International workshop Venice - March 11-12 1999 Concepts and Paradigms of Urban Management in the Context of Developing Countries
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Katherine Gough (Department of Geography - University of Copenhagen)

"Urban management in Ghana: the relationship between the local state and civil society in Accra"

Ghana has followed a series of economic recovery programmes and structural adjustment programmes, under the auspices of the World Bank, since 1983. In conjunction with these, an urban management programme, covering all the major cities in Ghana, was introduced. In the early 1990s, the Accra Planning and Development Programme, in association with the UNDP and UNCHS, produced a final draft strategic plan for the development of Accra. The role of civil society, though, is scarcely mentioned in the plan. Ghana has also adopted a decentralised administration and planning approach to development during the past decade. District assemblies have been established which are responsible for local development issues and most assembly members are elected.

All the urban centres in Ghana, though, still face severe problems including: poorly maintained housing, inadequate services including water, electricity, sanitation and waste management, a rapidly deteriorating environment, weak urban administration and management practices, and a very complex land delivery system. In peri-urban Accra, indigenous villages are being surrounded by new residential areas that are developing at a faster rate than the official plans. The peri-urban area is thus characterised by haphazard, sprawling residential development with inadequate infrastructure. Consequently, a range of other actors, as well as the state, have become involved in urban management.

This paper explores the interrelationship between the decentralised district assemblies and elements of civil society involved in the management of the urban environment of peri-urban Accra. The actors analysed include the traditional chiefs and elders, district assembly members and new residents' associations. Data was collected in five indigenous villages and newly developing areas of peri-urban Accra through in-depth interviews, focus groups discussions, and a questionnaire survey. Although the district assemblies appear to be a model of decentralised, democratic local government, the role of the assembly members is deeply intertwined with that of the chiefs. New approaches to urban management need to develop a greater understanding of the relationship between the local state and civil society, in order to be able to promote greater co-operation between them.