5
COLONIAL PLANNING CONCEPT AND
POST-COLONIAL REALITIES
The Influence of British Planning Culture in
Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana
Wolfgang Scholz, Peter Robinson and Tanya Dayaram
Copyright © 2015. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Introduction
The British Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 was adopted in many British
colonies and even updated versions of the legislation retained the major features
in several countries (cf. Payne, 2001). Land use planning standards including land
use zoning were based on the model of a low density, green city that reflected the
ideals of a colonial version of the Garden City combined with ideologies of a city’s
sanitation and health concerns. This concept may have been adequate for colonial
towns with modest growth that were physically and socially contained through
restrictions of rural-urban migration. However, it cannot cope with the high urban
growth rates since independence and, above all, it cannot be implemented by
weak public administrations with limited resources (cf. Ambe, 1999; Payne, 2001).
Furthermore, it is hardly suitable for the current process of urbanization under
poverty where the majority of settlers can only afford small plots and where large
plots in planned areas lead to high costs for infrastructure supply (Kombe, 2011).
Many countries still use a masterplan approach although it is not suitable to guide
rapid and mostly informal urban development. Despite having decentralization
processes on the political agenda, in many countries it is not functioning well since
local authorities lack funds and qualified staff to perform their given duties.
This chapter looks at three different countries in Africa (Tanzania, South
Africa and Ghana) which all share a British planning system and analyses
processes of adaption and transformation in the current planning legislation and
implementation.
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68 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
The Planning System and Legal Framework in Tanzania
In Tanzania local government units are district authorities and town authorities.
The district authorities include the district council, township authorities and
village and Mtaa (sub-ward) governments. These are the administrative institutions with full mandate for land use planning in their areas. However, central
government institutions control and approve local planning schemes.
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TABLE 5.1 Administrative levels and Spatial Planning Instruments in Tanzania
Level
Size
National
44,928,923 Central
people (2012) Government:
963,000 km² Ministry of
Planning
Regional
30 regions,
size from
ca. 330 km²
to ca.
68,000 km²
District
– Rural
169 districts,
size from ca.
28 km² to ca.
45,000 km²
Institution
Spatial Planning
Instruments
Description
National plans:
Long-term,
5-year annual
plans and annual
budgets
Expenditure plans
for different sectors,
infrastructure and socioeconomic development.
Allocation of funds to
different ministries and
regional authorities.
Expenditure plans for
different sectors and for
infrastructure and socioeconomic development
within the region.
Allocation of funds for
different sectors.
Addressing spatial
development problems in
the region.
Location and
development of
settlements, including
hierarchy of centres.
Guiding the provision
of services and social
infrastructure.
Guiding public sector
agencies in locating
projects.
Budgeting and allocation
of funds to different
sectors in the district.
Central
Government:
Prime Minister’s
office for
Regional
Administration
and Local
Government
(PMO-RALG)
Regional plans
and Regional
Integrated Plans
(RIDEPS):
socio-economic
and infrastructure
planning
Division
of Human
Settlements,
Ministry of
Lands, Housing
and Human
Settlements
Development
(MLHHSD)
Regional
physical
plans, district,
municipal,
village
development
plans
District Council
under direct
supervision of
PMO-RALG
Division of
Human Settlements represented
in the district by
the respective
District Town
Planning Office
District Annual
Development
Plan
District Physical Identifies priority
Plan
sector and projects for
investment.
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 69
Level
Size
Institution
District
– Urban
Different
categories:
City:
>600,000
inhabitants
Urban councils Annual
Development
under direct
Plan
supervision of
PMO-RALG in
respect of spatial
plans
Municipality:
>80,000
inhabitants
Town:
>30,000
inhabitants
Township:
>9,000
inhabitants
>250 families
Division
of Human
Settlements
represented by
the Municipal
planning office
District
– Village
Village Council
approved by the
District Council
Directorate
of Human
Settlements
Development
Spatial Planning
Instruments
Description
Budgeting and allocation
of funds to different
sectors in the urban
district/council.
Identifies priority
sector and projects for
investment.
Land use planning
General
schemes dealing with
Planning
Scheme (master residential, commercial,
industrial, recreational,
plan, interim
land use plan or open spaces, agriculture,
strategic urban institutional, and so on.
development
plan – SUDP)
Village
Development
Plan
Village Land
Use Plan
Registration by the
Regional Administration
and Local Government.
The plan deals with land
resources assessment
and shows how the
village land should be
used. Main land uses
are: farms, grazing areas,
forest, residential, sites
for community services,
roads, and so on.
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(Source: Burra and Kyessi (2008, p. 159), modified and updated by the authors)
In Tanzania, the British Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 was adopted via
the Town and Country Planning Act of 1956, Cap 378 and it is still the main legislation for urban planning in Tanzania. It covers the following land use planning
related issues:
•
•
•
•
•
•
use of land and buildings;
intensity of use of land and occupancy rate;
size, form and construction materials of buildings;
siting of buildings;
alignments and reservation of land for roads and other physical infrastructure;
and
preservation of natural and man-made features as well as regulating and
controlling disposal of refuse and pollutants.
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from corvinus on 2023-11-20 07:48:07.
70 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
Concerning the planning processes and actors involved it defines:
•
•
•
•
the procedures for declaring planning areas;
the contents of planning schemes and their twofold nature (general and
detailed plans);
who will prepare and approve plans and the relationship among involved
actors; and
procedures for development control.
Land use planning is also regulated through technical and administrative guidelines issued by the Directorate of Human Settlements Development and by-laws
formulated by the respective local authorities. Local authorities are responsible for
plan preparation while the Minister is responsible for approving plans. Table 5.2
provides an overview of the spatial planning related legal framework.
After independence in 1961, the colonial planning standards were modified but
with little attention to post-colonial socio-economic realities. The 1956 Town and
Country Planning Law was only recently reviewed (Urban Planning Act, 2007) but
by and large the contents have remained the same. The internal draft for the recent
revision of plot size standards is far beyond what urban poor dwellers can afford,
it does not support sustainable and compact urban development or optimal use of
scarce resources including public finances for basic infrastructure services (Ministry
of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, 2011: see Table 5.3).
