Bachelor Thesis Urbanisation as a Mechanism for Efficient and Sustainable Use of Land Author: Cecilia Lindholm Supervisor: Heiko Fritz Examiner: Christopher High Term: HT20 Subject: Peace and Development Studies Level: Bachelor Course code: 2FU33E Date of seminar: 14 January 2021 Abstract Urbanisation in developing countries can contribute to various benefits and challenges. The growing areas of informal settlements on the peripheries of greater cities are a product of rapid urbanisation and uncontrolled population growth of the city. Informal settlements are often accompanied by the expansion of spontaneous and unsustainable infrastructure that encroach on land of valuable, natural resources. The stakeholders of the two locations studied in this research – Accra in Ghana and Kigali in Rwanda – handle stressors that rapid urbanisation causes differently, which is reflected in the use of land beyond the city area. Although a significant amount of research has been done on urbanisation patterns and land use in both Ghana and Rwanda, this study identifies the research gap of how urbanisation can be used and guided by local actors in developing countries for efficient and sustainable land use. The objective of this research is thus to identify how urbanisation can be used and guided for efficient and sustainable land use. The Environmental Stewardship framework by Bennett, et al. (2018) is used to locate relevant aspects of the management of sustainable land use for collecting data. Local authorities and organisations are the responsible actors for the management of land and the urban environment in Ghana and Rwanda respectively. Investigating official documents and reports that can be found on the official websites of these entities, along with UN publications, is therefore the main method of collecting data of this study. One interview, statistical estimates, and articles in local newspapers provide additional data for this study. The findings reveal that local authorities can make use of urbanisation by using several factors for sustainable and efficient land use. These factors include strong leadership and control of land and the urban environment through e.g. the maintenance of land registers, densification and vertical development of dwellings, ensuring the availability of data that allows for land use planning, steering urbanisation to alternative cities through pull-factors, and upgrading informal settlements. The element of capacity, especially institutional capacity, by Bennett, et al. (2018) is found to be profoundly important for efficient and sustainable land use. Keywords: Land use, sustainable urbanisation, environmental sustainability, spatial planning. 2 Table of Contents List of tables and figures .................................................................................................................. 5 List of abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... 6 List of appendices ............................................................................................................................. 7 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 8 1.1. Research problem, objective, and question ........................................................................... 9 1.2. Relevance ............................................................................................................................ 10 1.3. Structure .............................................................................................................................. 11 2. Literature review ........................................................................................................................ 11 3. Analytical framework ................................................................................................................. 15 3.1. Defining the framework ...................................................................................................... 16 3.1.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 16 3.1.2. Components .................................................................................................................. 17 3.2. Explaining and understanding the framework .................................................................... 18 3.3. Applying the framework to the cases .................................................................................. 19 3.3.1. Accra, Ghana ................................................................................................................ 20 3.3.2. Kigali, Rwanda ............................................................................................................. 20 4. Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 21 4.1. Presentation and justification of data from documents and reports .................................... 22 4.2. Presentation and justification of data from the interview ................................................... 24 4.3. Ethical considerations ......................................................................................................... 26 4.4. Connection to the analytical framework ............................................................................. 27 4.5. Limitations and delimitations .............................................................................................. 28 5. Findings ...................................................................................................................................... 30 5.1. Urbanisation context ........................................................................................................... 30 5.2. Kigali, Rwanda: Urbanisation control, use of land, preserving the natural environment ... 32 5.2.1. Findings of documents and reports .............................................................................. 32 5.2.2. Findings of the interview .............................................................................................. 35 5.3. Accra, Ghana: Informal urbanisation, actor capacity, uncontrolled land use, room for improvement ............................................................................................................................... 36 6. Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 38 6.1. Context and population allocation ....................................................................................... 38 3 6.2. Actors .................................................................................................................................. 39 6.3. Capacities and outcomes ..................................................................................................... 40 6.4. Actions, motivations, and outcomes ................................................................................... 43 7. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 45 References ...................................................................................................................................... 48 Interviews ................................................................................................................................... 54 Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix I. Consent form .......................................................................................................... 55 Appendix II. Interview questions ............................................................................................... 56 4 List of tables and figures Figure 1. Analytical framework: Environmental stewardship, Fig. 2, p. 605 (Bennett, et al., 2018). Table 1. Population allocation: Ghana-Accra, Rwanda-Kigali. Table 2. Actor – research question relations: Urbanisation and land use actors in Ghana and Rwanda. 5 List of abbreviations AMA Accra Metropolitan Assembly CATE-Ghana Changing Attitudes Towards the Environment Ghana DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs EPA Ghana Environmental Protection Agency Ghana GCGL Graphic Communications Group Limited GYES Global Youth in Environmental Sustenance MININFRA Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure MoE Rwanda Ministry of Environment NDPC National Development Planning Commission NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NHMF National Housing and Mortgage Fund NLUDMP National Land Use & Development Master Plan RISD Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development RLMUA Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority RSSB Rwanda Social Security Board UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UN Rwanda United Nations Rwanda 6 List of appendices Appendix I. Consent form Appendix II. Interview questions 7 1. Introduction This qualitative research studies in what way urbanisation can be used for efficient use of land. The two sites studied are Greater Accra, Ghana, and Greater Kigali, Rwanda. By analysing existing data, documents, and reports published by Ghanaian and Rwandan administrations and governmental entities, along with