Developers knowledge and compliance towards development control regulations in the Bolgatanga Municipality

Abstract

Urbanization is a global phenomenon and if not regulated or controlled pose a great challenge to sustainable factors particularly the environment. The rate of urbanization in the Bolgatanga municipality in the upper east region of Ghana is a worrying situation and one that requires immediate attention to enhance sustainability of the environment. Private Individual and public developers failed to adhere to development control measures whiles the municipal assembly has also reneged on its duty to enforce development control regulations resulting in several unauthorized and unplanned development in the municipality. The paper examines the knowledge and compliance level of developers towards development control regulations in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This was achieved through the review of relevant literature on development controls and the use of open-ended questionnaires to elicit data from individual private developers in six (6) urban and peri-urban areas of the municipality. The study further reviewed the concept of development control and permit acquisition in Ghana. The implication of the study is to stimulate strict enforcement of development control regulation to promote efficient and sustainable development in the municipality. It is anticipated that the findings reported in this paper would be imperative for future strategies and guidelines for development in Ghana.