Moges Wubet Shita is a PhD student in the Geoinformation Research Group at the Vienna University of Technology. His doctoral research is on "The nexus between urbanization and housing in Ethiopia; case study of Debre Markos". There is a growing demand for affordable housing due to population growth and urbanization. In all Ethiopian cities, including Debre Markos, access to affordable housing and land is a serious and emerging issue. Therefore, his research focuses specifically on the relationship between urbanization and housing, the extent of urban expansion, housing preferences, and household affordability in the study area. This should help policymakers to make informed decisions on urbanization and housing. As a result, this will contribute to one of APPEAR's thematic focuses: sustainable economy and urban development.
He participated and presented his paper at the 31st REAL CORP conference, held from March 22-25, 2026, in Vienna. As part of his PhD, he presented his paper at the conference under the title "Spatial Determinants of Urbanization in Debre Markos, Ethiopia: Modelling Building Footprint". From his participation and presentation, he gained a lot of experience; he shared his ideas, spoke, and connected with industrial experts and academicians working on different aspects of urbanization from around the world.
From his PhD research, He recently published an open-access article, Rental housing affordability and spatial variation in rapidly growing urban areas of Ethiopia: evidence from Debre Markos city in the International Journal of Property Market Analysis and Housing. He is the principal author of this article. Since the city is experiencing rapid urban population growth, accessing affordable housing is challenging. This article analyzed the housing affordability status of private rental households in the city. This paper also explores locational factors of housing affordability. Furthermore, it explores the efforts and challenges of affordable housing strategies in the city.
He also published two reviewed conference proceedings in the REAl CORP Conference proceedings. In the first article, Moges was the principal author of “Spatial Determinants of Urbanisation in Debre Markos, Ethiopia: Modelling Building Footprint”. Urbanization has resulted from natural population growth and rural-to-urban migration. However, spatial factors such as Social infrastructure accessibility, Land value, Transportation services, Spatial planning policies, socio-economic factors, and Topographic features can shape the city. This research uses machine learning and econometric models to examine spatial factors and their contributions to urbanization. The result revealed that local government regulatory variables, socio-economic variables, Accessibility to services and infrastructure, and topographic variables were significant determinants of shaping urbanization. The second article, "Spatial Variability of Urban Land Price in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia". This article focused on how location affects land values in the emerging land markets. It identifies the significant contributors to land value and further identifies where land value is high and where it is low. Therefore, the outcome of this article helps spatial and urban planning experts and local administration in making informed decisions.
Since he started his PhD study, he has also published two other reviewed open-access articles in "Land Journal" and one conference proceeding in the International Federation of Surveyors. In February 2024, he also attended a workshop at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland.
Moges received a BSc degree in Land Administration from Bahir Dar University and a Master's degree in Urban Land and Property Valuation from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Before his PhD studies, he worked as a lecturer at Debre Markos University, Ethiopia.
Publications since starting his PhD
Shita M.W., Navratil G., Agegnehu S,K. (2026). Rental housing affordability and spatial variation in rapidly growing urban areas of Ethiopia: evidence from Debre Markos city. International Journal of Housing Markets and
Analysis, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-11-2025-0272
Shita, M. W., Zewale, H. L., & Navratil, G. (2026) Spatial Determinants of Urbanisation in Debre Markos, Ethiopia: Modelling Building Footprint.
Zewale, H. L., Shita, M. W., & Navratil, G. (2026). Spatial Variability of Urban Land Price in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Shita, M. W., Agegnehu, S. K., Nurie, D. F., Dires, T., & Navratil, G. (2024). Factors affecting food security of expropriated peri-urban households in Ethiopia: the case of the East Gojjam administrative zone. Land, 13(11), 1779.
Agegnehu, S. K., Mansberger, R., Shita, M. W., Nurie, D. F., & Mengesha, A. K. (2024). Land rental transactions in Ethiopian peri-urban areas: Sex and other factors for land rent transactions. Land, 13(9), 1344.
Rugema, D. M., Shita, M. W., Agegnehu, S. K., & Hull, S. (2024) Land governance arrangements in operationalizing effective land administration systems: Prospects for evaluation approach.
