Large-scale urban road corridors development and urban sprawl in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Abstract

Uncontrolled urban expansion is a characteristic feature of many cities of the global South. In this paper, we focus on how urban road infrastructure investments largely financed through bilateral and multilateral loans and grants inadvertently drive urban sprawl within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana. To do this qualitatively, we critically review the 1991 GAMA Strategic Plan along with other related documents and expert interviews. Based on the findings, we argue that GAMA’s growth trajectory runs counter to its spatial plans progressively instituted to achieve integrated urban land use management and resilience. Consequently, this has resulted in mere expansion of road corridors without consideration for policy recommendations regarding traffic management, land use planning, housing densification and infilling measures. We conclude that initiatives for urban planning and its sustainability in the global South, specifically for Accra, need to reflect on the implications of the infrastructure turn, especially the contributory factor of road corridors expansion to urban sprawl.