Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology

College of Art and Built Environment

Department of Land Economy

Instructor: Dr. Kwabena Obeng Asiama

Teaching Assistant: Mr. Derrick Frimpong Buabeng
Mail to: kwabena.asiama@knust.edu.gh; derrickfrimpongbuabeng@gmail.com

LE 355: Land Use Planning and Administration

(1st Semester, 2022)

Start Date: 23 March, 2022.

Deadline: 20 April, 2022/Before 5:00 PM GMT

Delivery:
For Digital Submission, Zip the Written Solution (in Pdf format) and submit to:
kwabena.asiama@knust.edu.gh, derrickfrimpongbuabeng@gmail.com
Written Solution, and zip folder name: Group_xx_LE_III
Subject: Group_xx_LE_III: LUPA Assignment

Name Index Number

1. NYAMADI CALEB 8107919
2. AVOR SELASE 8104019
3. OBODAI MAVIS TORSHIE 8108219
4. ANTHONY SELASI LILIAN 8102419
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Task 1 (Page limit 1)
State and discuss the goals of Land Use Planning in Ghana, as outlined in the Land Use and Spatial Planning
Act, 2016 (Act 925 in the context of the Sustainable Development goals relating to land use planning.
Land use planning refers to the careful allocation, use and management of the land and its resources in a
way that conflicts are avoided and that none of it goes to waste which is overseen by a central authority
(usually governments). It is a way in which a country plans how to build its cities, the patterns to be used
and how it is going to manage all the lands within its jurisdiction.
Sustainable Development goals are global goals to meet global challenges. Sustainable Development is a
development that seeks to plan for the current population or generation but still having the future
generation in mind. development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their needs and aspirations” (in Our Common Future by the World
Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED), 1987)
The Sustainable Development goals in relation to land use planning are as follows:
 End poverty in all its forms everywhere.(GOAL 1)
 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. (GOAL
2)
 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.(GOAL 5)
 Reduce inequality within and among countries. (GOAL 10)
 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.(GOAL 11)
 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable manage forests,
combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. (GOAL 15)
 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all
and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. (GOAL 16)

Land use planning goals as specified at the introduction of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 are
as follows: “AN ACT to revise and consolidate the laws on land use and spatial
planning, provide for sustainable development of land and human settlements through a decentralised
planning system, ensure judicious use of land in order to improve quality of life, promote health and safety
in respect of human settlements and to regulate
national, regional, district and local spatial planning, and generally to provide for spatial aspects of socio
economic development and for related matters.”
From this act, these are the goals of Land Use Planning in Ghana
 Provide for sustainable development of land and human settlements through a decentralised planning
system.
 Ensure judicious use of land in order to improve quality of life.
 Promote health and safety in respect of human settlements
 Provide for the spatial aspects of socio economic development and for related matters.

1. Ensuring judicious use of land in order to improve quality of life

Where there is proper usage of resources which involves, the allocation of resources based on;
population density, population growth and other demographic factors. The right use of land can Page 3/14
improve the standard of living of the people which brings about the betterment of the quality of life of
people. In the attempt to reduce slums and poor siting of structures, there is the need for the central
authority to carry out Sustainable Land Use Planning in its area of jurisdiction The planning should be done
in a way so as to preserve the land for the future generation to also be able to obtain the maximum benefits
from it while improving upon the quality of life of the current generation. Allocating a specific land uses at
certain particular places, upgrading slums, ensuring the proper erection of structure following the necessary
regulations, all these lead to an aspect of the sustainable development goal which is “Make cities and
human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.(GOAL 11)” and also part of GOAL 2 which is
“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.

2.Provide for sustainable development of land and human settlements through a decentralised planning
system
Sustainable development of land in the sense that planning for the current generation without
compromising the future generations. The goal of land use planning in Ghana is to provide for sustainability
of land and human settlements through a decentralised planning system where the decentralised system
implies participation at the grass root level or the local level where even minority interests are represented
and transmitted to the top level central planning body. The goal is to provide for how settlements are
supposed to be structured and arranged and how the land (in terms of resource and land fertility and all that
makes it useful for life on earth) can be conserved to meet the future generations. This planning goal in the
land use and spatial planning act helps to facilitate the GOAL 11 and GOAL 15 which are “Make cities and
human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.(GOAL 11) and Protect, restore and promote
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and
reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. (GOAL 15).