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TABLE 5.2 Planning-related legislation in Tanzania
Year
Planning Legislation
1956, as revised in 1961
1964
Town and Country Planning Ordinance Cap 378
Government Notice Nº 678 of 4th December 1964:
Modification of Planning Schemes Regulations
Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act no 8
National Land Policy
National Environmental Policy
Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Town Planning
Space Standards) Regulations
Regional Administration and Local Government Act
Land Act no 4
Local Government (urban and district) Act no 6
National Human Settlements Development policy
The Town and Country Planning (Urban farming)
Regulation
National Transport Policy
Environmental Management Act
Unit Title Act
1982, as revised in 1999
1995
1997
1997
1997
1999
1999
2000
2001
2003
2004
2008
(Source: Burra and Kyessi (2008, p.158), updated by the authors)
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Created from corvinus on 2023-11-20 07:48:07.
Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 71
Copyright © 2015. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
It still reflects colonial concepts of a Garden City and low densities due to
sanitation and health reasons.
Current urban land use planning standards still require large plot sizes that are
too expensive for the Government to service and unaffordable by most social
groups, especially the urban poor. Kombe (2011) highlighted the costs for different
infrastructure standards in relation to plot sizes. He concluded that for the stipulated plot sizes, infrastructure costs would be prohibitive. This reduces the ability of
local government to fulfil its obligations of service delivery and contributes to the
shortage of building land. The cost of basic infrastructure services in comparison
to full service infrastructure (e.g., including private water pipes and sewage) only
doubles in the case of small plots of 100 m². However, for larger plot sizes, e.g.,
according to the official land use planning standards (min. 400 m², see Table 5.3),
the costs increase by more than three times. This is mainly due to the increased
total length of infrastructure service lines such as roads, water pipes, storm water
drains, and so on, in relation to the number of costumers or households being
served.
The unmet demand for affordable building land is thus largely covered by
the informal land supply system which operates with average plot sizes of about
100–200 m². It can thus be argued that inappropriate planning standards, especially
the plot sizes, have compounded the problems of urban governance, mushrooming
informal settlements and the absence of basic infrastructure services even in most
of the new planned and surveyed areas (authors’ fieldwork, 2011).
For decades, there has been hardly any planned residential settlement in Dar
es Salaam that meets the needs for low-income groups. Even areas planned and
designed for the urban poor (so called high-density areas), where plots were
offered below market prices, did not reach the target groups because they could
not afford the land prices requested or were bypassed in the allocation process. In
some cases, rising land prices even forced residents to sell allocated plots (authors’
fieldwork, 2010).
TABLE 5.3 Proposed revised plot size standards (current standards are in brackets)
Density
Plot size in
(m2)
High
Medium
Low
Super low
(new category
in the draft)
300-600
(400-800)
601-1200
(801-1600)
1201-1600
(1601-4000)
1601-2500
Maximum Maximum Minimum
Minimum
Minimum
coverage
plot ratio setbacks front setbacks side setbacks rear
(%)
(m)
(m)
(m)
40
0.4
3
1.5
30
(25)
25
(15)
20
0.3
(0.25)
0.25
(0.2)
0.2
3
3
5
4
7
7
1.5
(2)
3
(5)
5
(10)
7
(Source: Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Internal draft 2011, not published)
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from corvinus on 2023-11-20 07:48:07.
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72 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
An initiative of the Government of Tanzania (Dar es Salaam 20,000 Plots
Project) which aimed at providing planned, surveyed and allocated plots to reach
all income groups has failed due to high service costs, disadvantageous locations
and non-transparent allocation procedures (Kombe and Kreibich, 2007, p.157).
In many locations of the 20,000 Plot Projects, prices for plots skyrocketed from
an initial average of TSh 400,000 (1 € = 2,100 TSh in October 2013) for a high
density plot (charged by the Government upon allocation) to TSh 5 million
(price in the land market) in less than five years. This is more than ten times the
official price charged and reflects the development of land prices for surveyed areas
(authors’ fieldwork, 2011).
Most of the urban poor, therefore, can only find a place for living in the
informal settlements where they can access smaller plots at affordable prices for
land that is not serviced. In exchange they will have to cope with higher costs for
services and utilities like urban transport and water from street vendors.
The lack of buildable land provided through the formal system has also increased
the development pressure on existing settlements. The growing commercial and
service sector in the current market-led economy has given rise to land use changes
towards commercial activities in residential areas. Many property owners are
changing their houses to accommodate economic activities such as shops, offices,
and workshops due to higher rent expectations. Land use changes from residential
to commercial activities are taking place since plots for commercial activities are
not sufficiently available on the land market due to an insufficient designation of
plots for commercial activities in former and current planning schemes (author’s
fieldwork, 2011).
Another aspect of the pressure on land is the redevelopment of plots with
multi-storey buildings following increased land values. While this development
tends to support a more compact city, most construction activities under redevelopment ignore the need for adequate setbacks, leading to inadequate space
between buildings. The planning standards in Table 5.3 do not consider multistorey constructions and their higher demand for setbacks. They were designed for
single-storey buildings as the dominant type during colonial times and do not deal
with floor ratios or setbacks in relationship to the height of the building (authors’
fieldwork, 2010).
These facts show the need for re-thinking central elements of the statutory land
use planning system focusing on the increasing pressure on land, the need to guide
urban development effectively, to create more functional settlements, to assist the
urban poor to access affordable building land, and to release financial assets for the
urban economy. The Act is currently under review to take into account key socioeconomic changes, particularly the large unplanned parts of cities which could
not be governed by the existing instruments and management practices that are in
force. However, it is not expected to change the general underlying concepts of
colonial legislation and urban models.
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 73
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Planning procedures in Tanzania
There have been some changes in the urban planning system during the last
two decades. The planning system is changing from a rather technocratic to
a more participatory and strategic planning approach. Also it is intended to
involve more stakeholders and to follow a bottom-up approach by introducing
Environmental Planning and Management (EPM) at municipal or district level.
Planning has changed from strict master planning to a more flexible strategic
planning approach.
The aim is to integrate unused capacities at the grassroots level to supplement
the role of public administrations in defining and achieving strategic urban development objectives. As far as possible it needs to incorporate local administrative
institutions and locally-based conflict resolution mechanisms.
Efforts to depart from the present approach to a local and community based
planning and management of change are however made through international
donor-funded programs. UN-Habitat facilitated implementation of a program on
sustainable urban development planning (Sustainable Cities Programme, SCP) in
ten municipalities, including Dar es Salaam. It involves demand-based planning
and execution of projects with local communities, taking as point of departure
the inhabitants’ own initiatives and resource capacities. The success of such efforts,
nevertheless, requires changes within the institutional framework for planning to,
inter alia, empower communities, facilitate, and enhance their initiatives, rather
than mere controls and prescriptive form of planning.
