Local-Level Spatial Planning and Development Management

Abstract

In Ghana, local governments (i.e. MMDAs) are responsible for the overall development of areas under their jurisdiction. As such, MMDAs are mandated to perform spatial planning functions. In Ghana’s three-tier spatial planning system, MMDAs have competences for local spatial planning. This chapter deals with local-level spatial planning in Ghana. It outlines the various policy instruments intended for use under the new spatial planning system to translate national and regional development policies to district-wide frameworks and subsequently to cities, towns, neighbourhoods and rural areas within the district. The contextual issues influencing planning and development management at the local level are identified to provide the context for the discussion of local spatial planning practices and challenges. In particular, the chapter examines the impact of the historical disconnect between national development planning and local land use planning prior to the establishment of the new spatial planning system; the complex indigenous landownership systems that spatial planning must grapple with; and the challenges posed by the existing institutional and legal structures established formally to mediate the separation between landownership rights on the one hand and the determination of land use and development control on the other hand. The gap between the established development management systems in normative terms as opposed to its functioning in practice is also examined. Based on the challenges of local spatial planning and development management identified, ways in which planning at this level could be made effective are identified.