Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.3, No.9, 2013 142 Regionalism and Urban Development Planning in Africa: Towards A Collaborative Framework for Decentralized Planning in Ghana Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah 1* Clifford Amoako 2 1. Urban and Regional Studies Institute, Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA 2. School of Geography & Environmental Science, Monash University, Australia * E-mail of the corresponding author efrimpongboamah@gmail.com Abstract The development planning and management of cities have evolved in theory and practice. Decentralized planning and regionalism are among such evolved concepts. With Ghanaian cities rapidly urbanizing, the transcendence nature of urbanization challenges continues to tests the responsiveness of the nation’s decentralized planning system-after its implementation more than two decades ago. Key among such tests is how the decentralized planning system can effectively promote collaborative planning among contiguous urbanizing local planning jurisdictions. This demands not only the regional coordination of development plans but also responsive “regionalism” among neighboring local planning and/or government authorities for them to; identify common development challenges, the impacts of their individual planning decisions on each other, and how to collaborate to mitigate the impacts of their decisions on each other. After examining the decentralized planning drawbacks and the Ghana’s urbanization challenges, this paper ends with a framework for effective regional planning collaboration among neighboring urbanizing local government areas. Keywords: Urbanization, Centralized and Decentralized Planning, Regionalism, Regional Planning, Collaborative Planning 1. Introduction The shift from "centralized" to "decentralized" planning and the emergence of terms like "participatory" and "collaborative" planning marked a decisive move in Ghana's development planning and governance practices (Ahwoi 2011) Ghana’s institutional frameworks were changed to emphasize the decentralized or "bottom-up" idea of planning in 1988 and was given legal backing in 1992. Community engagement, community self-help initiatives, have all become key operational words that the central government and donor agencies look out for in distributing aids to local planning authorities. Two of the key planning implications of Ghana’s shift to a decentralized system are: the authority for planning decision-making; and inclusivity in the planning process. Ahwoi (2011), notes that Ghana’s decentralization is seen to be that of devolution and not deconcentration or delegation. Decentralized planning authorities have some decision-making powers in their planning and other decision-making functions (Gregersen et al, 2004). However, the realization of the transcendent nature of planning decisions and actions still makes local planning decisions subject to the directives of regional and national planning institutions under the new decentralized planning system (Botchie, 2000).. Such decision-making arrangement under the new decentralized planning system in Ghana only exist to acknowledge –at least implicitly- the need for collaboration in achieving what this paper refers to as “regionalism” in planning or “regional planning”- a more popular term. Despite acknowledging regionalism, Ghana’s planning efforts do not adequately reflect regionalism -at least based on the development outcomes of local level planning over the years (Aryeetey, 1987). Contiguous urban cities are concerned about the waste disposal actions of their neighboring cities since they are also impacted by them. Prevailing economic hardships in other cities (especially in the northern part of Ghana) has led to southern part cities finding means of increasing the economic opportunities for the labor migrating from these northern cities. Inclusivity in the planning process as the other implication of the decentralized planning system deals with adopting and promoting a “bottom-up” approach (vertical inclusivity) to planning. Ensuring such vertical inclusivity in the planning process has also not been a success under Ghana’s decentralized planning system. Acknowledging this as a planning challenge, the Chief Director of the Ghanaian Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in a 2011 "Special Session of Ghana Urban Forum on Planning for Ghana’s Urban Future" stated that; “We need to engage in dialogue, raise the issue so that policy makers and planners are hearing the concerns of the people… the whole idea of urban development is inclusivity” (World Bank, 2011). The need for an appropriate method to involve the increasing number of people in the local planning process still lingers on in the minds of development practitioners. Horizontal inclusivity-collaborations among institutions- also then become crucial for an effective regional planning. The shift from centralized to decentralized planning