Land is a single greatest resource of any society so there is a need to ensure good governance in land administration. Efficient, effective, accountable, transparent, participatory and responsive land administration services are as much about the administration of land as they are about the civil service that operates within any country. The general objective of the study was to assess the participation of the populace in the governance and administration of urban land in Abi Adi town. Hence, involvement, representation and consultation and collaboration which are the key principles of participation were used to assess governance of the urban land. The study used 150 randomly selected sample households from the residents of the town. In order to gather the necessary data from the sample households, questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion were used as research instruments or tools. In light of this, descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the data obtained through questionnaire. The data gained from the interview and Focus group discussion was analysed by preparing interview and focus group discussion summary as soon as the interview and Focus group discussion have been undertaken. The study finding indicate that the involvement, consultation and representation of the populace in planning, land delivery, election, land related programs, dispute resolution and decision making is low. Even if the collaboration of the office of land administration with the public is less it shared and exchange information with other institutions and work cooperatively with them. Participation of the populace in land administration increases quality of decision making reduces uncertainty, increases stakeholder’s confidence and guarantees all pertinent decisions. Therefore, the public should participate in land delivery, in planning and conflict resolution. This should be done by inviting the populace when land is delivered to see the delivery process. On the other hand, when plans are made the public should be involved and represented at the woreda council and there should be a chance for the public to give comments on the plans. Beside to the above, conflict should be solved by the participation and involvement of the public.

Keywords: Abi Adi, Collaboration, Consultation, Governance, Involvement, Land, Participation, Representation.