Abstract:
Like many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana, is undergoing a rapid
pace of urbanization associated with socio-economic, environmental, and institutional
challenges for urban residents and local government authorities. Under Ghana’s laws,
Metropolitan Assemblies (large city local governments) have overall responsibility for
the development of their respective cities. This article explores the poor urban
communities—municipal interface based on a study carried out in the largest (Accra)
and third largest (Sekondi-Takoradi) cities. The study concludes that mechanisms for
engaging poor urban communities are limited largely due to the absence of functional
decentralized sub-district structures in these communities. In addition, the indirect
attempt by the Metropolitan Assemblies to address infrastructure and service needs of
poor urban communities through a public-private partnership centered on
privatization (franchising and contracting) and community-based participation in the
provision of social services has distanced the Assemblies from poor communities. This
situation has reinforced the view that the Assemblies are unresponsive to community
needs. The implications of limited community-municipal interface for poor urban
communities and urban development in Ghana in general are also explored.
(PDF) Poor Urban Communities and Municipal Interface in Ghana: A Case Study of Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265290209_Poor_Urban_Communities_and_Municipal_Interface_in_Ghana_A_Case_Study_of_Accra_and_Sekondi-Takoradi_Metropolis [accessed Sep 26 2018].
