Investigating the most essential skills of planners in Ethiopia's Amhara National Regional State's Regiopolitan cities

Workineh, Nigatu Amsalu Article Investigating the most essential skills of planners in Ethiopia's Amhara National Regional State's Regiopolitan cities Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Provided in Cooperation with: Springer Nature Suggested Citation: Workineh, Nigatu Amsalu (2022) : Investigating the most essential skills of planners in Ethiopia's Amhara National Regional State's Regiopolitan cities, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ISSN 2192-5372, Springer, Heidelberg, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-022-00265-w This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/290226 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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RESEARCH Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-022-00265-w Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investigating themost essential skills ofplanners inEthiopia’s Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities Nigatu Amsalu Workineh* Abstract This study intends to answer the specific skills and skills Ethiopian planners, particularly Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities planners, require the most in their urban planning profession. In today’s urban world, understanding city dynamics, forecasting and predicting vibrant cities, making urban planning decisions and putting them into practice, collaborating with stakeholders from various governments and educational backgrounds, persuading people to accept urban plans, and building good personal and skilled relationships have all become highly complex and challenging. As a result, to succeed in their jobs in Ethiopia, planners must possess particular skills. This study looks into the essential skills that planners require in today’s dynamic and complex urban environment. The investigation was conducted in Ethiopia as part of a more extensive regional study of Regiopolitan cities. A structured questionnaire survey of 104 experienced planners was undertaken, and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 9 key informants to investigate the essential planners’ skills in the Ethiopian planning system to find the essential skills needed in practice. The findings demonstrate that an urban planning method in Regiopolitan cites of Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia urban planning system is such practical planners who wish to carve out a position for them must equip themselves with analytical and synthesis skills. Finally, the study included recommendations for improving planners’ future skills and more research into the matter. Keywords: Cities, Ethiopia, Planners, Skills, Urban Introduction Urban areas currently have more than half of the world’s population. Furthermore, due to the push and pull dynamics that drive people to urban areas in search of more essential economic possibilities and more standard quality of life, the rate of urbanization in developing countries is increasing. However, as urbanization increases, skilled planners would be required to fulfill the increased demand for services and amenities that are insufficient for city dwellers. One of the current issues facing high-rate urbanizing countries is the lack of skilled planners in the planning system. As a result, the current issues in developing countries demand some specific planning skills for planners to *Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Land Administration and Surveying, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia Page 2 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 succeed in a professional environment with various planning processes (Bahrainy & Fallah Manshadi, 2017). Skills and methodologies connected to planning analysis and interactive and communication skills are examples of particular skills (Greenlee etal., 2015). Additionally, various actors in the urban planning process interact on a complexly interwoven mix of themes, including elected officials, skilled staff, corporate people, nongovernmental organizations, and others (Throgmorton, 2021). As a result, planners work with various players, including residents, legislators, and developers, to make decisions regarding places and societies, their debated practices, and the complexity of power relations. Actors typically respond to planners in terms of their interests, values, and tales, which might influence the activities of planners. It is essential, but not sufficient, to drive the city’s growth in a preferred, possibly better, direction. There are various reasons for inadequacy, but planners’ skills are the most common (Throgmorton, 2021). Although there is a growing of research on urban planner skills in planning education, it is frequently critiqued for being overly theoretical (Pojani etal., 2018). An urban planner with meeting facilitation skills, for example, may not be sufficient; they must comprehend the underlying nature of political processes in planning (Das etal., 2020). As a result, planners are expected to work in various settings, requiring the application of both theoretical and technical skills (Planning Institute of Australia, 2015). Because it is the unsteady, constantly renegotiated resolution of various inconsistencies, paradoxes, and conflicts, urban planners work is more difficult to practice (Fischler, 2012). Most urban planners use experiential learning strategies to apply spatial planning and design theories to real-world circumstances, putting development practices in a theoretical context (Balassiano, 2011; Nemeth & Long, 2012). Instead, urban planning is viewed as a technical and value-free activity for defining problems, developing solution choices, and selecting among them to attain an apparent, rather than contested, common good. As a result, planners are viewed as value-neutral specialists whose influence on planning processes is often uncontested. Governments and agencies use guidance to guide planning policies and influence planning practices in the direction they wish. However, a literature review revealed a lack of studies planners’ skills in developing nations, particularly Ethiopia. The questions here are about the essential skills of planners in the execution of the urban planning process in cities because studies have shown that there are gaps in the essential urban planner skills used in city planning. Furthermore, the results of previous