Ghana needs an Urban Policy - Experts

Kumasi, Oct 7, GNA - Participants at a round table discussion to mark the 2010 World Habitat Day have called for the development of an Urban Policy to promote effective and efficient planning in urban areas in the country.

They said the increase in illegal settlements, especially in the urban areas, could derail the focus of the nation to achieving the Millennium Development Goals as such developments had health, economic, social and environmental negative implications.

The participants, who included land economists, architects, city engineers, planners and development agencies, called for a deeper consultation among stakeholders to address the springing up of slums and other illegal structures in the urban areas. They attributed this to poor lay-outs, bad planning schemes and lukewarm attitude to enforcing building and other construction regulations.

The event was hosted by the College of Architecture and Planning of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). It was on the topic "Effective stakeholder consultation for the creation of inclusive cities."

Prof Stephen Owusu, formerly of the Centre for Settlement Studies of KNUST, said since 1984 till date the country had seen a tremendous increase in its rural-urban migration. He said in spite of this there had not been any comprehensive and co-coordinated planning to deal with the growing population in the cities.

The Town and Country Planning Department estimates that the Kumasi Metropolis, which should have been inhabited by some 500,000 people, has had its population appreciated substantially, a situation that had led to the over stretching of resources.

Mr Braimah Farouk, Executive Director of People's Dialogue on Human Settlements, a non-governmental organization (NGO), urged city authorities to take advantage of the World Habitat Day to sensitize the people on the implications of illegal settlement developments. Professor Seth Asiamah, immediate past Provost of the College, said the Town and Country Planning Department should be mandated as the only agency tasked to develop lay outs.