Despite this expansion, only 275 of these urban centers have reached the level of city administration, while more than 2,000 remain at the municipal level. The uneven pace of development has created pressing challenges in governance, land management, and housing. Of the 6.6 million plots in Ethiopia’s cities, only 30 percent have been formally registered. Urban development expert Ato Mibras Mohammed noted that the initial plan was to organize cities under a federal framework. He stressed that while urban population growth is generally a positive trend, the question of how the growth came about should also be considered.