Mr Abdulai Abanga, the deputy minister, Ministry for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, says urbanisation in Ghana is becoming increasingly complex and the current definition of urban will have to be revised.
He said by 2057, it was most likely that three out of four Ghanaians could be classified as living in urban areas, highlighting the need to redefine urban areas.
The deputy minister was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Ghana Urban Forum (GUF 2024) held in Accra, under the theme, “Nurturing Roots, Growing Futures: Combining Policies and Partnerships for Urban Resilience and Transformation.”
The GUF 2024 created a platform for challenges, opportunities, and resources within the urban space to be explored and identified the importance of collaborative efforts in shaping sustainable urban development.
The deputy minister said there was the need for urban management which required a critical look at institutional coordination and capacity development among the various stakeholders, including Ministries, Departments and Agencies to promote urbanisation in our cities.
Mr Abanga said the Ministry would follow up on the approval and launching of the National Urban Policy and Implementation Plan, pursue the design of the Sustainable Cities Project to build the next phase of Ghana’s urban development.
He added that the Ministry would also engage, train and partner journalists to champion the resilient and sustainable urban development agenda.
The deputy minister said the Ministry was committed to sustaining this Forum to advance urban governance and dialogue.
Ms. Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), who doubled as the Chairperson of the GUF 2024, said the forum had proved that there was hope for the future as far as urbanisation was concerned.
She said humans had always lived in communities from the hunter-gatherer days through till date, working, thriving, and depending on each other within various groups for survival and security.
The Chairperson said industrialisation and urbanisation had backed this trend a little bit, but today it was well-known that living in communities with adequate human interaction was essential for humans’ mental health and wellbeing.
She said in November 2022, the global human population reached 8 billion, which was expected to increase by 2 billion persons in the next 25 years to about 9.7 billion in 2050.
Ms Addy currently said Ghana’s population, 34.7 million, had a rural-urban split of about 57 per cent urban.
“It was somewhere in 2015 that the scale tipped in favor of urban dwellers compared to rural ones, and it is projected to keep going in that direction. By 2020, the projected population will be about 38.7 million with about 61 per cent consisting of urban population”
“By 2050, with the population of 52.2 million, more than 70 per cent of Ghanaians will be living in urban areas. All these data points to the unrelenting match, accelerated urbanisation, hence the work of the GUF critical for the future of the country,” she added.
The Chairperson said it was not clear whether important elements for urban living such as transportation, waste disposal, social services, security, among others were considered when building and expanding cities.
“What is certain however is that, given the demographic indicators and trajectory that we are currently facing, that we cannot continue in this manner, the status-quo is a recipe for disaster, hence the GUF must set the agenda for urban development,” she added.
