O.B. Amoah (left) Mohammed Alhassan (middle) engaging participants at the meeting
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 engaged key stakeholders in Accra under the ‘Urban Breakfast Series’ to find ways of promoting sustainable urban development in Ghana.
The Urban Breakfast, held under the theme: ‘Putting Ghana Back To Work,’ was aimed at providing the platform for stakeholders to reflect on challenges facing sustainable urban development in Ghana and key priorities to consider in the implementation of the National Urban Policy Framework and the New Urban Agenda.
The series, which is in line with goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focuses on introducing and discussing regional and national urban perspectives, with participants drawn from central government, local authorities, academia, civil society, the media and development partners.
Goal 11 of the SDGs entreats countries across the world to work to make their cities inclusive, safe and resilient by the end of 2030.
Vice President of the Ghana Institute of Planners, Mohammed Alhassan, in an address at the meeting, explained that Ghana has over the last three decades experienced rapid urban development.
“In the past three decades (1984-2013), Ghana’s population more than doubled whilst its urban population more than tripled from under four million to nearly 14 million (i.e. 31-51%),” he said.
By 2030, he said, 65 percent of the country’s population estimated at 22.6 million people will live in urban areas.
The growth in urbanization has had some positives, but it has come with serious developmental challenges, he said.
“Insufficient drainage, urban sprawl, inadequate housing, lack of coordinated and long-term planning, poor waste management system and lack of integrated planning in Ghana’s large cities, have been the major challenges accompanying rapid urbanization in the country over the years, he said,.
He stressed the need for improvement in connectivity between urban centres through what he termed as joint advocacy of local governments.
He called for improvement in metropolitan planning and coordination through joint development arrangement, urging utility companies like Ghana Water Company Limited and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to have joint infrastructure plans.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, O.B. Amoah, who chaired the meeting, admitted that Ghana was facing developmental challenges due to rapid urbanization.
That, he said, was due to three major factors, namely the lack of enforcement of legislations on urban development, implementation of urban programmes and coordination among key governmental institutions at the national and local levels on the development of urban areas.
By Melvin Tarlue