Urbanisation in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, poses challenges to urban living conditions. Construction and settling processes have largely remained incremental, while in the year 2005 a new national urban policy was introduced. Nadine Appelhans focusses on the relation of statutory planning standards towards practices of everyday urbanisation. The findings from Bahir Dar suggest that socio-economic segregation is furthered. There is hence need for policy revision. The study argues that urban development needs to be locally grounded, differentiated and inclusive, as typologies of neighbourhoods vary. Therefore, a discussion base on issues of urban development in Ethiopian and African cities is provided.