studies on the essential skills of planners in the urban planning process vary. They also concentrated on urban planning educational skills but not essential urban planner skills in city planning execution. Furthermore, just a few studies have focused on identifying and rating the most significant urban planning skills. Planners’ practical skills in tackling various issues in preparing and implementing urban plans in towns and cities are also lacking. Furthermore, the researcher has discovered from experience and research that various urban planners have different skills in urban planning. Page 3 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 Based on a preliminary assessment of related literature, it was discovered that there had been insufficient research on the topic in Ethiopia in general and Regiopolitan centers in the Amhara National Regional State in particular. As a result, the study looks into planners skills, precisely the essential practical urban planner skills required for excellent urban planning practice but are understudied and show disparities in study outcomes. Therefore, this research had two goals. It sought to identify various planner skills and highlight the essential skills for planners in Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State’s major cities. To achieve the study’s above goals, the following questions about planners skills in urban planning in Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities: 1. What are the various skills that planners have in the field of urban planning? 2. What are the essential skills for planners in urban planning? Literature review Skills ofplanners The skills of planners in urban planning and which skills are required for planners who participate in practice to thrive in the skilled course of planning are essential subjects to be researched. The skills needed in urban planning have been discussed in this section. The research also compared the arguments in the papers with those in the Ethiopian system, particularly Regiopolitan cities of Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State. Urban planners face too many new challenges and opportunities every day in their careers (Yomtov, 2015). Is an urban transportation system synchronized with the alarmingly growing population? Is sufficient housing being built to meet augmented demand? Will there be sufficient places to shop or adequate businesses to provide employment? These are the challenging questions an urban planner grapples with every day. Urban planning challenges such as population growth, climate change, resource scarcity, slum growth, increased poverty, and safety and security are unsolved common assignments to urban planners. Currently, literature on the skills of urban planners in an educational context is increasing globally. There were studies on the skills of urban planners focusing on planning education but the empirical results on the most essential skills were not the same. Moreover, most urban planners were not having the skills of working with those challenges and problems (Yomtov, 2015). The skills and competencies of urban educational planners were categorized into six types in studies. Writing, communication, analysis, design, management, planning history, and theory were among the skills required (Ozawa & Seltez, 1999; Seltez & Ozawa, 2002). The other study which had done a special assessment on urban planners’ skills was in Southern California. The study considered skills such as communicational skills, report writing, regulations and policies, familiarity with laws, effective presentation, management, understanding customer and public needs, writing for government, Page 4 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 quantitative analysis, and technical skills. The surveys on 638 planning, planning-related as well as non-planning experts studied which career skills they value most. Urban planners’ skills were ranked and communication skills, particularly report writing and writing for government are the most important skills for planners (Guzzetta & Bollens, 2003). Moreover, there is a difference between locally specific and global urban planning abilities and divided urban planners’ skills into three analytical, technical, and political (Horen etal., 2004). According to them, analytical abilities were skills such as problem structuring, problem-solving, offering a creative and novel framework for dealing with complex problems, ability to integrate social, economic, political, and institutional dimensions to comprehend urban and rural changes and growing quality, and the way of changing this knowledge into action. As well, as technical ability skills such as statistics, sociology, economics, Geographic Information System (GIS), decision-making mechanism, graphic, special software, and basic design, planning law knowledge, report writing, ecologic analysis, and urban planning and project management. Socio-political ability was other abilities which include institutional communications, citizen involvement, discord solving, communication, negotiation, and facilitator. Besides, communication skills become essential in recent years. Moreover, Royal Town Planning Institute emphasized skills including negotiation, mediation, advocacy, and teamwork in urban planning (Ellis etal., 2008). The other important skills for urban planners in the twenty-first century are competence building for thinking, critical investigating, communication with different professions and communities, and strategic act (Budge, 2009), He also introduces certain general skills for urban planners like negotiation, project management, conflict resolution, practical knowledge, and planning law. The skills of planners were also listed as research ability and data collection, problem formulation, quantity, and computer analysis, oral & graphic presentation, writing, cooperative problem-solving, plan to make, and action plan (Bayer etal., 2010). According to this study result, the most essential skills for an urban planner were having holistic thinking about problems and objectives. Then, based on the literature analysis, the skills of planners were also classified into six general categories including presenting, communication, design, management, creative skills, and analytical and synthesis skills (Bahrainy & Fallah Manshadi, 2017). Their findings revealed that teamwork, research method and data collecting, and technical skills are the most essential at the undergraduate level in Iran. In