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The Role of Small Towns in Regional Development and Poverty Reduction in Ghana

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  • GEORGE OWUSU

Abstract

Ghana, like many other countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, lacks a clearly articulated urban development strategy. Urban growth has been rapid but largely uncontrolled. Ghana's adoption of a decentralization programme in 1988 focused some attention on small towns. The country's more recent adoption of the Millennium Development Goals and other specific poverty reduction strategies requires more concerted state promotion of small towns. Improved service provision and delivery through small towns is a necessary component of any successful poverty reduction or regional development strategy. Résumé Le Ghana, comme de nombreux autres pays de l’Afrique subsaharienne, manque de stratégie d’aménagement urbain claire et explicite. L’expansion urbaine a été rapide et généralement non maîtrisée. Le Ghana ayant lancé un programme de décentralisation en 1988, les petites villes ont bénéficié d’un certain intérêt. L’adoption plus récente des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement, ainsi que d’autres stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté, implique davantage de concertation dans la promotion gouvernementale des petites villes. Une amélioration de la mise à disposition des services dans les petites villes constitue un élément nécessaire à toute réussite en matière de réduction de la pauvreté ou de stratégie de développement régional.

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  • George Owusu, 2008. "The Role of Small Towns in Regional Development and Poverty Reduction in Ghana," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 453-472, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:32:y:2008:i:2:p:453-472
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2008.00794.x
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    1. Jan Hinderink & Milan Titus, 2002. "Small Towns and Regional Development: Major Findings and Policy Implications from Comparative Research," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(3), pages 379-391, March.
    2. Samuel Agyei‐Mensah, 2006. "Marketing its Colonial Heritage: A New Lease of Life for Cape Coast, Ghana?," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 705-716, September.
    3. Paul Courtney & Andrew Errington, 2000. "The Role of Small Towns in the Local Economy and Some Implications for Development Policy," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 15(4), pages 280-301, November.
    4. Fergus Lyon, 2003. "Trader associations and urban food systems in Ghana: institutionalist approaches to understanding urban collective action," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 11-23, March.
    5. Wiggins, Steve, 2000. "Interpreting Changes from the 1970s to the 1990s in African Agriculture Through Village Studies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 631-662, April.
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    5. John E. K. Akubia & Antje Bruns, 2019. "Unravelling the Frontiers of Urban Growth: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land-Use Change and Urban Expansion in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-23, August.
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    7. Ingelaere, Bert & Christiaensen, Luc & De Weerdt, Joachim & Kanbur, Ravi, 2018. "Why secondary towns can be important for poverty reduction – A migrant perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 273-282.
    8. Mohamad Rezvani & Hossain Mansourian, 2013. "Developing Small Cities by Promoting Village to Town and its Effects on Quality of Life for the Local Residents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 147-170, January.
    9. Griet Steel & Torben Birch-Thomsen & Ine Cottyn & Evelyn A. Lazaro & Hélène Mainet & Fulgence J. Mishili & P. Lindert, 2019. "Multi-activity, Multi-locality and Small-Town Development in Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(1), pages 12-33, January.
    10. Kanbur, Ravi & Christiaensen, Luc & Ingelaere, Bert & De Weerdt, Joachim, 2017. "Why Secondary Towns Can Be Important for Poverty Reduction – A Migrant’s Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 12193, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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