The Sustainable Dar es Salaam Project (SDP) was one example being implemented in Tanzania from 1993 to 1999. Its main objective was to strengthen
municipal planning and management capacity and improve the participation of
stakeholders in the urban management needs of the city. With the launching of
the SDP, a collaborative planning approach – the strategic urban development
planning – was initiated and adopted within the planning system. This was a new
form of planning which reflects the process view of planning. It employs the
participation of more actors than just experts from outside. It focuses on participation of stakeholders and communities in managing issues of their concern. The
strategic urban development planning is seen as a realistic approach in providing
solutions to urban problems rather than the use of master plans that are difficult to
implement.
In order to improve on the traditional master planning approaches, and in
addressing the continuously complex urban development processes, this approach
adopts a more dynamic, continuous and consensual vision building and policymaking process. The output of the strategic planning process is not just a physical
development plan for the city but a set of interrelated strategies aimed at enabling
all public, private and community initiatives to promote economic growth, provide
basic infrastructure services and enhance the quality of the environment. These
and other new approaches have thus attempted to move away from the rigid
formality of blueprint urban master plans.
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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74 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
While the SDP experiment can be seen as a success story (despite its
dependency on donor funds for the extensive stakeholder involvement), its
planning output has not been approved by the Ministry. The planning document
of SDP provides options for future development and sets preferences for land
uses according to suitability criteria only. The Ministry, however, expected a
comprehensive future land use plan and no open final decisions on future land
uses. This conflict between process orientated flexible planning and the demand
of the authorities for a final land use plan led to the development of new general
planning guidelines: “combining the advantages of both” (Lupala, 2013). Today
in Tanzania, both general planning schemes, like a Strategic Urban Development
Plan, and detailed planning schemes have to follow documented stakeholder
meetings on the one hand and produce planning documents with defined future
land uses on the other.
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Critical review
While in theory, the planning approach has changed to a more participatory
one, there is a need for a deeper look into the reality of implementation on the
ground. The change towards a free market economy in the 1990s had implications on spatial planning and land use policies. However, the “failure to [adjust the
legislation] made the 1956 Planning Ordinance irrelevant for guiding settlement
development” (Burra and Kyessi, 2008, p.161). Furthermore, there is “no evidence
of satisfactory grass-root participation in local planning and management of development” (Burra and Kyessi, 2008, p.161). Planning practice is still dominated by
the Ministries of the central government.
Recently enacted laws and national policies tried to establish links with the
local and grass root institutions (see Table 5.2): The Local Government (Urban
Authorities) Act (1982); The Regional Administration and Local Government Act
(1997); The Local Government Reform Agenda (1996–2000); The National Land
Policy (1995) and The Land Act (1999). These acts aimed at empowerment and
mobilization of local communities in planning and managing land. However, as
Burra and Kyessi stated:
“The law requires that planning schemes are deposited for public examination
in a period of three months before they are approved by the Minister. This is
rarely done with respect to general planning schemes and never with regard
to detailed planning schemes. In the past, this practice deprives residents of
their democratic right to contribute in shaping the built environment, and
the legal opportunity to participate in the planning process to safeguard their
interests in land and property development.”
(2008, p.161)
All urban settlements with populations above 30,000 have today a general planning
scheme but approved village land use plans exist only for few villages and “most of
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Created from corvinus on 2023-11-20 07:48:07.
Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 75
these plans, particularly village land use plans are rarely implemented or land use
change decisions followed up” (Burra and Kyessi, 2008, p.161).
There is also lack of awareness of planning regulations in institutions at the
grassroots level of the Government (Mtaa, ward level). For instance, in the
sub-ward office (Mtaa) of Sinza, Dar es Salaam, the copy of the land use and
layout plan was missing. It seems that in the understanding of residents as well as
local leaders, planning only focuses on the change of land use at the plot level,
approved individually by the local leaders, and not according to the general or
detailed planning scheme. Thus individual decisions do not correlate to the
existing plans or general regulations. Permissions to build, extend or to change
the use of a building are issued by local leaders mostly based on the political
influence of the applicant overruling a planner’s technical statement and thus in
disregard of public interests. Therefore, conflicting land uses easily emerge. Such
permissions focus only on the plot itself, and ignore the neighbors’ plot and
the construction on it (concerning size, height, setbacks and land use) (authors’
fieldwork, 2012).
It can be summarized that the economic as well as political changes declared
through liberalization policies have not been incorporated sufficiently in the
planning system or practice and the participation of stakeholders is still limited.
Impact of Planning Practices in South Africa
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This section discusses aspects of Town Planning legislation which have (or should
have) had an impact on urban structure and form of settlements for low-income
people in South Africa since the mid-twentieth century. In order to provide a
sharp focus, the emphasis will be on the province of Natal (later called KwaZuluNatal). South African planning legislation has evolved through three phases:
•
•
•
Early foundations (up to 1990)
Transition (around 1990 to 2000)
Contemporary (from 2000 to 2013)
At various stages, Natal has led the way in changing town planning legislation and
practice in South Africa; examples include: the establishment of the Town and
Regional Planning Commission in 1951; the Package of Plans in the 1980s; early
experiments with integrated development planning in the 1990s; and the Planning
and Development Act of 2008 (see Table 5.4).
Early foundations (up to 1990)
During the early and middle of the twentieth century, town planning legislation in
South Africa was strongly influenced by English Town and Country Planning Acts.
In particular, the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act was the foundation upon
which most of the Provincial Town Planning Ordinances were formulated. In the
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76 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
South African context, it is significant that the apartheid era dates from the 1948
general election in which the Nationalist Party came to power. For example, the
Natal Town Planning Ordinance set out to “consolidate and amend previous laws
relating to the establishment of townships, the sub-division of land, layout of land
for building purposes or urban settlement and the preparation of town planning
schemes” (RSA, 1949, p. 1).
During the second half of the twentieth century successive changes in emphasis
in UK Town Planning law and practice (such as the advent of Structure Plans after
1968) were reflected in adjustments to South African town planning legislation and
practice. The influence of USA and European town planning can also be traced
from about the 1960s.
The standards and norms used in the planning and development of the
low-income settlements and townships that were formulated in the 1950s remained
the cornerstone for the next 40 or so years, with no more than minor adjustments.
