ACADEMIA Letters Planners and Chiefs Working Together to Efect Sustainable Land Use Planning: A Case Study of Sekondi-Takoradi Jerry Chati Tasantab, The University of Newcastle, Australia ABSTRACT In Ghana, studies have shown that public participation in various aspects of governance and development does not work as it should. This study sought to explore how urban planners and local chiefs collaborate to ensure sustainable urban land use planning processes in Sekondi- Takoradi, Ghana. Data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with town planners, local chiefs, and residents. The results reveal that participation has not been successfully implemented as the local chiefs and residents feel left out in crucial planning processes and decisions. This situation implies that the local expertise of non-professionals that could help to develop urban plans with broad appeal is not utilized. Planners need to be agile to accommodate modern ways of engaging communities to efect sustainable and inclusive land use planning. INTRODUCTION Participation is a very important component of land use planning decisions (Nabatchi & Leighninger, 2015). It allows citizens and stakeholders to identify with and support the implementation of decisions and regulations that they help to formulate (Drazkiewicz et al., 2015). This explains the prominent place accorded citizen participation in planning guide- lines in Ghana. The guidelines state that a participatory planning approach would be utilized to prepare all levels of land use plans. It was propounded that the plan preparation process will provide opportunities for key stakeholders to air their views and opinions. Participation, Academia Letters, March 2022 Corresponding Author: Jerry Chati Tasantab, jechati@outlook.com Citation: Tasantab, J.C. (2022). Planners and Chiefs Working Together to Efect Sustainable Land Use Planning: A Case Study of Sekondi-Takoradi. Academia Letters, Article 4956. 1 ©2022 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0