Planning for Resilient Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Ghana

Stephen Kofi Diko, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Memphis. His research focuses on sustainable urban development and policy, emphasizing how communities can overcome, adapt, and be resilient to factors that engender their vulnerabilities and impoverishment. His research themes encompass climate mainstreaming, adaptation and resilience, urban green spaces, flooding, informality, community economic development, plan quality assessments, and urban planning awareness. He explores these interests in both local and international contexts.Seth Asare Okyere, PhD, is a visiting lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, and an adjunct associate professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Japan. His work sits at the intersection of social equity, resilience, and sustainability to cross-pollinate ideas for just and sustainable communities. The breadth and depth of his professional experiences span institutions and communities in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America.Stephen Leonard Mensah, MPhil, is a PhD candidate and critical urban research fellow at the University of Memphis. He is a community-focused interdisciplinary scholar with research interests in urban and community sustainable development from multidimensional perspectives such as social equity, circularity, sustainability, resilience, and policy design.Louis Kusi Frimpong, PhD, is a lecturer at the Department of Geography and Earth Science, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Ghana. His research interests include urban sustainability, environmental planning and sustainability, urban informality, lived experiences of informal settlement dwellers, and grassroots mobilization for community (re)vitalization and community development.

• List of figuresList of tablesList of ContributorsAcknowledgmentsForewordPrefaceINTRODUCTION: From Large to Small and Medium-Sized Cities: Shifting the Analytical and Policy Gaze on Urban Resilience in GhanaStephen Kofi Diko, Seth Asare Okyere, Stephen Leonard Mensah, and Louis Kusi FrimpongPART ONE: CONCEPTUALIZING RESILIENCE AND ITS LIVELIHOOD IMPLICATIONSCHAPTER ONE: Conceptualizing SMCs and Resilience Planning Nexus for Africa’s Urban FuturesSimon Donkoh, Truus Apoanaba Abuosi, Seth Asare Okyere, and Stephen Kofi DikoCHAPTER TWO: Rethinking innovative strategies for building livelihood and climate resilience in small towns in Northern GhanaJohn Aloba Atubiga, Louis Kusi Frimpong, Alobit Baba Atubiga, and Eric DonkorCHAPTER THREE: Agricultural adaptation strategies for climate resilience in Sissala East DistrictGeorge Yao Kafu and Armstrong Francis TumawuCHAPTER FOUR: Livelihood changes and their implications on resilience building in upstream communities of the Akosombo dam in GhanaEric Donkor, John Aloba Atubiga, Louis Kusi Frimpong, and Alobit Baba AtubigaPART TWO: RESILIENCE OF SMC INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICESCHAPTER FIVE: Mapping Resilience in Emerging Cities: Enhancing Equity and Infrastructure Resilience in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area of GhanaClement Kwang, Lewis Blagogie, Emmanuel Yeboah, Isaac Sarfo, and Silas YakalimCHAPTER SIX: Building Sustainable Futures through Resilient Healthcare Systems in Small Towns in GhanaJoseph Donkor Mensah and Louis Kusi FrimpongPART THREE: INSTITUTIONAL ACTORS AND RESILIENCE PLANNINGCHAPTER SEVEN: Socially Gated Communities and Urban Development in Ghana: Examples from Two Religious GroupsAdjei Sopore, Kate Gyasi, and Esther Yeboah Danso-WireduCHAPTER EIGHT: Towards relational social resilience: Local associations and sustenance of communal living in Asamankese, GhanaChristiana Ntowaa Pomeyie and Esther Yeboah Danso-WireduCHAPTER NINE: Including Women in Community Water Governance: Implications for Gender-Sensitive Community Resilience PlanningEmmanuel AngmorCHAPTER TEN: Inclusionary zoning and planning for resilient city development in urban GhanaIsaac Osei Adutwum, Michael Poku-Boansi, Francisca Agyei, Frank Awere Kwayie Bimpong, and Michael Osei AsibeyCHAPTER ELEVEN: Managing Urban Expansion in Ghana’s Small and Medium-Sized Cities: Learning from International ExperiencesIsaac Nevis Fianoo, Joshua Jirjiri, Leonard Stephen Mensah, Seth Asare Okyere, andTinawaen TambolCONCLUSION: Toward Resilient Small and Medium-sized Cities: Planning Implications for Africa and BeyondStephen Leonard Mensah, Stephen Kofi Diko, Seth Asare Okyere, and Louis Kusi FrimpongIndex