Exploring Strategies to Manage Urban Sprawl in Kumasi

Urban sprawl is an ancient trend that reflects a delicate balance between the dynamism that drive residents together in cities and those that draw them out. Many metropolitan areas have undergone unprecedented growth in the past 20 years due to rapid population growth combined with rapid transition in technology and politics which has changed the global economy. Around 3 billion people now live in urban communities; about half of the world’s total population. And while cities are playing an increasingly dominant position in the global economy as centers of development and consumption, rapid urban development in developing countries is significantly outperforming the ability of majority of the cities to supply their people with sufficient services. Virtually, all the population increase in the world is expected to be concentrated in the developing world’s cities in the next 30 years. The desire for more living space does not depict any signs of declining as cities continue to develop beyond its boundaries. The resultant effect is the different types of sprawl forms in different places and at different times but there are costs to be incurred whatever the variety.
The complex challenges are widespread. Besides congestion, wasted time, and the long term cost accrued to the use of non-renewable energy, the lack of sufficient social infrastructure in fast-growing urban areas coupled with the loss of farming land, mostly of high environmental value, has emphasized the question on whether or not these types of growth are tenable. The goal of this study is to give a comprehensive view of recent urban growth patterns and trends in Kumasi. We assess these briefly and identify how they in turn affect sprawl in Kumasi and the efforts to manage the problem.

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