3.Promote health and safety in respect of human settlements

The aim of land use and spatial planning is to provide a safe and conducive environment which is safe and
healthy for everyone. In terms of safety planning seeks to protect the environment from any danger of the
built environment. That is why regulations cover the built environment from permit acquisition to building
planning regulations to ensure the structural integrity of buildings to ensure that erected constructions are
safe for dwelling. In terms of safety, planning allows for provision of sanitation and avoidance of slums or
slum upgrading because slums mostly are filthy with no proper sanitation exposing the people around to the
risk of diseases for example cholera and hence providing cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient, and sustainable and also reducing the inequality in the country which are goal 10 and 11 in the
SDGs.
4. Provide for the spatial aspects of socio economic development and for related matters
Land use planning provides for the various aspect of life socially, where human beings are regarded as a
social animals always seeking to belong among themselves, land use planning needs to plan for the spatial
aspects of land where humans relate socially. For example community parks, recreational facilities and many
more. In terms of economic development, land use planning should provide to accommodate the spatial
implication of anything relating to the economy of the country, including business centres, markets,
transportation and many more. Where provision is made for each specific use on land or in terms of its
spatial plan. This in line with the Decent Work and Economic Growth SDG as well as the Sustainable Cities
and Communities which the SDGs wish to achieve in a given amount of time.

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Task 2 (Page Limit 2):
Discuss the 10 key principles of land use planning in the context of peri-urbanisation and the changing
customary land access and tenure in the peri-urban region.
Land use planning is an interdisciplinary approach by which land is allocated between competing and
sometimes conflicting uses in order to secure the rational and orderly development of land to secure the
rational and orderly development of land in an environmentally sound manner to ensure the creation of
sustainable human settlement.
( http://www.oas.org/pgdm/document/bitc/papers/dthomas.htm )
Peri-Urban area is the transition zone located within a rural and urban area. it refers to the rural agricultural areas
located between the urban built-up areas in cities and predominantly rural agricultural areas. It is the dynamic
change in land use and livelihoods affecting the perimeter of growing or stable urban areas
( https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-51812-7_192-1?noAccess=true )
Peri-urbanisation relates to the processes of dispersive urban growth that create hybrid landscapes of
fragmented urban and rural characteristics. (Wikipedia)
The following are the principles of land use planning
• Land use planning is orientated to local conditions in terms of both method and content.
• Land use planning considers cultural viewpoints and builds up on local environmental knowledge.
• Land use planning takes into account traditional strategies for solving problems and conflicts.
• Land use planning assumes a concept which understands rural development to be a "bottom-up" process based
on self-help and self-responsibility.
• Land use planning is a dialogue, creating the prerequisites for the successful negotiation and co-operation
among stakeholders.
• Land use planning is a process leading to an improvement in the capacity of the participants to plan and take
actions.
• Land use planning requires transparency. Therefore, free access to information for all participants is a
prerequisite.
• Land use planning is based on interdisciplinary cooperation.
• Land use planning is an iterative process; it is the flexible and open reaction based on new findings and
changing conditions.

 Land use planning is orientated to local conditions in terms of both method and content.
Before planning is done in an area, there is a type of planning on going at that particular place already. Land use
planning adjusts itself to the predominant existing cultures in the locality. Land use planning is not a standardized
approach which is uniform every where it needs to by applied. This ensures that a particular area has its own set
and type of land use plan based on the local conditions existing the area and hence it makes its surrounding
areas to have not a sharp change in land use plan but just some slight changes based on the unique difference
between them which makes the lands surrounding cities or town or villages transition easily because it conforms
to the pre-existing cultural and local conditions of the land in terms of both method and content and also work
together with its land administrative system since they both have similar local conditions which means the system
of land administration and process of land acquisition would be almost the same.

 Land use planning considers cultural viewpoints and builds up on local environmental knowledge.
Land use planning takes a basic or preliminary look at the cultural view points on how land is acquired and used
locally. The local area provides indigenous, complex and more essential ideas as to the land use patterns
in the environment and how land is distributed or acquired by natives as well as strangers or foreigners. Page 6/14
This serves as the basis of the land use plan for the area since their traditions and cultures are taken into
consideration to generate land use and sustainable plans for the area. Since land use planning is a build up
knowledge of the existing land use planning in the area, it allow members of the locality to appreciate the land
use plans and also acknowledge their land rights and the process of acquisition and transfer and the institutions
through which their rights can be secured hence it allow peri-urban areas to adapt to this plan and to know how
to acquire a parcel of land and the various uses that parcel of land within that particular area can be put to and
there by making the transition from rural land use to urban land use easy, efficient and effective

• Land use planning takes into account traditional strategies for solving problems and conflicts.
Land use planning takes the opinions on the existing land use existing in the land before the introduction of land
use plans, therefore the natives are in a better position to solve problems and conflicts pertaining assigning
conflicting land uses, acquisition of land, security of tenure, land administration and all other conflicts or
problems related to land use planning. In the process of land use planning such conflicts resolution mechanisms
needs to be recognized and integrated into the land use planning to present a comprehensive and workable plans
for both rural and urban areas alike there by allowing urban regions to recognize and enforce the land rights
existing in the rural area as it transcends from its region into the rural area so as to avoid conflicts and allow
peaceful resolutions. This in effect, ensures that, the social needs of the people are met which aims at promoting
peaceful co-existence especially in areas where urban and rural life meet (peri-urban areas).

