Urbanisation as a Mechanism for Efficient and Sustainable Use of Land

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.