Peri-urban areas in Ethiopia like that of other African countries are places where much of urban growth is taking place and as a result the competition for land between agriculture and nonagriculture (urban built-up property) is intense. It is there that new properties and property rights emerge and at the same time the existing traditional or customary rights may also disappear or dissolve. This study has attempted to assess and demonstrate the process of built-up property formation process in the transitional peri-urban areas of Ethiopia.

Periurban areas of growing cities in developing countries have been conceptualised as highly dynamic landscapes characterised by a mixture of socioeconomic structures, land uses and functions. While the body of conceptual literature on periurban areas has significantly increased over the past two decades, methods for operationalising these multi-dimensional concepts are rather limited. Yet, information about the location and areal extent of periurban areas is needed for integrated planning in the urban–rural interface.

The recent decades have witnessed a significant increase in the population in peri-urban areas which led to a progressive transformation of peri-urban landscapes, and the reduced ability of agriculture to provide ecosystem services. In order to understand the complex relationships established in peri-urban areas between reference urban centre, urban services (US) and ecosystem services (ES), with particular attention to the landscape, a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was carried out in the transitional peri-urban areas of six municipalities located near the city of Perugia (Italy).

The report’s findings suggest that policies and programmes of governments and the development partners could include a stronger focus on the development of peri-urban areas and smaller cities and towns. The rapid pace of change in peri-urban areas throws into relief any underlying issues in land tenure arrangements, land administration/planning and governance, such as overlapping mandates, conflicts in tenure systems, weak land administration/planning capacity and wider political economy issues that can block positive reforms.

 Population increase influence the dynamics in land market and agitate land access competition, which results into exclusion of some individuals. Inequality is evident in majority of Tanzanians women, youth, children and elderly. It is more prevalence in land markets where rich individuals are favorable to make choices regarding access to land resources. Owing to potential developments, peri-urban areas are becoming places where changes in land uses and activities take place.

The political dysfunction that had come to characterize an imploding Zimbabwean economy is beyond dispute. This paper explores how a government that had become weakened in the face of a formidable opposition in urban areas turned to use land as a reward for supporters and as a means of luring new members to join the ruling party. It argues that land patronage has been used as a means for legitimating fledgling state rule while undermining the tenure security of the poor.