• Land use planning assumes a concept which understands rural development to be a "bottom-up" process based on
self-help and self-responsibility.
Planning has moved from a stage where a central authority with its own view and how it sees the are plans for the area
and such plans are just dumped on the area to be enforced. Land use planning is now a bottom up process which
means people at the grassroots which are affected by the plans are allowed to participate in the planning process.
Stake holders now have their inputs and opinions represented in the land use plan of their area. Plans are made with
and by the people, not behind them or even against them. Planning is therefore not just a matter for experts, but
should be carried out together with those affected by it. This improves the easy and efficient implementation of those
plans as the stakeholders are now able to trust in the plan and claim ownership of the land use plan as it is for them
there by going by it fully. The bottom-up process allows easy access to acquisition of land in areas near the cities and
rural areas and ensures that those lands are put into good uses as represented in the land use plan of the area. It
allows that all land uses in the transition zones follow the same land use plan of the surrounding cities and rural areas.

• Land use planning is a dialogue, creating the prerequisites for the successful negotiation and co-operation among
stakeholders.
Planning as a participatory process where the views of the necessary stakeholders are taken and represented through a
dialogue process where negotiations are made between conflicting competing land uses and patterns and the parties
that it is going to benefit and the other parties that would be at a disadvantage when the conflicting land use is best
located. Considerations are usually taking through negotiations through dialogue between the relevant stakeholders
and the affected disadvantaged parties. An efficient and a successful plan can only be enforced when the relevant
stakeholders initiate a process of communication through dialogue which allows all participants to formulate their
interests and objectives and come to an agreement in terms of siting of competing land uses. This helps to
acknowledge the various interest in the land and customary land tenure system and local area so as to transit or
change rural land uses to urban land uses easily with less conflict since there is negotiation through dialogue.

• Land use planning is a process leading to an improvement in the capacity of the participants to plan and take
actions.
Through participatory planning where natives and other various stake holders are allowed to participate in the planning
process, these participants are able to learn from the experts and able to equip themselves with on job tutorials and
skills that would help them understand how certain land uses are located or sited where they are cited. The
stakeholder participants through their participation in the planning process improves on their respective
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capacities as planners and therefore it allows them to appreciate the need for a land use plan and also appreciate the
land use plan that comes at the end of the planning process. This principle allows the flow and changes in land use
planning as the urban area land use patterns meets the rural area where the rural agricultural lands are been converted
into residential and commercial buildings and facilities.

• Land use planning requires transparency. Therefore, free access to information for all participants is a prerequisite.
The process of the land use process should be presented to the public from the onset of the planning process. Planning
should not be done in secret and presented to the public when it is done. At the onset of the planning process, the
stakeholders or the public need to be made aware and transparent in such a way that the public can question it freely
without been intimidated. This should be made possible through the free access to information regarding the ongoing
planning process and on the final output of the planning process. This allows the stakeholders to know the various land
uses allocated within their area and go by them. A transparent land use process allows for stakeholders to have trust in
it and it is very easy to enforce. As all the land use patterns and plans are made known to the general public, it allows
the urban area to follow and adapt to that plan as it approaches the rural area in the transition zone though this is not
always followed by the transition zone. The transition zone usually and practically rather comes to changes and
dominated the respective land uses in the rural area thereby not going by their land use plan.

• Land use planning is based on interdisciplinary cooperation.

Land use planning is a distinct study which involves different varieties of disciplines. The ecological, economic,
technical, financial, social and cultural dimensions of land use make it necessary to work with an interdisciplinary
approach. It is therefore necessary to to view land use planning from all other aspects of discipline and their
respective implications on how land use planning affects each section of the economy. This land use planning
principles portrays land use planning as an integral holistic combination of different fields of study for which each
field for needs to be represented in the planning process in other to ensure that the land use plan does not have
any extreme negative effect on each sector of the economy. Acknowledging these interdisciplinary cooperation of
land use planning would enable peri-urban dwellers to know how to site their land uses in a reasonable way so as
not to dominate or change the land uses of the rural areas haphazardly knowing that dominating one land use by
another has an adverse effect on the economy as a whole.