contrast, problem definition, analytical skills, and oral presentation are essential to graduate level. Managerial skills aren’t essential at either level. A recent study classified urban planner skills into eighteen categories, including teamwork, management, negotiation, presentation, communication skills with your team, communication with the community, problem-solving, finding alternatives, report writing, data collection methods, data research, innovation and creativity, data analysis, self-learning, scientific research, evaluation, and criticism, and using references (Megahed etal., 2019). According to this study’s findings, communication and negotiation skills and information gathering and data processing skills are essential for graduates. However, a thorough examination of the existing research Page 5 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 on planner skills aligned with professional practice finds gaps and flaws. Planners’ practical skills in tackling various issues in preparing and implementing urban plans in towns and cities are also lacking. Furthermore, the researcher has discovered from experience and research that various urban planners have different skills in urban planning. Urban planning educational skills were also studied, but not actual urban planner skills planners in the execution of urban planning in cities. Furthermore, the methodology for investigating these flaws must begin with the concerned experienced planners. A review of data and materials from concerned professionals regarding the key skills planners in urban planning would be another potential path of inquiry. Finally, the study of planner skills enhances planners’ comprehension of the actual condition of cities. According to the literature review, it may also raise planners’ skills to acquire product review’s planning work. As a result, the research is essential for today’s urban planners. Urban planning andplanners inEthiopia All Ethiopia is listed as among the least urbanized countries in the world even in subSaharan Africa (UNHABITAT, 2008). However, it is one of the fastest urbanizing nations with numerous urban challenges and problems which require proper urban planning. Though fast urbanization, the urban planning experience in Ethiopia has a short history (NUPI, 2008). Urban planning practice in the country indicated many recognized urban centers have no good plans to guide their rapid urbanization. They face challenges in putting their ideas into action and the fast urbanization in Ethiopia has indicated numerous challenges in different aspects. This is because inefficient urban planning resulted from insufficient urban planning skills for managing urbanization. In recent years, Ethiopia has experienced urban planning processes that have been practical to develop Ethiopian cities. However, urban planning has been unsuccessful to tackle the challenges and the problems facing the cities and towns. Hence, the status of urban planning and skills in urban planning in Ethiopia in general and Regiopolitan cities of Amhara National Regional State, in particular, seem to be an infant stage. Besides, getting literature on a particular topic was hardly easy. Thus, adopting an improved urban planning approach became the focused issue in the past few years in the country for those who have concerns about urban planning. Therefore, the federal urban development policy document prepared in 2006 stated two major problems of Ethiopian urban centers. They are developmental problems and problems of democratization and good governance. According to this document, problems of democratization and good governance were lack of political, administrative, and economic decision-making autonomy, lack of democratic thinking on the duties and responsibilities of urban society, lack of community participation in development endeavors, lack of support for private sectors participation in urban development activities, absence of transparency, responsibility, and justice in the urban bureaucratic system due to the capacity problem in leadership and limited right on local resource (revenue) mobilization (Workineh, 2021). It had been clearly stated that the skills of urban planners as one of the problems in the Ethiopian urban development process. However, what were the most essential skills was the unanswered question then and today. Page 6 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 Therefore, for urban development planning and implementation to be effective, the skills of urban planners in the process are needed so that urban challenges and problems can be tackled through proper planning. Hence, there should be a need for a greater role of skilled planners in urban planning. Urban planning proclamation No. 574/2008 has been also proclaimed as a legal framework that stipulates the importance of urban planning and skills. One of the reasons for the urban planning proclamation 574/2008 of Ethiopia has enacted was to create a favorable condition for every citizen in the urban process for a better quality of life. Moreover, the revised proclamation for the establishment, organization and definition of powers and duties of urban centers of the Amhara national regional state Proclamation No. 91/2003 of chapter nine in preparation of urban plans states that the urban planners should have skills to enable the stakeholders beneficial from the urban planning process. Currently, these were some of the evidence that there is the existence a deficiency of knowledge in the answering the critical question, what were the most essential skills of urban planner professionals in Ethiopia, particularly, in Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities. Therefore, identifying the most essential skills of urban planners was an important topic for investigation. Methods andmaterials Location oftheresearch area The research was conducted in the Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities in Ethiopia’s northwestern and north-central regions. The study was carried out in all of the region’s urban cities, including Bahir Dar, Gonder, Dessie, Kombucha, Debre Birhan, and Derbere Markos. Research design Amhara National Regional State’s Regiopolitan cities were mentioned, and there are six Regiopolitan cities with structural plans. Structural plans are higher-order plans that are more difficult to create and implement in urban areas. As a result, the researcher purposefully selected Bahir Dar, Gonder, Dessie, Kombolcha, Debre Birhan and Debre Markos