The current Akufo-Addo administration is making efforts to strike a balance between proper urban planning and industrialization in the country.

This came to light at the fifth edition of the Ghana Urban Forum (GUF) held yesterday in Accra under the theme: ‘Localizing the New Urban Agenda: Promoting Spatial Planning as a Pre-Requisite for Ghana’s current Industrialization Drive.’

GUF, which is in line with the New Urban Agenda of the United Nations (UN), is one of the key initiatives of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development aimed at enhancing policy dialogue amongst national government actors, local government functionaries and practitioners, community representatives, civil society groups, private sector interest groups and other stakeholders.

Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, O.B. Amoah, in a keynote address, charged participants to identify the most effective spatial development strategies and policies to create equitable, compact, connected and socially inclusive cities.

He also encouraged participants to determine how governments and their development partners could ensure sustainable urbanization in the context of urban-rural continuum.

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) nationwide, the deputy minister said, should introduce “collaborative governance arrangements to reduce the cost of providing public goods and services.”

Also, he said “this can be done through the integration of planning systems, resource management and infrastructure development programmes that will be beneficial in improving the connectivity, trade and investment flow between cities with the districts and regions.”

Mr Amoah also called for a solution to Ghana’s “outmoded land tenure system which makes it difficult for business to own or rent land” to contribute to the successful implementation of the ‘One District, One Factory’ policy.

55 percent of Ghana’s population lives in urban areas and generate around 65 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

There is a global consensus that appropriate urban planning strategies and policies contribute significantly to economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability and resilience, he explained.

He said industrial development was closely intertwined with urbanization.

Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ishmael Ashitey, in a statement, said spatial planning contribute to achieving balance in urban development by using undeveloped lands and reusing old urban sites.