[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1134, 257], "category": "Text", "text": "provide services, are slow to materialise locally. In particular, fiscal decentralisation remains limited, with most MMDAs unable to exercise genuine expenditure autonomy. This is reflected in their heavy dependence on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) due to their inability to generate sufficient internally generated revenue."}, {"bbox": [96, 270, 1134, 378], "category": "Text", "text": "Further key challenges remain embedded in the systemic and institutional deficiencies, such as yet unclear patterns of devolution processes, local governments remaining chronically underfunded and understaffed, local administrations demonstrating low capacities to undertake their tasks and, at times, blurred division of responsibilities in crucial sectors between different administrative levels and bodies."}, {"bbox": [96, 400, 1134, 509], "category": "Text", "text": "**State of urbanisation.** With a total population of 30.4 million people in 2019 and more than 55% living in cities, Ghana has a dense network of urban areas mostly concentrated along the Atlantic coast and in the Ashanti Region. The urban network of northern regions of the country represents an opportunity to balance spatial distribution of urbanisation and development across the country."}, {"bbox": [96, 519, 1134, 681], "category": "Text", "text": "The country is halfway through urbanisation. While the first period of urbanisation has generated dividends in job creation and opportunities, improved living conditions and reduced poverty for many Ghanaians, the country now faces the challenges of economic efficiency and social inclusion within its urban areas, where globally basic services are still lacking. In addition, unplanned spatial expansion of urban and metropolitan areas and their limited connectivity within and across Ghana's cities is a challenge, increasing social and environmental costs, unequal and inadequate access to basic services, health risks and ecological damages."}, {"bbox": [96, 703, 1134, 865], "category": "Text", "text": "**Urban policy framework.** Several laws and policies have a direct impact on decentralisation and on functioning of the MMDAs. In parallel, three interrelated policies are governing the development and management of cities: (i) the National Urban Policy (2012), (ii) the National Housing Policy (2012) and (iii) the National Spatial Development Framework (2015). However, despite the comprehensive legal framework, local authorities and cities are still struggling to gain their technical and financial autonomy, and their resources remain too limited to face the current challenges."}, {"bbox": [96, 875, 1134, 1010], "category": "Text", "text": "The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD) is currently reviewing the urban policy framework: verifying the extent of implementation and relevance of the 2012 policy vision and objectives, conducting stakeholder consultations for a more participatory and inclusive review, assessing the institutional capacity of implementing organisations/actors, and developing an effective monitoring and evaluation system to collect data and track performance."}, {"bbox": [96, 1020, 1134, 1182], "category": "Text", "text": "The effective implementation of these policies largely depends on the institutional, technical and financial reinforcement of “decentralised entities”. One of the remaining obstacles for institutional coordination and local capacity building is the relative obsolescence of administrative boundaries that define municipalities (and urban, rural settlements generally). Operational implementation is still lacking at the local level (MMDA) because of lack of capacity, lack of anticipation in land acquisition by local governments, and limited integration of strategies in local plans."}, {"bbox": [96, 1204, 1134, 1311], "category": "Text", "text": "**Demographic growth.** A projection shows that the population of Africa will nearly double in size by 2050 and could quadruple by the end of the century. Globally, the number of urban dwellers is growing by two per cent a year and the figure is four per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa. With this trend, the number of people in the region's cities will double within two decades."}, {"bbox": [96, 1323, 1134, 1511], "category": "Text", "text": "Since 1984, Ghana's urban population has quadrupled. The three most populous cities, Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi, account for almost a fifth of the country's population. This development has initially coincided with rapid GDP growth and decreasing poverty. However, this trend has inversed throughout last decade, in particular in the urban centres of the northern half of Ghana. Recent reports⁴ revealed for the first time that health conditions of newly born babies in rural areas are on average better than in cities. This is only one aspect of the large range of alarming challenges posed by climate change, economic transformation and demographic shifts, with government and city mayors facing increasing pressure to find sustainable solutions."}, {"bbox": [96, 1534, 1134, 1589], "category": "Text", "text": "**Gender and inclusiveness.** Ghana presents a complex and diverse gender situation in a multi-ethnic society with a wide range of different social norms, influenced by several cultures (and succession systems), which in turn"}, {"bbox": [85, 1620, 222, 1644], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴ UNICEF 2019"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1680, 1143, 1705], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 25"}]