Urban space renaissance of a developing country city

ABSTRACT

African Governments are envisioning their cities in the images of world-class cities elsewhere. This has led to relentless inner-city regeneration but with some challenges. This article examines these challenges and their implications for urban development in the Ghanaian context. Through multiple research techniques, Ghana’s inner-city regeneration revealed contradictions and distortions typified by contestations and dispossessions. The challenges we argue were the offshoot of poor governance with limited community participation in the process, a situation which reflects how urban development is framed in a developing country city. To decipher the challenges will require innovative solutions premised on an all-inclusive urban governance approach.

KEYWORDS:

• cities
• community participation
• Ghana
• urban regeneration
• urban governance

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers who spent their time and shared their expertise to bring this article to the required standard, and the various government institutions for volunteering information on urban development in Ghana.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Locally Acquired Foreign Accent.