In Ethiopia, the flourishing of industrial parks in the suburbs of major urban centers is a recent phenomenon. The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on the emerging industrial parks and prospects of cluster cities. The aim of this article is to explore the different urban planning measures employed during the pandemic and to propose sound planning methods for the development of sustainable industrial-oriented urban centers. In Ethiopia, industrial-oriented urbanization started in the 1920s with the advent of the railway line. Currently, more than 25 industrial park-based cluster cities have flourished adjacent to cities. A number of initiatives have been undertaken by major stakeholders in these cluster cities to combat COVID-19. Their efforts, however, were made difficult because urban planners were not proactive and did not have foresight in the selection of sites that can mitigate the impact of COVID-19 or other similar pandemics. The researchers believe the problem could have been addressed if the planners used a science-based, human-focused, computer-aided decision-making approach, i.e., space syntax. Therefore, this article recommends that planners become proactive and work in collaboration with different stakeholders for the creation of resilient and livable industrial parks-oriented urban centers.

This article examines evolution of trans-regional Ethio-Djibouti railway corridor and its impact on urbanization. Exploratory and descriptive research methods were employed to examine the impact of this railway corridor. Case study also applied to examine eight selected intermediate cities. The article points out that, the Ethio-Djibouti railway corridor conceived different kinds of linear urban centers ranging from small towns to intermediate cities around stations. Those urban centers have been attracting industries along their fringes that leads to rural urban continuum ribbon urbanization. As the old railway line deteriorated, these linear urban centers on the railway corridor had also been declining from time to time. In 2011 new project was started to construct the Ethi-Djibouti standard gauge railway parallel to the old railway line. This new standard gauge railway infrastructure adopts ‘peripheral station’ development approach, which provides a room for width expansion for station based urban centers. It also attracts industries in a form of special economic zones, which causes for labour migration from rural and nearby small urban centers that caused rural-urban continuum of ribbon settlement; strengthen trade gate way for the landlocked Ethiopia that caused trans-regional integration.