Urban land use planning in Ghana: Navigating complex coalescence of land ownership and administration

Global literature reporting on land governance indicates considerable differences between land ownership and land administration. Yet, in many Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Ghana, this relationship is blurred in complex land governance regimes. An understanding of this relationship in Ghana’s customary land sector – the dominant land ownership type – is critical in advancing urban land use planning and promoting effective urban management in this era of rapid urbanisation across Africa. Unfortunately, little is known about this relationship in the context of land use planning. Using Kumasi, a rapidly growing city in Ghana as a case study, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (i) to discuss the relationship between customary land ownership and administration in the context of land use planning, (ii) to explore institutional perspectives on sustainable land use planning; and (iii) to examine the implications of customary land ownership and administration on sustainable land use planning. Using a review of relevant land use planning documents on Ghana, and interviews with four urban planning agencies and four customary land owners (chiefs/traditional leaders) in Kumasi, findings indicate a demonstration of an unclear nature of legislative planning framework and a lack of focus on customary land ownership and administration system in urban land use planning. Despite planning laws (e.g., zoning guidelines) emphasising separation of ownership from administration, findings indicate no distinction between customary land ownership and land administration as the traditional leaders (the owners) administer the land via determination of land uses, arbitration of land disputes, and location determination of important community infrastructure and services. Evidence of repetitive and cumbersome nature of land administration by traditional owners and government planning agencies, weak agency framework and coordination challenges has contributed to limited progress of sustainable land use planning in the city.