Historical origins and evolution of spatial planning and the planning system in Ghana

Abstract

The spatial planning system and the accompanying practices in Ghana have evolved since the inception of the activity in 1945 through the Town and Country Planning Act (CAP 84). This chapter traces the historical origins of spatial planning from the colonial era to modern-day Ghana. It reviews landmark spatial planning projects implemented in the early years after the declaration of independence to identify the scope and purpose of the activity then. The return to democratic governance at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the decentralization programmes that followed entrenched a new system of planning in Ghana, called the development planning system. The ethos and scope of planning under the development planning system as well as its impacts on spatial planning are examined. Reforms in recent years that are meant to institutionalize a new spatial planning system and strengthen the activity at all levels are also discussed. The notion of ‘a one country two planning systems’ will be introduced in this chapter to set the stage for further analyses in the subsequent chapters of the implications of having two competing planning systems in Ghana (i.e. the development planning system and the new spatial planning system).