A Ghanaian twist to urban sprawl

- This paper appraises urban sprawl in Ghana.
- Findings indicate that urban sprawl in Ejisu has spatial and aspatial characteristics.
- Urban sprawl is occurring in the absence of basic infrastructure services.
- Urban sprawl has become an extra burden on planning agencies faced with limited capacity.

With its inception in urban studies in the 1930s, the notion of urban sprawl was institutionalised and globalised. However, urban sprawl research has mostly focused on developed countries compared with the situation in African countries. To address part of this gap, this paper appraises urban sprawl in Ghana, using Ejisu a peri-urban area of Kumasi as a case study in order to understand its characteristics, causes and effects on urbanites and urban functionality. Household and physical surveys, agency interviews and document reviews were used. Findings indicate that urban sprawl in Ejisu has spatial and aspatial characteristics, and is occurring in the absence of basic infrastructure services such as water and sanitation, and has become an extra yoke on urban planning agencies who are already faced with limited personnel and logistical capacity.