Abstract
Global demographic characteristics have witnessed a significant shift with more than half of the world’s population crossing the rural–urban threshold in 2008. In Ghana, the 2010 census report revealed 50.9% urban population. While the many benefits of organised and efficient cities are well understood, it must be recognised that rapid, often unplanned urbanisation brings risk of profound social instability, risk to critical infrastructure, potential water crises and the potential for devastating spread of disease. These risks can only be further exacerbated as this unprecedented transition from rural to urban areas continues. This also means stakes are high for public and private interventions to ensure that urbanisation reinforces rather than retards prosperity. In spite of these past experiences, urban governance policies in emerging smaller cities are frequently ambivalent and piecemeal, exhibiting similar negative tendencies, a development that has received less academic attention. This study adopted multiple research techniques and the data were generated through a structured questionnaire survey, personal interviews and discussions. Based on our conviction that the development trajectory of any city hinges on the quality of its physical foundation, we seek to fill the knowledge gap using the Wa Municipality, the least urbanised but one of the fastest urbanising cities in Ghana today, as a case study. The results reveal emerging tendencies that indicate that Wa appears to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors – experiencing an inefficient potable water supply system and chronic sanitation situation, making diarrhoea one of many challenges for residents. It is ultimately suggested that a collaborative partnership with all key stakeholders is a better option to reap the potential for urbanisation to strengthen economic growth and development.
Highlights
The growth of the population in cities dates back in time, but the phenomena seem to have peaked in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century (Grant 2009, 2015; Mitlin & Satterthwaite 2013)
In a discussion on the sources of water supply by Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the volume produced per day, an official of the company revealed: ‘... the demand for water currently in Wa is 10 000 m3 per day but due to our limited resources and sources of water, we are making an average of 1200 m3 a day
The findings show that only 9% of respondents have access to piped water against the regional urban coverage of 21.2% and national coverage of 64.4% (GSS 2013c)
Summary
The growth of the population in cities dates back in time, but the phenomena seem to have peaked in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century (Grant 2009, 2015; Mitlin & Satterthwaite 2013). Associated with the rapid urbanisation is an equal increase in the rate of the physical footprint of these cities, which per the current trends could be more than half in 2050 (Angel 2016; Turok 2016) Such burgeoning urban population and physical expansion, if not properly managed, poses daunting challenges for communities, the ecosystem and local authorities (Cartwright 2015; Turok 2016; UN-Habitat 2014). An opening remark of the State of the World’s Cities report in 2008 affirmed that ‘cities are the materialisation of humanity’s noblest ideas, ambitions and aspirations, but when not planned or governed properly, can be the repository of society’s ills’ (UN-Habitat 2008:X) This is evident in the case of Lagos, Kampala and other cities that are characterised by recurring flood disasters (Christie & Hanlon 2001; ActionAid 2006 cited in Pelling & Wisner 2009)
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