• Land use planning is an iterative process; it is the flexible and open reaction based on new findings and
changing conditions.
Land use planning is an iterative process which means land use planning is a not really a process to an end but its
in a way an ongoing process which is repetitive in nature. Land use planning is repetitive which allows new ideas,
new developments and findings and incorporated into the planning process. This allows certain changes to be
made to make land use plans adaptable to the modern time and conditions. This principle allows that certain
changes and revisions to be made to previous decisions made in land use planning. Land use planning should be
flexible in a way to be receptive or to be able to accommodate certain changes as the process is been repeated
over and over again. This principle allows us to accept that as planning has been done for the urban area and
rural area separately and as time goes on with urbanization and other demographic factors, the urban centers
would outgrow its boundary towards the rural area which creates a transition zone name peri-urban areas. As
planning is an iterative process which is repeated, new findings such as peri-urban areas come up hence needs to
be planned for in terms of land use and the land acquisition processes on whether to adapt to the rural land
administrative processes or the urban land administrative processes.

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Task 3 (Page Limit 2):
Using the case of Kumasi and its environs, describe the typology of regions, and discuss how this influences
the expansion of cities.
Descriptions of typology of Regions
A region is a complex of land, water, air, plant, animal and man, regarded under their spatial relationship as
together constituting a definite portion of the earth surface.” _ A .J. Herbertson. The typology of region is
simply referred to the types of regions with regards to the physical characteristics, human impacts and
human interactions. The typologies of a region includes:Formal region, functional region and vernacular
regions.

Formal regions.
The formal region is the geographical region which is characterized by a uniform attribute.The uniform
attribute can be in the form of the common language spoken across the entire region.(in the case of Kumasi,
the common dialect is the Akan Twi).Also, the common attribute could be anything from climate (I.e sub
tropical region which I the main type of climate found in the case of Kumasi.) to political as long as the
attribute is common and distributed across the region.
A formal region is sub divided into single feature regions, multi-feature regions and campage.
Single feature regions.
The single feature regions are regions which are being identified with a specific physical characteristic. It
consists of the nature of land (plains, mountain ranges etc). Examples; Accra plains.

Multi feature;
This regions can either be identified as a resource region(example; Obuasi which know to be enriched with
gold minerals) or a planning region. A planning region can be identified as a geographic region whereby
implementation of development plans are being executed.

Compage;
A compage is uniform region where all the features of the physical, biotic and social environment are
functionally associated with the human
occupance. In the case of compages, the inhabitants living in such region depends solely on the physical or
biotic environment for survival. Example; Inhabitants who stay around River bodies, lakes or the sea tends
to engage in fishing activities for their survival.

Functional regions
Functional regions which are also know as nodal cities or focal points are regions or cities which mostly
dominate the central process. The functional regions are mostly characterized with business activities being
the sole activity of the city. Example of a nodal city is Kumasi, Accra. The primary node in a functional region
features surrounding area with social, political or economic purposes that relate to trade, communications
or transportation. Functional Regions are sub divided into Metropolitan and suban Ne Nidime

Vernacular regions
Vernacular regions is defined by the feelings and prejudices that may or may not be true. The inhabitants of
such areas consider themselves to be linked with a common historic background and common identity.
vernacular regions can be found across the Ashanti Region and the surrounding regions as well whereby
they share a common historic background and have a common dialect. Vernacular regions are also known as
Adhoc regions or Perpetual regions.
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How the typology of regions influences the expansion of cities;

Surplus resources
Cities, towns and villages develops where 2 or more people are gathered. This people then develops into
groups hence gaining control over resources that have being identified in the location they find themselves.
They then exploit the resources for the sustenance of life.

Economic pull of city

Cities provide opportunities for people residing which aids the improvement and the betterment of life.
Modern business and commerce(I.e banking, teaching etc) tends to pull the young populace into the cities
and are being paid munificent salaries. People in rural areas that have interest in business activities tends to
move into the cities for better business offers and opportunities in the cities.

Industrialization and commercialization

The urban growth has also being influenced largely by new techniques and technologies for the productions
of goods and services hence making work less easier, effective and less tedious. This tends to pull people
from the rural areas to work in the cities because there are more technologies that have been put in place to
reduce the tediousness of work.

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Task 4 (Page Limit 2):
Describe the factors that affect the patterns of land use, but with particular reference to the theories of
urban land use.

