Large scale land acquisition is a buzzword of the day in the world, more so in Ethiopia. The issue is indeed polarizing, in one hand it is dubbed as land grab and seen as ultimate scramble for land. On the other hand, it is often depicted as key to development, technology transfer and boost in productivity of an otherwise idle land available in Ethiopian lowlands, or somewhere else.

 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.

The Road Selection Model was developed for the purpose of transportation improvement in informal settlements that minimises demolition of houses and compensation costs required in roads widening. The need of the model was to guide and support decision makers on challenges of widening narrow roads for accessibility and mobility improvement as part of upgrading informal settlements.

This paper analyses the resettlement process and procedures followed during the displacement of communities from Kipawa and Kigilagila settlements to pave way for the expansion of the Dar es Salaam International Airport in Dar es Salaam city. The paper is based on findings of a PhD research project carried out between 2010 and 2013 that explored procedures and process which caused displacement of the receiving community while resettling the displaced residents from Kipawa and Kigilagila.

The shifting of national capitals from old cities to new sites was fashionable from the 1956 to 1990s. While in the past this move was politically motivated, in the later decades this shift has been motivated by economic and innovation attributes to establish centres for building states and national identity. Tanzania declared its intention of shifting the national capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 1973. This declaration and the recent establishment of large institutions in Dodoma fuelled its expansion from a small town of about 45,000 people in 1973 to 410,956 people in 2012.