Urban expansion and its socio-economic impacts in Ambo Town, Ethiopia: analysing spatiotemporal trends in land use and land cover using geospatial technologies

Rapid urbanization in developing countries necessitates the need for effective tools to monitor and assess urban sprawl. This study investigates land use/cover change (LULC) patterns in Ambo Town, identifies key drivers of urban expansion and examines socio-economic impacts. We used GIS models such as support vector machine (SVM) classification. Results indicate agriculture and grassland were dominant initially, covering 33.94% and 41.45%, but declined sharply as urban areas expanded. By 2024, urban land grew from 2.92% in 1992 to 16.65%. Grassland and agriculture contributed the most land to urban expansion. Rapid urban growth, driven by expanding built-up areas and the 2019 Town Structure Plan extending boundaries to 8558.37 ha, led to the eviction of 285 farming households with inadequate compensation. The study recommends farmland zoning to protect the remaining agricultural land, vertical urban development to limit urban sprawl, and the establishment of fair compensation and resettlement frameworks and support displaced communities.