Throughout this first period, settlements and townships for low-income people
were planned and developed by the public sector (mainly central government but
also by some of the large municipalities). The most influential guidelines were a
book published in 1951 by T. B. Floyd entitled Guidelines for Township Layout; and
the NBRI’s (1983) Guidelines for the Provision of Engineering Services in Residential
Townships which provided local authorities with a set of standard guidelines on
infrastructure design service and provision for residential townships. Subsequent
revisions were known as the Red, Brown and Green Books. Neither the guidelines
nor the standards proposed in these documents were legally enforceable but were
widely used in practice (Behrens and Watson, 1996, pp. 30–32).
Examples of the type of urban form that resulted are large urban townships such
as Soweto and KwaMashu, situated on the then outer fringe of Johannesburg and
Durban respectively, other large, more remote townships such as Botshabello (56 km
from Bloemfontein), Madadeni (24 km from Newcastle) and many smaller townships
located between 5 and 10 km away from the towns on which they depended for
services and facilities. These so-called townships were planned according to the
British master plan New Town model. The urban form was characterized by uniform
plot sizes of 280–300 m² for free-standing houses which were known as NE 51 –
short for Non-European 1951 – typology of houses. The two dominant types were
41.4 m² and 51.2 m², three-room houses with external or internal toilets. This lot size
determined the density of formal townships for Africans throughout the country.
The advent of informal settlements began during the mid-1970s as people
began leaving the black rural Homelands and started migrating into the edges of
towns and cities in the so called “white areas”. The first phase continued until
around 1990 when the watershed changes in the South African political scene
began to gain momentum in the early 1990s.
Table 5.4 provides a timeline summary of these changes together with the case
studies selected to show how legislation and guidelines from each period worked
out on the ground.
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 77
TABLE 5.4 Timeline of legislation and examples of urban housing projects
Year
Legislation/guidelines
1947
1948
1949
1951
1951
UK Town and Country Planning Act
Nationalist Party in power in SA
Natal Town Planning Ordinance 27
Group Areas Act
T. B. Floyd’s Guidelines for Township
Layout
1952–1970s
Building of large townships for
African, Colored and Indian
citizens
Development of Soweto (between
1950 and 1960) KwaMashu
(completed 1970)
1957–1971
1962
From
mid-1970s
1976
1976
1983
1986
1988
1990
Event/project
Proclamation 293
Informal settlements start emerging
around most large cities and towns
Urban Foundation established
SAICE / SAITRP guidelines on the
planning and design of township roads
and storm water drainage
Blue Book – Guidelines for the Provision
of Engineering Services in Residential
Townships
Repeal of Group Areas Act
Green Book
Announcement of unbanning of
ANC
Nelson Mandela released
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(Source: authors)
Transition phase (1990 to 2000)
As it became apparent that a new era was in the making, progressive Town
Planners and other built environment professionals began to take the opportunity
of impending changes in legislation across the board to shake off the shackles of
what were regarded as overly rigid and inflexible town planning legislation with
associated regulations and practice guidelines. Thus began a decade of formulating
new approaches to settlement and township planning. It was a time when new legislation was being formulated and innovative approaches to settlement development
were being tested on the ground. In two significant cases, interim legislation was
introduced to manage settlement development during the period when old legislation was being replaced. The Less Formal Townships Establishment Act (RSA,
1991) and the Development Facilitation Act (RSA, 1995) both aimed at speeding
up the urban development process with a particular focus on poor communities.
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78 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
The underlying principles of the DFA formed the basis for changes to planning
legislation in the contemporary period (see the text box below).
Development Facilitation Act (RSA, 1995) Principles
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
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h.
Promote the integration of the social, economic, institutional and
physical aspect of land development;
Promote integrated land development in rural and urban areas in
support of each other;
Promote the availability of residential and employment opportunities in
close proximity to or integrated with each other;
Optimize the use of existing resources including such resources relating
to agriculture, land, minerals, bulk infrastructure, roads, transportation
and social facilities;
Promote a diverse combination of land uses, also at the level of
individual erven or subdivisions of land;
Discourage the phenomenon of urban sprawl in urban areas and
contribute to the development of more compact towns and cities;
Contribute to the correction of the historically distorted spatial patterns
of settlements in the Republic and to the optimum use of existing infrastructure in excess of current needs; and
Encourage environmentally sustainable land development practices and
processes.
Other innovations related to informal settlement upgrading included, for example,
the adoption of integrated approaches to planning at urban and regional scales;
new institutional arrangements for delivery; and new forms of urban development
finance; and a more flexible approach to planning and standards (see the text box
below on “Innovative planning and urban development practices in the Transition
Phase”).
Innovative planning and urban development practices in
the Transition Phase
•
•
Adoption of integrated approaches to development planning at regional,
sub-regional and local scales.
Institutional/delivery agencies such as Independent Development Trust,
Cato Manor Development Association and the housing companies set
up under the auspices of the Urban Foundation.
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 79
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
Large-scale urban reconstruction as in Cato Manor which became the
crucible for innovation with a view to replicability.
Urban development finance arrangements facilitated by the State
Presidential Projects and the European Union.
New forms of housing finance including capital subsidy.
Informal settlement upgrading – For example, Besters Camp.
Recognition of the need for Project Preparation as an explicit element
of the process of linking poor communities to the funding sources
becoming available from government and international donor agencies.
The Project Preparation Trust was set up in 1993 to fulfil this need and
remains in full operation to date.
Negotiated standards and norms for infrastructure, services e.g. in
Wiggins West Fast Track in Cato Manor where Housing Support
Centre assisted residents to use their subsidy funding effectively.
Clustering of public facilities (primary and secondary school, sports
fields, a community hall and a library) on 2 ha sites in Multi-Purpose
Community Centres built in Cato Manor made multi-purpose trips
possible. “The approach has a significant impact socially, visually and
by clustering, set preconditions for an integrated approach to the
management of the facilities thereby reducing operating costs” (Dewar
and Kaplan, 2004, p.66).
KZN province developed a Manual (TPI, 2008a) Guidelines for
Planning of Facilities in KwaZulu-Natal.
More flexible forms of planning such as spatial concept plans, precinct
plans and spatial development frameworks and capital investment frameworks, as well as recognition of the value of mixed use areas, nodes
of different scale and character and development of different types of
movement corridors.
