Managing Physical Development in Peri-Urban Areas of Kumasi, Ghana: A Case of Abuakwa

Abstract

A remarkable trait of the 21st century has been the high rate of urbanization which has characterized the growth and development of cities especially in developing countries. This situation has fuelled the rapid and unguided development and expansion of peri-urban areas as urban dwellers relocate to cities’ peripheries. Focusing on Abuakwa a peri-urban area in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, this paper assesses the nature and extent of physical development in peri-urban areas, and identifies the factors contributing to the rapid development of peri-urban areas. The paper further examines the effects of the increasing physical growth on the development of peri-urban Abuakwa. Using a case study approach, both primary and secondary sources of data were collected from decentralized government institutions of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and Atwima Nwabiagya District Assembly (ANDA), as well as the indigenous residents and relocated urban dwellers in Abuakwa. The paper reveals that the outward drift has manifested itself in an increased scramble for land for residential and commercial purposes in the peri-urban area. The resultant effect has been the fast and spontaneous physical development in the urban periphery which has significantly altered the peri-urban morphology. The paper recommends the establishment of Customary Land Secretariat (CLS) and the application of settlement growth management approaches to ensure the creation of functional city and liveable peri-urban areas.

Quantifying the spatio-temporal patterns of settlement growth in a metropolitan region of Ghana

“…The Atwima Nwabiagya and Afigya Kwabre districts in particular, have become the major hotspots of urban expansion in the sub-region. Previous research (Appiah et al 2014;Acheampong and Anokye 2013;Amoateng et al 2013;Owusu-Ansah and O'Connor 2006) support this finding. These studies, conducted mainly in selected peri-urban settlements including Abuakwa, Esereso and Pankrono, point to evidence that a significant proportion of all new urban development over the past decade and half, have occurred within the peri-urban interface of KMA.…”

“…Acheampong and Anokye 2013;OwusuAnsah and O'Connor 2006), others have relied on data from government departments obtained from existing land-use plans and/or through conventional mapping techniques such as field-updates (e.g. Amoateng et al 2013;Cobbinah and Amoako 2012). Data from land use plans, for example, allows to estimate detailed land-use distributions in areas covered by planning schemes.…”

“…Other studies have addressed urban expansion and its implications in selected peri-urban towns in the sub-region (e.g. Acheampong and Anokye 2013;Amoateng et al 2013;Appiah et al 2014).…”

Africa’s urbanisation: Implications for sustainable development

“…However, African cities have been characterised by massive and uncontrolled spatial expansion, technically termed as urban sprawl. Recent studies on cities in Africa suggest that urban sprawl results in unsustainable land development, and often engulfs peripheral urban areas and converts non-urban land particularly agricultural lands into urban land use (Amoateng, Cobbinah, & Owusu-Adade, 2013;Cobbinah & Amoako, 2012). Nearly all urban areas in Africa are expanding, on average, twice faster than their population (Angel et al, 2005).…”

Determinants of Peri-Urbanization and Land Use Change Patterns in Peri-Urban Ghana

“…Land owners and land managers, operating within certain constraints, make decisions regarding transformations in land uses, based on factors that are largely political and socio-economic; however in most cases economic rationality has been the main driver (Irwin and Geogeghan, 2001). These are invariably defined within a range of directly related variables such as subsidies; rent prices, land values and the associated benefits of space in preferred areas (Amoateng, Cobbinah & Owusu-Adade, 2013). …”