Cities as a strategic resource: Guideline for Ghana’s National Urban Policy revision

How can Ghana’s cities promote social inclusion, climate resilience and fiscal capacity all at once? Cities as a Strategic Resource: Guideline for Ghana’s National Urban Policy Revision, based on the work of the Ghana Urbanisation Think Tank, provides a guideline to the National Urban Policy revision being undertaken by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana. It aims to bring together the many actors and multiple urban development initiatives already underway in Ghana around the role of cities in addressing three national risks – inequality, climate change and fiscal instability.

The Guideline, which was officially launched on 14 January 2020 at the Ghana Urban Forum, recommends harnessing urban economic growth to promote social inclusion and employment; allowing cities to drive the low-carbon structural transition; and developing local fiscal capacity to enhance revenue.

The Guideline was produced through a collaborative process convened by the Ghana Urbanisation Think Tank, including an analysis of Ghana’s urban literature, a two-year local consultation, and three background papers commissioned specifically for the NUP revision.