Towards sustainable urban development: the social acceptability of high-rise buildings in a Ghanaian city

Over the years, many city managers, policy makers and academics alike have turned to high-rise buildings as pathway to sustainable urban development. However, the sustainability of such types of development in various geographical contexts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is a subject less explored. Amidst the promotion of high-rise development in a rapidly urbanizing metropolis in Ghana, Kumasi, the research empirically examined the social acceptability of high-rise residential facilities and the institutional capacity for their effective management. By conducting face-to-face interviews with sampled households, and critical public service providers in the metropolis, the study uncovered that, contrary to the evidence from many Asian cities, there is generally low social acceptability of high-rise developments, and a weak institutional capacity for effective service delivery. The research concludes that, whilst it is tempting to embrace high-rise buildings as sustainable development pathway, it is crucial they are pursued with much circumspection. In addition to their design being tailored to the local needs of the people for whom they are built, the promotion of high-rise development should recognize the importance of effective service delivery, and general social acceptability

The emergence of city-regions and their implications for contemporary spatial governance: Evidence from Ghana

Over the years, urbanization has triggered complex spatial processes, such as the evolution of city-regions that defy traditional administrative regional boundaries. However, despite the growing body of research on city-regions, the evolution of this phenomenon and its implications for contemporary spatial governance remains a huge gap in urban planning literature, while approaches to their delineation have largely been restricted to commuting patterns data and approximations. This research examines the emergence of city-regions and their implications for contemporary spatial governance using Ghana as an illustrative case. In the process, inspired by Tobler’s first law of geography and the concept of distance decay, the study engages a unique methodological approach that uses spatial mapping of rural-urban population continuum, transportation network, built-up patterns and GIS techniques for the delineation of city-region. The research finds a gap between the rapidly emerging spatial structure of Accra and the operational governance framework, as there is no provision in the latter for the planning and management of the evolving city-region which, territorially, spans multiple administrative regions. At the local context, while making the lagging spatial governance system more responsive to the dynamically evolving spatial structure, it is imperative that urban policy recognises city-regions, such as the Accra City Region (ACR), and their diverse opportunities; plan for them through joint development planning boards; and foster natural coordination even among local planning authorities across different administrative regions. At the global scale, the research practically illustrates that alternative methodologies based on spatial mapping and GIS techniques could provide useful insights into the study of city-regions

Simulating the urban growth of a predominantly informal Ghanaian city-region with a cellular automata model: Implications for urban planning and policy

This paper explores two main objectives: first, simulates the urban growth of a Ghanaian city-region with a CA model, drawing implications for urban planning and policy; and, second, explores the sensitivity of CA models to predominantly informal and un-regulated urban growth trajectories. CA model, SLEUTH, is calibrated for Accra city-region, and the results are triangulated with, knowledge from key local stakeholders, and findings from existing studies. The study finds that, compared with cases around the world, urban expansion in Accra city-region is highly spontaneous, rapid and unguided; and new developments fast turn into urban growth nuclei. These have reflected in a sharp rise of the city-region’s land under built-up from less than 4 percent in 1990 to about 15 percent in 2015, and it is further simulated to reach around 33 percent by 2040, posing serious challenges to urban management, and threats to sustainable development. The Ghanaian planning system faces the option of swiftly addressing emerging unguided developments or wait and be confronted with a more daunting challenge of managing multiple informal growth nuclei. We also find that the applied CA model is sensitive to the highly informal urban growth trajectory of the city-region. Going forward, it is imperative for policy makers to build a more proactive, stronger and functional planning system; treat every single informal development as a potential threat to urban sustainability; and target pressure areas of expansion. The model’s sensitivity to the growth trajectory of Accra city-region suggests that CA models could function as decision support tools even in overwhelmingly informal and less regulated contexts like Ghana

Simulating the urban growth of a predominantly informal Ghanaian city-region with a cellular automata model: Implications for urban planning and policy

This paper explores two main objectives: first, simulates the urban growth of a Ghanaian city-region with a CA model, drawing implications for urban planning and policy; and, second, explores the sensitivity of CA models to predominantly informal and un-regulated urban growth trajectories. CA model, SLEUTH, is calibrated for Accra city-region, and the results are triangulated with, knowledge from key local stakeholders, and findings from existing studies. The study finds that, compared with cases around the world, urban expansion in Accra city-region is highly spontaneous, rapid and unguided; and new developments fast turn into urban growth nuclei. These have reflected in a sharp rise of the city-region's land under built-up from less than 4 percent in 1990 to about 15 percent in 2015, and it is further simulated to reach around 33 percent by 2040, posing serious challenges to urban management, and threats to sustainable development. The Ghanaian planning system faces the option of swiftly addressing emerging unguided developments or wait and be confronted with a more daunting challenge of managing multiple informal growth nuclei. We also find that the applied CA model is sensitive to the highly informal urban growth trajectory of the city-region. Going forward, it is imperative for policy makers to build a more proactive, stronger and functional planning system; treat every single informal development as a potential threat to urban sustainability; and target pressure areas of expansion. The model's sensitivity to the growth trajectory of Accra city-region suggests that CA models could function as decision support tools even in overwhelmingly informal and less regulated contexts like Ghana

