Towards organising sustainable urbanism: the Accra City-Region (ACR) within Africa’s West coast urban corridor

Abstract

Over the past few decades, complex urban formations like city-regions/megaregions resulting from extended urbanisation have necessitated readjusting planning and governance. This study explores the nature and role of spatial planning and governance processes in organising development in the Accra city-region, situated within the transnational megaregion taking shape on the West African Coast. I use a qualitative research design, collecting data through document review and semistructured interviews with some key actors in city-region governance in Accra. I find that the planning response to the growing city-region has been reactionary rather than proactive over the past two decades. The national spatial development framework (2015-2035) has emerged as the foundation planning tool for city-region planning in Accra. I also find that governance arrangements are lagging the city-region’s rapid evolution. Governance remains largely hierarchical with little evidence of concrete collaborative action among constituent municipalities. Transnational spatial planning efforts are underway within the framework of the West Coast urban corridor programme, but linking governance and policy coordination across the corridor remains weak due to institutional, technical and financial limitations