ABSTRACT
This book has looked at pro-poor urban governance in Ghana, with implications for other countries in Africa. Regarded as a process of managing cities which emphasises decentralisation, entrepreneurialism, and democratisation, urban governance is the avowed approach policymakers in Ghana have adopted to solve or ameliorate urban problems. Its character has been sketched by a careful analysis of national policies and a plethora of municipal and national laws, regulations, and policies. References have also been made to the draft National Urban Policy. Together with speeches, manifestos, and other official documents on urban employment, water, and waste management, transport, housing, and land, these documents outline an approach to addressing urban problems in Ghana. It is from this background that the research questions were generated. To wit: Does urban governance lead to effective provision of urban services, namely: job creation, water provision, transport services, affordable housing provision and land-use management? What is the reaction of urban citizens to the outcome of urban governance? Do the elements of urban governance that are said to create the processes of ‘empowerment’ serve as a vehicle to hold urban governments to account?
