Browsing by Author "Yeboah, I.E.A."
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Item Emerging urban system demographic trends: Informing Ghana's national urban policy and lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa(Africa Today, 2013) Yeboah, I.E.A.; Codjoe, S.N.A.; Maingi, J.K.Sub-Saharan Africa faces major urban challenges, so many governments of the region have responded by developing national urban policies. We present emerging urban-system demographic trends in Ghana by locating our analyses at the nexus of the relationship between urbanization and societal imperatives. Our analyses show, first, that the claim that Ghana is in its urban age should be made with caution, since we identify conflicting system wide trends. After acceleration immediately after independence, the rate of urban growth since 2000 has slowed; the number of localities within the urban system has grown, but many of them are no more than glorified villages. Second, we relate societal imperatives to urban localities of remarkable growth to explain why they have grown. Third, we detail the emergence of a city-region around Accra-Tema, suggesting this has matured, especially under globalization. We argue that the growth of the city-region may be beginning to slow down. We conclude by suggesting ways in which our findings can inform Ghana's national urban policies and identifying three general lessons for sub-Saharan African countries.Item Producing an urban system for the spatial development of Ghana: Lessons for sub-Saharan Africa(African Geographical Review, 2013-03) Yeboah, I.E.A.; Codjoe, S.N.A.; Maingi, J.K.This paper illustrates the power of geography in solving spatial problems. We demonstrate how an urban system can be produced to meet spatial development objectives stated in Ghanas nascent National Urban Policy. Even though the growth pole, functional, territorial and economy of affection approaches have been used to theorize the role of towns, we conceptualize the role of towns in the development process as arenas for providing services, infrastructure, livelihoods, housing, governance and environmental protection. Urban systems are therefore produced to meet development objectives which are often spelled out in development plans or societal imperatives. Based on our conceptualization of the role of towns, we identify the current functional structure of Ghanas urban system. This is followed by a determination of functional gaps and weaknesses in the countrys urban system. We offer ways of filling the gaps and strengthening weaknesses in the countrys urban system in the light of objectives of the proposed NUP. We conclude the paper with general lessons for sub-Saharan African countries. © 2013 The African Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.