New approaches to layout planning as advocated by Behrens and
Watson in their handbook Making Urban Places (1996).
Involvement of a variety of stakeholders in land and housing development processes.
Ascendency of planning and development advocacy organizations
(such as the Built Environment Support Group in Durban and
Pietermaritzburg, Planact in Johannesburg, Development Action Group
in Cape Town and Coreplan in East London). The Urban Foundation
was a highly effective policy think-tank and implementation facilitator.
The second phase continued until 2000 when a major demarcation process
changed the municipal and planning legislation landscape.
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80 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
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Contemporary phase (from 2000 to 2013)
In December 2000 the Municipal Systems Act came into effect marking the
beginning of the contemporary era. This Act gave legal form to the integrated
approach to development planning that had evolved through practice in the
transition phase. The contemporary phase may be characterized by the new
form of plans, called Integrated Development Plans (IDP), Spatial Development
Frameworks and Land Use Management Plans, which started replacing older
types of plans such as Structure Plans and Town Planning Schemes. All municipalities were required by law to produce an IDP in 2002 and to review this under
provincial supervision every 5 years.
The last decade has witnessed significant delivery of housing, basic services
and facilities to the poor. Between 1994 and 2010 the housing program had
constructed some 2.4 million RDP houses nationally. The proportion of Africans
living in formal housing has risen from 53% in 1996 to 71% in 2011, and there are
now more than 5.8 million African households who own their own homes, the
majority of them outright without owing any money on them. The transfer of title
deeds to occupants of township housing (by 2001 over 300,000 houses had been
transferred), as well as the RDP housing is partly responsible for this trend. Over
half of all African households now have a flush toilet, up from a third in 1996, and
the majority of African households use electricity for cooking and lighting, which
used not to be the case (Holborn, 2013, p.3).
At the same time there have been a number of shifts in policy in response
to lessons from the ground. In the early 2000s, for example, the South African
housing policy had been strongly criticized for supplying standardized products to
individual beneficiaries instead of supporting communities to progressively resolve
their housing problems (Khan, 2003, pp. 77–84; Baumann, 2003, pp. 85–114).
In response a new national housing policy called Breaking New Ground was
introduced. It re-emphasized guiding principles of the DFA and recognized the
potential of housing development as a means of spatial restructuring. The policy
introduced new instruments such as additional funding for the purchase of welllocated land, higher subsidies for social housing in restructuring zones, and a
program for upgrading informal settlements. As a result, there has been an increase
in delivery of social housing.
Another important policy shift occurred around 2010, when the terminology and
emphasis shifted away from slum eradication to a more progressive and incremental
approach to upgrading of informal settlements. About the same time the names of
national and provincial Housing departments were changed to Human Settlement
indicating a more holistic perspective. In 2011, eThekwini (metropolitan Durban)
municipality embarked on an innovative program to provide interim services in
informal settlements which are neither on the short-term program for upgrading
nor located in dangerous places such as floodplains and unstable land.
New planning legislation has been introduced during this phase. The Planning
Profession Act (RSA, 2002) led to the re-establishment of a statutory organization
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 81
responsible for regulating the planning profession. SACPLAN is currently reviewing
the competencies and standards for planners, accreditation processes for Planning
Schools and professional registration procedures. It is still too early to assess the
effects of recent legislation such as the KZN Planning and Development Act
(RSA, 2008) and Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (RSA, 2012)
on settlement and urban form.
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Lessons from South Africa
The South African experience between the early 1950s and early 1990s was one of
little more than small changes in the planning legislation and the guidelines used
by practitioners for township layout and the provision of infrastructure services, as
well as delivery of houses. Since then there have been a number of changes in the
underlying planning philosophies and a plethora of new legislation. However, this
has not always led to much change on the ground. The urban form of Welbedacht
(an RDP housing project started in 2000) is very similar to that of KwaMashu in
the late 1960s. That said, it is clear that the KwaMashu of 2012 (over 50 years
old) is a far better performing settlement than it was in the 1960s. In part this is
due to the growth of the metropolitan area to the north and the improved accessibility to jobs and public transport; in part it is the result of large numbers of small
and sometimes bigger efforts and investments by the residents to customize their
settlement to their needs. Most of these efforts have been informal; not all have
been positive.
Two of the better examples of settlement development are Besters and Cato
Manor. In both cases, these were developed by innovative institutions (IDT and
CMDA), using enabling legislation (LEFTEA) that was not too prescriptive and
involved extensive facilitation by the development agencies to engage the community,
local authority and contractors about standards and end product. The enabling legislation has recently been replaced by permanent new planning legislation.
Looking back over the contemporary phase there are a number of distinct
improvements, as well as some areas of concern.
The improvements include:
•
•
•
•
a uniform system of planning for all areas, urban and rural;
an explicit developmental focus with emphasis on service delivery;
linking of the integrated development plans to budgets of municipalities and
service providers;
increased community participation in the planning process.
The main concerns are:
•
that the very sophisticated planning system which has been introduced will be
difficult to implement on account of limited human resources and institutional
infrastructure;
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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82 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
•
•
•
that the duality which exists between formal and informal systems in almost
all facets of development may not have been adequately catered for;
that planners and administrators of planning procedures will experience difficulty in making the adjustment to the new forms of planning; and
that the municipal demarcation and form of planning will be subject to further
changes.
One lesson arising from this is that appropriate planning legislation and procedures are necessary but not sufficient conditions for creation of well performing
settlements. Suitably resourced and capacitated development agencies are a vital
ingredient. Another lesson is the huge advantage of having enough flexibility
in the operating environment to allow scope and capacity to negotiate about
allocation processes, levels of services and built forms. Many of the changes have
resulted from initiatives and programs far wider than planning legislation. However,
planning has played a significant role which suggests an emerging awareness of the
role of planners in the interface zone with the work of other built and natural
environment and development professionals.
Decentralization in Ghana: Theory and Practice
Similar to the two examples above, the planning legislation in Ghana is based on
the British planning system and planning culture (Figure 5.1). The Town and
Country Planning Department (TCPD) which is still in place was established in
1945 under the Town and Country Planning Ordinance (CAP 84). The duties of
the Town and Country Planning Department are mainly:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
to formulate and review land use standards for all settlements;
to revise settlement legislation;
to guide the preparation of settlement structure plans and the management of
urban growth;
to guide and assist District Assemblies (DA) to establish their own planning
departments;
to organize training needs of national, regional and district town and country
planning departments;
to monitor planning related programmes and projects nationwide; and
to analyze and review national policy.
