Household-level impacts of urban expansion planning: Evidence from Ethiopia’s urban expansion initiative

Working paper 5 Mar 2026 Cities and Sustainable Growth

This study evaluates a targeted, low-cost infrastructure intervention designed to promote orderly urban growth on the periphery of rapidly expanding Sub-Saharan African cities. Using survey data from 4,000 households in planned and informal expansion areas, it assesses impacts on income, health, services, and livelihoods to determine whether simple arterial road grids generate benefits that justify their cost.