Urban Land Policies in Imperial, Derg, and Post-1991 Ethiopia: A Summary of Policy Continuity and Discontinuity

The article examines the policy continuity and discontinuity of the urban land policies in the three successive regimes of Ethiopia: Imperial, Derg, and post-1991 Ethiopian governments. It followed a qualitative research approach and employed a document analysis technique. During imperial Ethiopia, beginning with the reign of Emperor Menelik II, urban land was governed under a system of private land ownership. During the reign of Emperor Menelik II, although there was no written policy, urban residents were allowed to own and transact urban lands, making land a tradable object. This policy was continued during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, and it was further formalized by a codified policy that makes urban land private property. However, during the Derg regime, a radical policy shift was made. The land became state property by 1975 Proclamation Number 45. Since then, state ownership of land continued to serve as the governing policy of urban land in the country. After the collapse of the Derg government in 1991, the FDRE government maintained the state ownership of land. However, the policy differs from its predecessor in orientation, as the 1995 constitution makes land the joint property of the state and the Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia. This indicates, under the current policy direction, that urban land belongs to states and groups of people rather than to individuals. The result reveals that over the past 1.5 centuries, land ownership in Ethiopia has been governed by policy frameworks that exhibit substantial discontinuity. In this context, it is suggested that urban land policies are required to integrate competing land-ownership approaches to serve the interests of the majority of citizens, particularly in urban centers