The factors that generally affect urban land use are generally categories as demographic, economic,
sociological, legal and political. The demographic, economic and sociological factors are in the way affect by
demand. Economic factors are always employed as the decision-making tools choosing between various
alternative. The legal and political will help to establish the framework within which the development takes
place and will attempt to influence the benefits of the society. The interrelationship of the factors stated
above is extremely complex and it can not be viewed in isolation from the others. The best way to analyses
them will be in relation to historic theories of land use.

The Burgess Theory

It is part of the earlier theories designed to explain the land use structure of cities. Burgess developed a
concentric ring approach that gives the theory that, a city expands from its original Center in a series of the
concentric zones. It was assumed that the central district was for the most intensive high rent such as office
buildings, department stores and retailers, financial institution among others. the second ring which is the
transitional zone, is made of varies of uses including low rent workers who mostly work for the central
district. It also has manufacturing, wholesaling, storage and similar activities that directly or indirectly serve
or relate to activities carried out in the center. Beyond the transitional zone is the third ring, the people
there are wage workers of both the central and transitional zone. Their homes are generally small and the
resident prefer there because of lower rents and commuting to the transition zone or the central zone.
Rental accommodation is of a higher percentage with a transient population. Further out again are
concentric circle with progressively higher value house. In relation to the concentric circles in terms of
demographic, mostly the older people who have retired tent to live at the outskirt most at times with the
higher income earning housing and the younger people tend to close to the CBD to be able to commute to
work factor. In terms of economic, the higher income earners are further from the CBD because they can
afford to commute and have lower housing density as compared to the transitional zone.

Hoyt Theories.
The theories were developed by Homer Hoyt during the 1930s as a result of the analysis of more than
200000 neighboring block in approximating 70 American cities. It was like a slide of pie with sectors radiating
out from the CBD. Low income and industrial area lie next to each other while the wealth people choose the
best sited. Transportation route represented the neutral boundaries between each sector. One concept of
the Hoyt was that, as the city expands and grows, a higher proportion of housing occupied by middle- and
upper-income earners is likely to be newly built on formed land towards the outskirt of the city. The higher
income houses are toward the outskirt because they afford to build on new houses and vacant land and the
vacant lands are already adjacent existing high values area which is not available for low value housing. Also,
high priced housing would move towards high ground, undeveloped water fronts, land with views, or
natural beauty, and away from but handily accessible to high speed transportation routes. He also observed
that "there is a gradient of rentals downwards from these high rental areas in all directions." For this reason,
low income housing tended to be as far away as possible from high income areas and nearest to industrial
sites or other low amenity factors.

Harris Ullman
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A further development of urban land use is the multiple nuclei theory of 1945 by Harris and Ullman. It based
its theory on Hoyt’s theories by asserting that cities can often have more than one business district. There is
one principal business CBD but as the city grows and expanses more additional business district emerges
most along transport routes. The multiple nuclei occur due to the fact that expanding cities sometimes
overrun already existing commercial centers which continue to operate as nuclei within the larger land use
pattern of the city. In some other instance of case is when the distance and time involving in commuting to
the CBD create opportunity for subsiding nuclei offering some of the common function otherwise performed
by the CBD. An associated factor is that this factor is more likely to occur where public transportation system
is weaker and they don’t contribute to the strength of the CBD.

Succession Theory
The above theories assume that over time, urban growth will result in a succession of
different land uses as the highest and best use changes. For example, commercial
areas that are already constrained by other surrounding uses in a ring or sector will eventually
expand only by the acquisition and redevelopment of neighboring uses, changing their
character to that of the commercial property. The theory of succession is also considered to apply to the
residential property market and may occur in advance of acquisition pressure by other uses. For example,
owners or occupant of high cost building close to an expanding commercial area will have to consider the
prospect of modernizing their houses or sell them. In doing so high and medium cost houses previously will
gradually decline and occupied by a succession of lower income owners and tenant until they are converted
into an apartment or flat. Eventually they will be demolished and replaced with the commercial or industrial
premises.

Technology
Another factor influencing urban land use pattern is change in technology. The invention of heavy
transportation and containerization have meant that industrial land uses are tend to spreading out from the
CBD that was historically the case. In addition, industrial concerns are demanding larger buildings with lower
site coverage to cope with these transportation changes. They need to move to green fields developments
to allow this expansion to take place. This has resulted in many new industrial locations being on the
outskirts of cities whereas older industrial areas closer to the CBD gradually decline and become unsuitable
for current industrial operations. Redevelopment of these areas often comes with high cost problems, such
as site amalgamation and environmental cleanup. Technological change via computerization has made
suburban office parks, with their low site coverage, available parking, enhanced environment and
convenience to the workforce, not only attractive to local service providers but also corporate head offices
and government departments.

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