This title was first published in 2002: This work is about the socio-economic and spatial impacts of planning policy aimed at improving the living standards and well-being of the regional communities of Ghana. Implicit, the effectiveness assessment of regional planning practice. It is set within the context of the new national planning system and offers strategic opportunities and challenges. Characteristically, the national and regional policies and contacts are probed and the lack of formal regional plan-making stressed. The author critically analyzes the problem of socio-economic and spatial disparities, over the mid-60s to the early 1990s, explaining the observed changes. The latter is, differentiatingly, done in terms of relevant theories and the empirics undertaken. These include the fashion of perception and conceptualization of development. Change is based on one-off micro-projects at the regional level and a meso-regional project within a sub-regional context. Dr Ofori equally stresses the implementations and local management of the planning policies and programmes. Inclusive in the dynamics behind the processes is the role of partnership. A further distinctive contribution is the identification of opportunities for planning intervention and policy recommendations for a better change in the future: towards making things happen.

This book examines regional development and planning in a poor administrative region of Ghana, assessing the effectiveness of the programmes and projects initiated to reduce poverty, disadvantage and deprivation. The author analyses the local context of institutions, planning legislation, broad external (exogenous) and internal (endogenous) influencing factors and forces. He then assesses how they have impacted the effectiveness of regional policy interventions aimed at social and economic development. Using applied planning principles, the book proposes policies to address the challenges of Local Economic Development (LED), urban regeneration and conservation, housing regeneration and regional sustainability in the developing world. This book will be of interest to students, scholars policy-makers and regional planning practitioners in urban and regional development and planning, geography and African Studies.

This book documents and analyses spatial planning in Ghana, providing a comprehensive and critical discussion of the evolving institutional and legal arrangements that have shaped and defined Ghana’s spatial planning system for more than seven decades; the contemporary policy instruments and mechanisms for articulating and implementing policies and proposals at multiple scales; and the formally established procedures for development management. It covers important themes in contemporary spatial planning discourse, including the evolving meaning, scope and purpose of spatial planning globally; the scales of spatial planning (i.e. national, regional, sub-regional and local); multi-level integration within spatial planning; public participation; the interface between urbanization, sustainable growth management and spatial planning; spatial planning and housing development; integrated spatial development and transportation planning; and spatial planning and the urban informal economy. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic researchers and practitioners/policy-makers in the multidisciplinary field of spatial planning, it appeals to readers seeking an international perspective on spatial planning systems and practices.

No detailed description available for "Polarized Development and Regional Policies".

This book identifies and discusses research directions, challenges and achievements in contemporary geography. It also documents the most current theoretical and methodological considerations undertaken by scientists representing various sub-disciplines of geography with particular reference to human geography. It was assumed that the thematic structure of the currently active International Geographical Union (IGU) problem commissions corresponds to the most relevant and current research directions in geography. Reflecting this assumption, the book consists of 14 chapters contributed by geographers representing 14 problem commissions of the IGU, which allows us to examine geography from different perspectives and to provide the reader with a complete overview of contemporary research issues in human geography. The first part discusses contemporary research problems and issues related to scientific methodology and achievements of selected geographical sub-disciplines, including urban geography, agricultural geography, transport geography, and political geography, among others. The second part focuses on the interdisciplinarity of geography and the topics of global dimension undertaken by geographers such as global change, GIS and geospatial technology, marginalization, and environmental change. This part also discusses the internal relations between geographical specializations and their links with other related sciences, including geology, sociology, and economics. The third part discusses the holistic approaches of geography applied to particular regions, territories, or conditions (Africa, costal systems, geomorphology and local development).

Dilemmas of Regional and Local Development aims to identify, diagnose and evaluate various approaches towards regional and local socio-economic development. Over the course of the book, authors from 12 countries and four continents come together to review experiences and solutions related to regional development in a range of different economic, social and political systems. The first part of the volume focuses on the fundamentals of planning regional and local development, particularly focusing on theoretical solutions and development policy concepts. The second part is more applied, looking at practical instruments and solutions for shaping the local economy, and analysing effective development policy. This book will be of interest to economics, geography, politics, and planning scholars and researchers working on regional sciences and local development.

This book discusses urban planning and regional development practices in the twentieth century, and ways in which they are currently being transformed. It addresses questions such as: What are the factors affecting planning dynamics at local, regional, national and global scales? With the push to adopt a market paradigm in land development and infrastructure, the relationship between resource management, sustainable development and the role of governance has been transformed. Centralized planning is giving way to privatization, not only in the traditional regions but also in newly emerging regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Further, attempts are being made to bring planning related decision-making closer to the people who are most affected by it. Presenting a collection of studies from scholars around the world and highlighting recent advances in the field, the book is a valuable reference guide for those engaged in urban transformations, whether as graduate students, researchers, practitioners or policymakers.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.

Dr. Rhoda concisely presents the wide range of analytical methods available to urban and regional development planners. Focusing on the needs of the practitioner, in each chapter he concentrates on a particular analytical issue, describing several types of relevant analyses and offering guidelines for selecting appropriate techniques to solve speci