Towards sustainable urban development: the social acceptability of high-rise buildings in a Ghanaian city

Over the years, many city managers, policy makers and academics alike have turned to high-rise buildings as pathway to sustainable urban development. However, the sustainability of such types of development in various geographical contexts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is a subject less explored. Amidst the promotion of high-rise development in a rapidly urbanizing metropolis in Ghana, Kumasi, the research empirically examined the social acceptability of high-rise residential facilities and the institutional capacity for their effective management. By conducting face-to-face interviews with sampled households, and critical public service providers in the metropolis, the study uncovered that, contrary to the evidence from many Asian cities, there is generally low social acceptability of high-rise developments, and a weak institutional capacity for effective service delivery. The research concludes that, whilst it is tempting to embrace high-rise buildings as sustainable development pathway, it is crucial they are pursued with much circumspection. In addition to their design being tailored to the local needs of the people for whom they are built, the promotion of high-rise development should recognize the importance of effective service delivery, and general social acceptability

Understanding the urban spatial structure of Sub-Saharan African cities using the case of urban development patterns of a Ghanaian city-region

Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa are undergoing massive spatial transformation owing to rapid urbanization. For many cities in the Global North, Latin America and Asia, spatial transformation has been traditionally characterised by a shift from monocentric to polycentric urban patterns. In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, however, it is unclear whether the evolving spatial structure of cities conform to or are explained by existing urban geography models. This paper pursues twofold objectives: one, examines the evolution of the spatial structure of a Sub-Saharan African city-region and its relationship with mainstream urban geography models; and, two, explores the urban planning and policy implications of the spatial transformation. The study draws on spatially explicit data from Kumasi City-Region in Ghana, which is analysed with a set of spatial metrics and an urban growth model. The results indicate that, while the city-region's urban spatial structure before the turn of the Twenty-first century largely conforms to the traditional monocentric model, it is increasingly becoming deconcentrated and dispersive, which suggests a likely pending phase of coalescence in a stochastic fractal urban growth process. Contrary to what is observed in other parts of the world, the declining monocentricity has not transformed into a polycentric urban structure, rather, urban growth is becoming amorphous. There is high level of development spontaneity that cast an image of a city-region that is charting inefficient and unsustainable spatial development path. Urban scholars would have to transcend the frontiers of existing urban structure models to better depict the spatial evolution of sub-Saharan African cities like Kumasi City-Region, while Policy makers need to re-position the Ghanaian planning system to be more influential in delivering sustainable development patterns

Understanding the urban spatial structure of Sub-Saharan African cities using the case of urban development patterns of a Ghanaian city-region

Abstract Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa are undergoing massive spatial transformation owing to rapid urbanization. For many cities in the Global North, Latin America and Asia, spatial transformation has been traditionally characterised by a shift from monocentric to polycentric urban patterns. In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, however, it is unclear whether the evolving spatial structure of cities conform to or are explained by existing urban geography models. This paper pursues twofold objectives: one, examines the evolution of the spatial structure of a Sub-Saharan African city-region and its relationship with mainstream urban geography models; and, two, explores the urban planning and policy implications of the spatial transformation. The study draws on spatially explicit data from Kumasi City-Region in Ghana, which is analysed with a set of spatial metrics and an urban growth model. The results indicate that, while the city-region’s urban spatial structure before the turn of the Twenty-first century largely conforms to the traditional monocentric model, it is increasingly becoming deconcentrated and dispersive, which suggests a likely pending phase of coalescence in a stochastic fractal urban growth process. Contrary to what is observed in other parts of the world, the declining monocentricity has not transformed into a polycentric urban structure, rather, urban growth is becoming amorphous. There is high level of development spontaneity that cast an image of a city-region that is charting inefficient and unsustainable spatial development path. Urban scholars would have to transcend the frontiers of existing urban structure models to better depict the spatial evolution of sub-Saharan African cities like Kumasi City-Region, while Policy makers need to re-position the Ghanaian planning system to be more influential in delivering sustainable development patterns