However, for a long time and under different political systems, the country
followed an extended process of decentralization. In 1988 and 1989 the then
military government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)
launched a decentralization program which was meant to give power to the
people and bring democracy to the doorstep of the people, which was the political
philosophy of the government at the time (Ayee, 2013, p. 624).
With the Constitution of 1992, upon the return of the country to democratic
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 83
Ministry and
Sector Agencies
.. ~
~
,.
......
National Development
Planning Commission
""''III
(National Co-ordination body)
~
~
Regional Coordinating Council
,,
(Regional Planning
Co-ordinating Unit)
District Assemblies
(District Planning
Co-ordinating Unit)
,,
...
....
......
I
~
~
~ ~
Urban/Town/Area
and Zonal Council
,,.
Legend
-+
~ ~
•
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Unit
Committees
FIGURE 5.1
Development
Plans
Planning
Guidelines
Structure of the planning system in Ghana
(Source: authors, based on Inkoom 2008, p. 68)
rule, the aim was to first ensure development decision-making at both national
and local levels by restructuring the administrative and the political machinery
and, secondly, the attainment of functional efficiency and environmental harmony
through the reorganization of the system of spatial development and hence
the creation of two new institutions: The Ministry of Local Government and
Rural Development (MLGRD), dealing with programs and activities of decentralization coordinating national policies for local governments, and the National
Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which is responsible for consistency
and execution of development policies. The NDPC also guides and assists the 216
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84 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA) in the preparation of
district development plans, being at the same time the legal institution responsible
for the approval of these plans. Furthermore, it cross-checks the district development plans to go in line with the national development plan.
The new decentralized planning and decision-making system had three main
objectives:
•
•
•
to create an institutional framework for public and community participation
in national development to ensure optimal resource mobilization, allocation
and utilization for development;
to provide opportunities for greater participation of local people in development planning and efficient management of local resources; and
to establish effective channels of communication between the national
government and local communities with increased administrative effectiveness
at both levels (Inkoom, 2008, p. 69).
TABLE 5.5 Overview of the different planning authorities
Level
Population
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250,000 and above
Metropolitan
Assemblies (Accra,
Kumasi, Shama Ahanta
East, Tamale, Tema and
Cape Coast)
Municipal Assemblies 95,000 and above
(56)
District Assemblies
75,000 and above
Zonal Councils
3,000 and above
Urban Councils
15,000 and above
Town Councils
5,000–15,000
Area Councils
Less than 5,000
Unit Committee
500–1,500
Duties and plans
Metropolitan Assembly as planning
authority. Development Plan/Structure
Plans including Planning Schemes of Local
Plans
Municipal Assemblies as planning authority.
Development Plan/Structure Plans, Local
Plans
District Assemblies as planning authority.
Development Plan/ Structure Plans, Local
Plans
Parts of the Municipal Assemblies based on
the Electoral Commission demarcations.
Sub District Local Action Plan
Part of District Assemblies. Output: Sub
District Local Action Plan
Part of Metropolitan and District Assemblies
for local participation. Sub District Local
Action Plan
Grouped settlements which have
populations of less than 5,000. Sub District
Local Action Plan
Bodies for direct participation of the
people at lowest level. Implementation
and Monitoring of self-help projects.
Community and Local Action Plan
(Source: based on Inkoom (2008), updated by the authors)
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 85
Between the national and district levels, ten Regional Co-ordinating Councils
(RCC) were established. They are responsible for coordinating, monitoring and
evaluating of decisions of the MMDAs as well as harmonizing their plans. Those
without planning departments are supported by the regional offices of the Town
and Country Planning Department.
As a result of the 1992 Constitution, Ghana has enacted the following legal
framework for planning:
•
•
•
•
The
The
The
The
Civil Service Law 1993 (PNDCL 327);
Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462);
National Development Planning Commission Act 1994 (Act 479);
National Development Planning (Systems) Act 1994 (Act 480).
The main idea is that planning should not only deal with land use planning and
urban design aspects, but contribute to the economic, social and environmental
development on local and national levels. With the National Development
Planning (Systems) Act of 1994, the top-down planning approach with one central
planning unit for the entire country has been replaced by a more decentralized
approach. This Act, together with Local Government Act, designates the local
authorities as the planning authorities (see Table 5.5). Community participation is
seen as integral part of the process.
The new planning system in practice
The process of decentralization will be analyzed along the following topics: institutional and organizational set-up; capacity; participation; and politics of the creation
of districts. As Ayee and Dickovick (2010, p. 31) argue, “Ghana has several achievements to its credit in the area of decentralization but they are partial and incomplete”.
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Capacity
Simply, the Town and Country Planning Department lacks capacity to support
the local units. In 2005, 54 of the total of 138 districts (39%) still had no town
and country planning establishment, and 87 had weak or little planning capacity
due to lack of planning officers (Inkoom, 2008, p. 72). Therefore, knowledge
and skills available in the districts to facilitate the planning process are limited.
Planning requires some basic skills as identification of development challenges,
analysis, priority setting and documentation. These skills are limited at the DA
level and lacking at both the Area Council and Unit Committee levels (Bandie,
2007, p. 9). The author also states that they are presently ineffective in the
performance of their mandated functions, including community mobilization for
planning decision-making and advocacy. In some communities, the members of
the local Unit committees do not even meet to plan community activities and have
never taken responsibility for organizing community-wide consultative meetings
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86 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
(Bandie, 2007, p. 9). Furthermore, there are many parallel institutions that do not
coordinate their activities; in addition they have inadequate personnel, old and
archaic laws, old and archaic planning standards and guidelines, inadequate logistics
and inappropriate planning methods.
Institutional and organizational set-up
In theory, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) sets the
general planning framework for all other institutions to operate. There is, however,
an overlap with other institutions, e.g. the Lands Commission (LC) and the
Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD). All are, among many others,
involved in spatial planning. Inkoom (2008) describes the dilemma as follows:
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“As a result, planning conflicts occur through inadequate co-ordination
and co-operation among land development agencies. For instance, during
the preparation of the land management component of the National
Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) it was noted that there are as many as
22 institutions concerned with land management. This is compounded by a
weak land administration system, some inadequate and out-dated legislation
and contradictory policies and policy actors among various public land
agencies. This can make planning a rather difficult task with potential to
create environmental problems.”
