide which
of the feasible alternatives is the best way to achieve that end. Rarely are our objectives achieved
perfectly, and even if they are, other objectives (or problems) invariably arise.

C. Introducing the system view of planning

A city can be viewed as a system in which its parts are different land use activities interconnected
via transport and other communications. Town planning can be defined as a form of systems
control exercising intelligent control over a system requires a prior understanding of the system
to be controlled. Any proposed new development plan must be evaluated in terms of its probable
effects, including its effects on activities and places far beyond the actual sites where it is
proposed. By this, the plans of a town may be examined and assessed in terms different from
those which have been typically undertaken by planners.

D. Communicative planning theory

Communication as an interpersonal activity involving dialogue, debate and negotiation was one
of the key concerns of communicative planning theory which came to prominence in these days.
The theory of communication provides us with a theoretical ideal to aspire to in establishing, and
then operating, a participatory process of planning. The ideal is that all communication between
participants should be comprehensible, factually true, sincere, and sincere within a given context.
Communication is itself a precondition of real democracy, and hence of any democratic
participation in planning (or any other) decision making.

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References

(2019). Assosa Town Structure Plan Proposal Summary Report. Ethiopian Civil Service University

(2018). Structure Plan Preparation and. Addis Ababa: Bureau, Urban Plan Preparation and
Implementation Follow Up

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