Regiopolitan cities. The plan’s similarity, complexity (higher-order plan), and plans to provide service to a more considerable population of residents in the region were all factors in choosing these cities. They are the cities in which the majority of urban planning efforts are taking place. The study also included the Amhara National Regional State urban development, housing, and construction bureau, Amhara National Regional State urban planning institute, West Gojam, East Gojam, North Gonder, South Wollo, and North Shewa zone urban development, housing, and construction department, Bahir Dar, Gonder, Dessie, Kombolcha, Debre Birhan, and Derbere Markos city administrations as the zonal and regional organizations involved in urban planning. Because it involves primary data sources on the subject under inquiry, the study used a purposeful (non-probability) sampling strategy. The purposive sampling technique was chosen to research the essential urban planner skills required because it requires particular understanding and awareness about urban planners skills. As a result, the non-probability sampling, Page 7 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 purposive (judgmental) selection was administered to planners from the Amhara National Regional State urban development, housing and construction bureau, Amhara National Regional State urban planning institute, West Gojam, East Gojam, North Gonder, South Wollo & North Shewa Zone urban development, housing and construction department, Bahir Dar, Gonder, Dessie, and Amhara National Regional State urban development, housing and construction department, Bahir Dar. The actors (sample frame), sample size, sampling procedure, and the explanation for the researcher’s choice of the method are listed in Table1. The study used both primary and secondary data collection instruments to gather the necessary information. Questionnaires and key informant interviews were used to collect the primary data sources. Secondary data were gathered from written materials related to the study, such as books, journals, articles, and records. Both qualitative and quantitative data were employed in the study. Structured questionnaires for planners were created to obtain relevant data in this vein. In addition, nine significant informants were interviewed (three from Amhara National Regional State urban development, housing and construction bureau and Amhara National Regional urban planning institute, three from urban zone development, housing and construction department, and three from Regiopolitan cities). In terms of data analysis, both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources were studied following the essential urban planner skills for good urban planning and the skilled planners’ duties. The analysis that was performed is quite good at assessing quantitative data. Furthermore, Henry Garrett’s Ranking Technique assessed the necessary urban planner skills for effective urban planning. The researcher may use the Garret ranking approach to determine the preference among the variables, and it is straightforward to utilize (Dhanavandan, 2016). Table 1 Sampling design Source: developed by the researcher, 2021 No. Sampling frame Sample size Sampling technique Reasons for choose 1 Key informants were interviewed from Amhara National Regional State offices, Zonal offices, and Regiopolitan cities 9 Judgmental sampling Only concerned experts and leaders would have the correct information and knowledge about the issue that the researcher wants to know 2 Planners from Amhara National Regional State offices 50 2 Planners from five-zone Urban Development, Housing and Construction Department (3 in each city) 15 3 Planners from six Regiopolitan cities Amhara National Regional State (5 in each city) 30 Total 104 Page 8 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 As a result, the formula transformed the respondents’ order of value into a rank. Garrett’s ranking technique was utilized to determine the respondents’ most essential urban planner skills. According to this method, respondents were asked to rate all skills. And the results of that ranking were then transformed into a score value using the formula below: where Rij = rank given for the ith variable by jth respondents, Nj = number of variables ranked by jth respondents. The % position estimated is transformed into scores using Garrett’s table. The scores of each individual are then totaled for each skill. And the total value of scores and mean values of the scores are calculated. The skills with the most incredible mean value are thought to be the most important for urban planners. In addition, several narrations were employed in the study’s analysis to explain the findings based on qualitative data from key informant interviews. The study’s findings were presented in various ways, including tables, Henry Garrett’s Ranking Technique, and descriptions, to address the fundamental urban planner skills for good city planning and planners skilled flexibility in completing their jobs. Finally, the study’s findings were presented in the order of their importance and frequency. Results anddiscussion Results Skills ofplanners Garrett’s ranking method was used to determine the most essential skills for good urban planning. The respondents were asked to rank the skills from 1 to 9, with 1 being the most basic and 9 being the least basic. The methodology mentioned in the techniques and materials section transformed the respondents’ orders of value into rank. (1) Percent position = 100 Rij −0.5 N j , Table 2 Preference and ranking of planners skills by the respondents Source: Field survey, 2021 No. Skill as variable/factors Rank has given by the respondents 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 1 Able to produce detailed and accurate plan/design 9 27 24 12 10 8 3 1 1 2 Analytical and synthesis skills 32 30 9 10 8 3 1 1 1 3 Communication skills 6 10 29 20 13 6 9 1 1 4 Innovation and creativity skill 4 5 14 22 33 9 5 1 1 5 Management skill 0 2 0 4 5 15 17 29 23 6 Patience 1 3 2 2 8 9 15 20 35 7 Presentation skills 1 6 8 10 12 31 17 9 1 8 Self-learning and using references skill 2 3 7 12 24 28 14 3 2 9 Teamwork 1 2 3 6 17 17 27 21 1 Page 15 of 15 Workineh Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022) 11:67 Krosnicka, K. (2020). Students’ soft urban planning skills and local development are the benefits from the Fair of Good Practice. Small cities-big challenges programme. 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