Furthermore, the performance of the TCPD is limited because it has been placed
at various times under 15 or more different ministries. These frequent changes
have a negative impact on its performance.
The idea of decentralization and locally based decision-making is constrained
by the fact that many Assembly members, who are also members of the Unit
Committees and Area Councils, are not in regular contact with their constituent
communities. Most of them actually reside outside their electoral areas. This limits
their influence on local level development (Bandie, 2007, p. 9).
DAs have to follow the procedures, guidelines and goals of the Ministries of the
central government. The decentralized units of the DAs are still tied to the apron
strings of their mother departments at the national level because their activities
are financed by them. There is also little control over staff at the district level as
recruitments are done at the national level and posted to the Districts.
This leads to the problem that people’s real needs and preferences on the ground
might differ from national programs and projects:
“For example, in the Sissala district a study found out that whilst the people’s
three most preferred projects were identified as water, dam construction, and
education, the Sissala District Assembly had over the period under review,
focused on education, local government as its priority development sectors.”
(Bandie, 2007, p. 10)
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 87
Furthermore, assembly members are also members of political parties and have to
follow the agenda of the party leaders (Bandie, 2007, p. 15).
There is also an unclear role of civil society organizations and traditional leaders
in the decision-making process opening the door for decisions based on individual
influence and political power.
Another crucial factor related to limited capacities on the lower level is
described by Inkoom:
“With the advent of the District Assemblies Common Fund, the districts
were charged with preparing 5-year development plans. The problem has
been that in most cases these plans were prepared by consultants and/or few
officers of the DA with the result that plans suffer implementation problems
because of ignorance of content by stakeholders, apathy and a lack of
commitment among others.”
(2013, p. 73)
The majority of the Zonal/Urban/Town and Area Councils are without offices
and secretaries.
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Participation
Traditionally, participation is conducted through public forums or by representation. Discussions at these meetings are open to all, but in practice a few vocal
individuals dominate the discussions. In most cases women and the marginalized,
though they may be present, may not make any contribution or challenge any
decision (Inkoom, 2008, p. 73). The possibility to participate goes beyond gender
and domination factor and can be constrained simply by accessibility.
Accessibility of a community to other communities and the district center influences information flow and the potential for the participation of the community.
Communities with good transportation or a closer location to the offices are in a
better position to receive information and to participate than those in more remote
areas. This is especially related to the Northern Region. Despite transportation
also large size of some units also limits interactions among their members. Usually
Unit Committees comprise of five to ten communities. In the Northern Region
it can go beyond 30 communities (see also Bandie, 2007, p.10).
Accountability
A major challenge in the decentralization process is accountability. Decentralization
only works if officers and political leaders are accountable to their local residents.
However, 30% of the officers in the district including the District Chief Executive
are appointed by and accountable to the central government. In many cases the
allegiance is to the central government directives without any reflection on local
needs and priorities. The weak local structures and the indifferent roles of civil
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88 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
society organizations in local governance support the potential abuse of power
(Bandie, 2007, p. 14).
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Politics in district creation
The number of districts doubled (without the sufficient capacities and funds) from
1988 with 65 to 2007 with 138 and increased further to 170 in 2008 and to 212 in
2012. It seems to reflect a success in the decentralization process; however, it needs
a critical view. There are two fundamental approaches towards decentralization of
governmental power: fragmentation and consolidation (cf. Marshall and Douglas,
1997; Box and Musso, 2004; Fox and Gurley, 2006).
Consolidation is reflected in a preference for strong, centralized administration
with few governmental levels and units. The idea is that it will lead to economies
and efficiencies in the provision of local services. It would also focus political
responsibility and assure a more integrated governmental response to area-wide
problems. Consolidation emphasizes the need to improve administrative efficiency,
reduce the regional impacts of decisions made by multiple units of government,
and address inequities in service provision caused by fragmentation of tax bases
and administrative authority. Supporters of the consolidation approach stress that
for regional planning, addressing changes and challenges in social and economic
developments such as rapid population growth, economic decline, environmental
concerns, hard services infrastructure needs or the impact of technological change,
the consolidation approach is more comprehensive and can better support an
integrated regional land use planning (Ayee, 2013, pp. 625–627).
Fragmentation highlights the value of achieving greater allocative efficiency and
responsiveness to resident preferences through the location choices freely made by
individuals (Box and Musso, 2004). The economic theory argues that individuals
benefit from separating into smaller, more homogeneous communities that are
better able to match services to local preferences: “The fragmented system, it is
argued, makes for more efficient and effective services, and better governance”
(Ayee, 2013, p. 627). Obviously, the creation of districts in Ghana follows rather
the fragmentation perspective. This, however, does not consider the rationale for
the creation of districts. A key issue is the economic viability of the districts. The
majority are not self-reliance and depend highly on subsidies and funds from the
central government due to a weak own tax base which in turn questions first their
creation and secondly their independence in decision-making.
“Functional effectiveness – that is, large units – of governments are necessary
for the efficient and effective provision of public services has been sacrificed for democratic and political expediency; that is, small units are more
conducive to grass roots democracy, a sense of belonging, a high rate of
individual participation, and close contact between political elites, leaders,
and ordinary citizens. … The central government has in some cases used
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 89
district capitals as a means of either rewarding the communities for their
support during elections or shoring up support for the future.”
(Ayee, 2013, pp. 631 and 637)
The time of the creation of new districts close to elections is an important factor
to consider. Political considerations are overshadowing the aim to create viable
and functioning districts and district capitals. Their function as focal points for
socio-economic development in the district with better infrastructural facilities are
used as a political tool to support some areas while others can be victimized for
political reasons.
Conclusion
The case of decentralization in Ghana is more than a success story of democratization of political decisions and participation. It can be also seen as a political tool
to support particular areas or groups. The districts themselves are not economically and politically independent entities but rather local structures of the central
government which are highly dependent on government funds. In many cases they
are too large to guarantee participation of the local residents and at the same time
too small to run efficiently and independently.
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Conclusion and Way Forward
Despite the differences between the case study countries – Tanzania, South Africa
and Ghana – there are some lessons to learn and conclusions to draw.
