Exploring the effects of the existing military camp on the expansion and socio-economic aspect of the city: the case of Shashemene city, Ethiopia

Abstract

Urban land use change may be characterized as the transformation of land use, i.e., from one type of land use into various urban activities including residential, commercial, and other urban services (Mekuriaw Alemu, 2018). This research's objectives include assessing the socioeconomic impacts of the former military camp in Shashemene City, examining the distribution of land uses, and planning and developing the required and appropriate land uses for the study region. The study is focused on the socioeconomic impact, psychological effect and land-use functions of the Shashemene military camp and is only performed inside the city of Shashemene. For this study, stratified and purposive sampling methods are used. The respondents were chosen using a stratified random sample approach that represents their groups or strata, which is 15 respondents from the residents of the camp, 24 from each of the surrounding society, local business owners, students and staff of the adjacent educational institutions and transport service providers (bajaj). To meet the objectives of the study, the data was acquired via a variety of different data gathering techniques and the data gathered vie questionnaire was tabulated and analyzed using analytic softwares like Minitab, SPSS and Excel. To examine the effect of the camp on the expansion of the city geospatial softwares like ArcGIS pro and google earth has been used. The quantitative and qualitative properties of the data, which was obtained from primary and secondary data sources are presented as a narrative description, serve as the basis for the analysis. According to the findings of the study on the impact on city growth, the camp initially had a good and constructive impact on the city's expansion (1955 e.c.), but with time it evolved to have a destructive and detrimental impact on the city's current growth. Additionally, the outcome demonstrates that the camp has a major detrimental impact on all participants and their social life. The outcomes indicate that the camp and its activities have a severe psychological influence on both the camp's residents and the residents of the surrounding area. According to the economic effect analysis, the camp restricts business options and creates difficulties for the neighborhoods. The majority of respondents (82%) claimed that it will be advantageous if the camp is relocated and converted to other land uses. In this regard, the study comes to the conclusion that the camp is unfavorable to the socioeconomic development, residents?��? psychological makeup, and urban expansion. And suggested that the camp should be relocated and the land's purpose changed to one of commercial, mixed use, and residential.