The Greening of Mekelle, Capital City of Tigray in Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

It took more than ten thousand years, up to 1960, for the world"s urban population to reach one billion people. The next billion was achieved in 25 years (1960-1985) and the third billion 17 years (1985-2002). The increase in urban populations from three billion to four billion took only 10 years (2002-2012) [1]. Urbanization, the migration of people from rural to urban locations, is among the most important economic and social changes occurring in low-and middle-income nations. Population size and its rate of change in urban centres are influenced not only by international and national factors but also by local factors related to the particular local context such as site, location, natural resource endowment, demographic structure, existing economy and infrastructure (the legacy of past decisions and investments) and the quality and capacity of public institutions [2]. Ethiopia has one of the lowest percentages of urban dwellers in the world. Urbanization is nonetheless proceeding apace. From a little over 6 per cent of the total in 1960 the proportion of urban dwellers rose to over 20 per cent in 2017 [3]. In addition to the factors listed in the preceding paragraph those propelling urbanization in Ethiopia include rainfall variability and its long term decline in a primarily agrarian economy [4-65]. Employment opportunities in cities are one of the main pull factors of rural-urban migration involving higher wages than obtainable in rural areas. Other factors include the provision of education and the availability of medical services. Poor living conditions, limited availability of land for agriculture and the lack of opportunities for paid employment in rural areas are push factors for the move from rural to urban environments. The impact of urbanization on local temperatures has been investigated since the 1980s and the increase in temperature has been called the "Urban Heat Island" effect. Transition from a rural to an urban situation results in changed landscape conditions and modification of the urban climate with concomitant problems including water use and quality, increased air pollution and production of solid waste and sewage. Rapid and increased urbanization is expected to lead to considerable impacts on a broader scale, especially in developing countries. These impacts will include greater energy use, increased demand for goods and services and other resources demand. Changes in food supplies, Abstract:: Mekelle is the economic, cultural and social centre of northern Ethiopia. Its area and population, following a period of slow growth, both expanded rapidly in the 1980s to the 2010s. Consequent on a series of droughts and famines in the early 1970s efforts were made to prevent the degradation of the local environment by terracing steep hillsides and planting trees as anti-erosion measures. In the long term these tentatives were less than completely successful. Vegetation in church compounds at that time wasand still is-an important green area and was partially representative of the historic vegetati...