All countries face problems with the application of outdated planning laws
which are based on colonial rules and reflect a totally different understanding of
the size, function and role of the cities. They were designed for well-organized,
smaller cities with limited urban growth and not for rapid urbanization. The
current high degree of informality in African cities can be therefore understood
not as a phenomenon of the African city per se but rather as a result of inappropriate and not applicable planning laws. Berrisford (2013, p. 1) summarizes the
current situation:
“As competition for land intensifies in Africa’s rapidly growing towns and
cities, planning laws assume a fundamental importance. They determine
how urban growth is managed and directed. In most countries outdated,
inappropriate and unintegrated laws are exacerbating urban dysfunction.”
Furthermore, the countries face serious problems between the underlying understanding of a state and its governmental power and procedures on the one hand
(adopted from colonial times) and traditional leaders and party leaders on the other
hand which do not necessarily accept legal frameworks and administrative procedures and decision-making processes.
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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90 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
We argue that the development of towns and cities are hardly ever influenced
by statutory or formal planning policy, because of the strength of customary
landholders and leaders and the weakness in the current institutional arrangement
for planning delivery.
The reform of planning law is a necessary step for better management of urbanization in Africa. However, current approaches tend to focus on the establishment
of a parallel system to the current legal framework (Sustainable Cities Programmes
from UN Habitat, various donor-driven projects on settlement upgrading, urban
management projects or, for example, the LEFTEA in South Africa) instead of
starting from zero to create a new and appropriate planning system which reflects
African urban realities, capacities and traditions.
Berrisford (2013, p.1) therefore stresses in the publication Counterpoint:
The promotion of “one-size-fits-all” and “model” planning laws from
outside the continent has not served Africa well. Invariably it has created
further legal uncertainty and a series of unanticipated, often pernicious
consequences. This Counterpoint argues that more progressive, realistic
urban planning in Africa will require a radically different approach to
planning law reform. This is essential for sustainable and equitable urban
development in Africa.
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Obviously, the authors are not in the position to design new planning legislation,
but from the case studies, we can draw some conclusions and identify key entry
points and requirements for a new planning framework.
Starting from the observation by Watson and Agbola (2013, p. 3) that:
“The plans assumed an orderly and law-abiding population that was willing
to comply with zoning and building laws and formally employed families.
For most inhabitants of African cities, outdated planning laws are an irrelevance – until deployed against them by the vindictive or opportunistic.
Most urban development in Sub-Saharan Africa is occurring in a completely
non-planned and non-transparent manner – despite the existence of master
plans”
Reform of planning (and associated urban development laws) should be guided
by the legal principle of intra vires (within the legal power) which means you are
permitted to do anything except what is specified as not allowed. The prevailing
principle of ultra vires (beyond the legal powers) means you can only do what
is specifically permitted. A new system of planning law to manage land use in
existing and new urban areas (planned and unplanned) should be tailor-made for
each country so as to be understood, relevant and enforceable given the particular
traditions, decision-making processes and capacities of key role players. Emphasis
should be on identification of the absolute minimum of what is NOT permitted
in terms of uses and changes of use. Areas of a city which have more capacity can
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Colonial Planning Concept and Post-colonial Realities 91
introduce more nuanced land use management measures on top of the minimum.
The legislation/regulations should be formulated taking into account activities and
decisions by all stakeholders (e.g. more than planning permission, but to include
licensing, building regulations, and so on) and be able to be easily understood by
residents, businesses, local leaders, and administrators. The approval system needs
to be designed on a one-stop basis to ensure prompt, transparent decision-making.
Another issue to address is the parallel system of governmental legal procedures,
including the planning legislation and traditional local leaders (e.g. in Ghana) or
leaders of the ruling party or village committees (e.g. in Tanzania) who are also
dealing with planning-related topics including land management. This parallel
system can benefit from loopholes in and failure of the legal planning system
and receives, in many cases, a higher degree of trust from local residents due to
tradition. It can also be seen as still a problem of the state following colonial legislation and procedures which are not recognized by the majority of the residents;
this again displays the weakness of the government in applying colonial laws but
also highlights the attitude of local residents who would rather follow a wellknown person or authority on the ground than a written law. A new planning
system should therefore reflect these political power relations and make use of
traditional local leaders by cooperating them into planning procedures. There is
the need to involve all stakeholders including civil society and non-governmental
organizations in the development process.
The examples of Tanzania and Ghana clearly reflect the parallel system. The idea
of decentralization in Ghana could have been an appropriate approach; however,
it failed due to the strong influence of the central government and its politics and
parallel structures between traditional local leaders and understaffed district offices.
Decentralization has come with decentralized development planning. Political
authorities must have the will and commitment, national bureaucrats must accept
to cede power and control, and sub-national governments must also develop
capacity to govern.
While the topic above goes far beyond planning-related issues and deals more
with the situation of the post-colonial state itself, let’s have a closer look at the need
to revise the planning legislation. Watson and Agbola (2013, p. 2) stated that:
There is little enthusiasm for reform from within. Yet planning is the single
most important tool that governments have at their disposal for managing
rapid urban population growth and expansion. If inclusive and sustainable
planning replaced outdated, controlling and punitive approaches it would
underpin more equitable and economically productive urban development
in Africa. Crucially, change depends on planners who are innovative
problem solvers and willing to collaborate with all parties involved in the
development process, including local communities.
In order to achieve these goals, there is a need to revise planning education as
well.
Silva, C. N. (2015). Urban planning in sub-saharan africa : Colonial and post-colonial planning cultures. Taylor & Francis Group.
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92 Wolfgang Scholz et al.
In many countries, the course design and the underlying urban models
including text books have been imported from Europe in the 1970s and 1980s.
“The education of these future planners requires thorough reappraisal of existing
teaching methods, the introduction of new ones, and remodelled curricula”
(Watson and Agbola, 2013, p. 2). One positive development is the initiative of the
Association of African Planning Schools (AAPS) to revise the current planning
education at African planning schools focusing on: informality; access to land;
climate change; collaboration between planners; communities, civil society as well
as other interested parties; and addressing the mismatch between spatial planning
and infrastructure planning (Watson and Agbola, 2013, p. 6).
However, the authors from AAPS are aware that:
On graduation, they (planning practitioners) might be expected to
implement outdated planning legislation, or design golf courses or gated
communities for the wealthy. But unless planning students are exposed to the
prevailing conditions and trends in African cities, and encouraged to consult
and interact with local communities to assess how planning might best
address these, they will merely advance the marginalisation of the planning
profession – and of the poor – in Sub-Saharan Africa.
(Watson and Agbola, 2013, p. 6)
Copyright © 2015. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
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