TY - JOUR
T1 - Large-scale urban road corridors development and urban sprawl in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana
AU - Amedzro, Kofi Kekeli
AU - Essien, Rosina Sheburah
AU - Issah, Musah Aziba
AU - Owusu, George
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Liverpool University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Uncontrolled urban expansion is a characteristic feature of many cities of the global South. In this paper, we focus on how urban road infrastructure investments largely financed through bilateral and multilateral loans and grants inadvertently drive urban sprawl within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana. To do this qualitatively, we critically review the 1991 GAMA Strategic Plan along with other related documents and expert interviews. Based on the findings, we argue that GAMA’s growth trajectory runs counter to its spatial plans progressively instituted to achieve integrated urban land use management and resilience. Consequently, this has resulted in mere expansion of road corridors without consideration for policy recommendations regarding traffic management, land use planning, housing densification and infilling measures. We conclude that initiatives for urban planning and its sustainability in the global South, specifically for Accra, need to reflect on the implications of the infrastructure turn, especially the contributory factor of road corridors expansion to urban sprawl.
AB - Uncontrolled urban expansion is a characteristic feature of many cities of the global South. In this paper, we focus on how urban road infrastructure investments largely financed through bilateral and multilateral loans and grants inadvertently drive urban sprawl within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana. To do this qualitatively, we critically review the 1991 GAMA Strategic Plan along with other related documents and expert interviews. Based on the findings, we argue that GAMA’s growth trajectory runs counter to its spatial plans progressively instituted to achieve integrated urban land use management and resilience. Consequently, this has resulted in mere expansion of road corridors without consideration for policy recommendations regarding traffic management, land use planning, housing densification and infilling measures. We conclude that initiatives for urban planning and its sustainability in the global South, specifically for Accra, need to reflect on the implications of the infrastructure turn, especially the contributory factor of road corridors expansion to urban sprawl.
KW - global South
KW - Greater Accra Metropolitan Area
KW - infrastructure investments
KW - road corridors
KW - urban planning
KW - urban sprawl
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85191575979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3828/idpr.2024.2
DO - 10.3828/idpr.2024.2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85191575979
SN - 1474-6743
VL - 46
SP - 175
EP - 198
JO - International Development Planning Review
JF - International Development Planning Review
IS - 2
ER -