Assessment of the Spatio-temporal Pattern, Cause, and Consequence of Informal Settlement using Geo-spatial Techniques: The case of Tercha Town, Dawuro Zone, South West Ethiopia.

Abstract

Informal settlement can be defined as any form of illegal housing, shelter, or settlement that falls outside of government control or regulation or is not afforded protection by the state. Currently, an informal settlement has become a source of social, political, and economic problems in parts of Ethiopian towns. Tercha town also has similar characteristics as other towns of our country on informal settlement. Analyzing the assessment of the Spatio-temporal Pattern, Causes, and Consequences of Informal Settlement through Geospatial Techniques is the main objective of this thesis whereas analyzing the land use land cover pattern of the study area from 2001 to 2021. To achieve the main and specific objective of the study mixed approach that comprises social and spatial analysis techniques was used. The pattern of settlement decreases agricultural land and forest land areas by 23.14 %( 2651.83ha) and 3.03%, (346.27ha) and increases the buildup areas by 9.78% (236.87) to (1356.85ha) over the last twenty years by changing land use land covers. The cause of the expansion of informal settlement in the study area originate from different sources; Current political situation, population growth, weak governance, land lease expensiveness, land speculation, high house rent at the center, the land market value increases, too weak law enforcement with the existing policy was among listed by respondents. The consequences of the expanding informal settlements include challenges to the implementation of the structural plan of the town, violation land use plan, loss the revenue, encroachment of good agricultural land, high rate of social vices, deforestation, and inadequate infrastructure.