Make land accessible to all — Collins Dauda

City and town authorities have been urged to make land affordable and accessible to all as they make efforts to raise revenue from its sale.

According to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda, making land too expensive, such that only the rich can afford at the expense of the poor, could create chaos in the country.

“We don’t want a situation where land would be passed on to the rich people on account of the cost of the land. So they must do it in such a way that as they try to look for revenue from land, the poor can afford access to land just as the rich,” he said. Alhaji Dauda was speaking at this year’s Ghana Urban Forum (GUF) and the relaunch of the Lands, Services and Citizenship (LSC) Programme.

Forum

The forum, held on the theme, “Building Resilient Cities, Deepening Spatial Planning and Land Value Capture for Development,” was put together by the MLGRD with support from Cities Alliance and GIZ.

The event brought together professionals from academia, traditional authorities, civil society organisations, technocrats, city authorities and politicians to discuss and focus on how they could better apply spatial planning and value capture for infrastructure financing and development within the urban space.

Spatial planning is intended to help build stronger cities and towns that can withstand climatic shocks, reduce vulnerability and promote equity.

The LSC, which is being implemented through the Urban Development Unit (UDU) of the MLGRD, aims to support national and local policy dialogue to promote sustainable urbanisation, ensure the empowerment of local governments, and reinforce the importance of active community participation in local development.

Revenue

Alhaji Dauda said if spatial planning and land value were captured and properly managed in the cities and towns, it could lead to harnessing of revenue for infrastructure such as roads, drains and electricity.

He said the provision of such sites and services would enhance tremendously the development of social housing for the poor and also reduce the springing up of slums and climate-related disasters such as floods.

The minister added that the government was also aiming to significantly increase investments in the cities and towns to make them liveable, safe, inclusive and resilient in the face of the current challenges in “our increasingly urbanised world”.

Alhaji Dauda, therefore, urged the participants to come out with effective ways of urban land management for the release of funds for infrastructure development by the city authorities.

“That will also help deepen decentralisation by making resources available for metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to undertake development projects to improve on the standard of living of the people,” he added.

Renew urban areas

For his part, the Senior Human Settlements Advisor for the United Nations Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr Doudou Mbye, advised development partners to come together to maximise the limited resources available to support the government in its quest for sustainable urban development.

He also recommended a sustainable urban development project strategy for Ghana, particularly for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), as well as the development of planned city extensions.

Additionally, he said there was the need to renew existing urban areas that had the potential to bring revenue to the state due to the economic activities in those areas.