Research Monograph Urban Governance and Services in Ghana Institutional, financial and functional constraints to effective service delivery 1 © Cities Alliance, 2017 Rue Royale 94 1000 Brussels Belgium http://www.citiesalliance.org [email protected] The material in this publication is copyrighted. Requests for permission to reproduce whole or portions of it should be directed to the Cities Alliance Secretariat at the email address above. Cities Alliance encourages active dissemination of its work. Permission to reproduce will normally be given and - when the reproduction is for non-commercial purposes – without requesting a fee. Cover photos: Kejetia Market, Kumasi - Adam Cohn, 2008 Accra Green Team - Lisa Freiburg, 2015 All images licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Author: ICF Consulting Services 2 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 1. Analytical approach and method........................................................................................... 12 1.1. Isomorphic mimicry and organizational stress ................................................................... 12 1.2. Problem-driven iterative adaptation ................................................................................. 13 1.3. Urban governance and service diagnostic .......................................................................... 14 1.4. Political economy and political settlements ....................................................................... 14 1.5. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 15 2. Institutional dimensions of urban governance and services ................................................... 18 2.1. Issues in urban governance ............................................................................................... 18 2.2. Policy frameworks for urban governance .......................................................................... 19 2.3. Political decentralization ................................................................................................... 21 2.4. Administrative decentralization ........................................................................................ 24 2.5. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................... 29 3. Fiscal decentralization and local government finances........................................................... 34 3.1. Issues in fiscal decentralization ......................................................................................... 34 3.2. Fiscal devolution ............................................................................................................... 37 3.3. Municipal financial management ...................................................................................... 43 3.4. Financial reforms .............................................................................................................. 49 3.5. Politics and fiscal governance ............................................................................................ 51 3.6. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................... 52 4. Urban planning and governance............................................................................................ 55 4.1. Issues in planning .............................................................................................................. 55 4.2. Modernist planning approaches ........................................................................................ 56 3 4.3. Post-independence urban planning (1957-1990) ................................................................ 57 4.4. Contemporary urban planning (1991-2016) ....................................................................... 59 4.5. Politics and planning ......................................................................................................... 67 4.6. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................... 69 5. Urban land markets, land governance and housing ............................................................... 72 5.1. Land and urban governance issues .................................................................................... 73 5.2. Land tenure and administration ........................................................................................ 74 5.3. Land registration process, legislative and institutional framework ..................................... 75 5.4. Politics and land management .......................................................................................... 78 5.5. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................... 79 6. Urban transportation ............................................................................................................ 83 6.1. Issues in urban transportation ........................................................................................... 84 6.2. Transportation services ..................................................................................................... 88 6.3. Institutional arrangement for urban public transport ........................................................ 91 6.4. Institutional arrangements for urban private transport ..................................................... 92 6.5. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................... 93 7. Local economic development ................................................................................................ 95 7.1. Issues and constraints ....................................................................................................... 97 7.2. LED as a municipal service ............................................................................................... 102 7.3. Politics and LED ............................................................................................................... 102 7.4. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................. 104 8. Management of urban environmental services ................................................................... 106 8.1. Municipal solid waste management ................................................................................ 106 8.2. Issues in municipal waste management ........................................................................... 107 4 8.3. Politics and waste management ...................................................................................... 111 8.4. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................. 112 8.5. Urban water supply ......................................................................................................... 113 8.6. Issues in urban water supply ........................................................................................... 114 8.7. Politics and urban water supply....................................................................................... 119 8.8. Conclusion and policy implications .................................................................................. 120 9. Competitive clientelism and the political economy of urban governance ............................. 123 9.1. Political settlement theory .............................................................................................. 123 9.2. Competitive clientelism ................................................................................................... 125 9.3. Politics of decentralization and participation ................................................................... 128 9.4. Politics of intergovernmental fiscal transfers ................................................................... 138 9.5. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 144 10. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 146 Poor decentralization and fragile institutions .......................................................................................................... 146 Growing role of private sector in delivery ................................................................................................................ 147 Weakened enforcement and local government accountability ................................................................................ 147 Institutional biases distorting urban growth ............................................................................................................ 147 Failing political settlements in land management .................................................................................................... 148 Political economy underpinning urban transformation ............................................................................................ 148 Entry points to inclusive urban transformation .......................................................................................................