Land tenure (in) security in the context of urban flood risk in Ghana

The increasing incidence of floods driven by urbanization and climate change destabilizes urban social, economic and environmental systems where land tenure is integral. Land tenure security is regarded as an essential element in navigating adaptations to disaster events, including floods. However, the occurrence of floods itself could be a source of land tenure insecurity. This study, drawing on political ecology and the diverse theoretical framings of tenure security, examines the impacts of floods on the land tenure security of flood victims. Through semi-structured interviews with flood victims and planning officials, the findings show that flooding-induced rezoning and the development of new planning schemes, tenant insecurity, relocation, loss of land documents, and threats to urban agriculture affect the land tenure security of flood victims. We identified that the possession of land documents is essential to tenure security, but not an absolute condition for the perceived tenure security of flood victims. The findings show that flood risk management through post-flood land use planning has the potential to have dual impacts on community resilience and tenure security. On the one hand, it can enhance tenure security and bolster community resilience. On the other hand, when executed in an exclusionary manner that overlooks the urban poor, it has the potential to perpetuate inequalities and tenure insecurity. We recommend tenure-responsive land use planning and embedding contextual, procedural, and distributive equity principles in land use planning responses to urban floods to safeguard the tenure security of the most vulnerable populations.