Batch: Masters Urban Management (Live Batch)

Description

Although Ethiopia is one of the least urbanized countries, it is experiencing unprecedented rate of urbanization of about 5% and towns and cities are home to about 16-18% of the country’s population. Rapid urbanization comes with various challenges which state and local planning authorities must deal with. Rapid urbanization exerts pressures on the goods and services provided by state and local planning authorities. The challenges which accompany rapid urbanization include: environmental degradation, spiralling urban poverty, food insecurity, crime, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, slums and squatter settlements, among others. This calls for capacity-building at federal, regional and local levels if Ethiopian cities/towns have to be managed in a sustainable way. A country-wide survey of the disciplines offered in various public universities revealed that although there are disciplines in built environment such as engineering, architecture, sustainable management of cities required managers with broad background due to the diversity and complexity of urban problems. It was, therefore, found necessary to introduce master’s course in urban management whose nomenclature is “Master of Arts in Urban Management”
Cities in Ethiopia are facing increasingly complex challenges in an era of rapid urbanisation and globalisation. At the same time, decentralisation is creating new opportunities for cities to provide better services, alleviate urban poverty and position cities as engines of growth for dependant regions. Many actors involved in urban development do so with limited interaction and coordination. Yet, problems require innovative, multi-actor and multidisciplinary approach. The unique feature of the Master’s Programme is the strong link between theory and practice through the interface between applied research and practical exposure. Participants will receive lectures in theories and concepts, tools, best practices, Federal/Regional/Local policies, strategies and programmes, and write a thesis at the end. The combination of advanced training methodologies and delivery by a select team of experienced academicians and professionals will facilitate the link between theory and practice. The Programme will enable participants:

  • Analyse urban challenges in order to become innovative urban managers;
  • Create sustainable cities and alleviate urban poverty based on a multidisciplinary and multi-actor approach;
  • Enhance technical & managerial capacities of urban governments in sustainable way;
  • Enhance the successful implementation of Government urban development policies, poverty eradication strategies and programs;
  • Promote the success of recent urban reform programs and process of decentralization.

Exit Level Outcomes

Upon completion of Urban Management Masters Programme, the graduate is able to:
1. Demonstrate critical understanding of issues in urban management.
2. Develop and employ strategies that can enhance Public Private Partnerships in urban service provision
3. Design and implement functional urban land development and managements systems
4. Generate policy options and innovative solutions for local problems
5. Design and implement urban development strategies, programmes, and projects in the fields of urban infrastructure, land development, employment, municipal finance among others
6. Develop resource mobilization strategies for implementing different urban development strategies, programmes and projects
7. Design implementation of urban poverty centred development programmes
8. Establish mechanisms for efficient service delivery and customer satisfaction
9. Design and implement management tools to coordinate activities of different municipal departments
10. Design negotiation strategies and decision tools