Spatial planning and community adaptive capacity to climate change: the case of La Dade-Kotopon municipality in Ghana
| Date | 08 June 2023 |
| Pages | 63-82 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPPEL-08-2022-0028 |
| Published date | 08 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Property management & built environment,Building & construction,Building & construction law,Real estate & property,Property law |
| Author | Razeena Mohammed-Siitah,Abdul-Samad Siddique |
Spatial planning and community
adaptive capacity to climate
change: the case of La
Dade-Kotopon municipality
in Ghana
Razeena Mohammed-Siitah
Department of Business Administration, University of Professional Studies,
Accra, Ghana, and
Abdul-Samad Siddique
Research and Consultancy Center, University of Professional Studies,
Accra, Ghana
Abstract
Purpose –Spatial planning is globally identified as an effective strategy for providing climate change
adaptation needs. However, thereis a dearth of literature on how spatial planning relates to climate change
control in Ghana,particularly at the local level. Hence, this paper aims to investigatewhether spatial planning
plays a significantrole in the control of climate change and the adaptive capacities at the local level.
Design/methodology/approach –The authorsadopt a mixed-method approach, where both qualitative
and quantitative data were obtainedusing an interview guide and survey, respectively. The authors analyze
the data using a qualitativecontent analysis method and descriptive statistics.
Findings –The results show that spatial planningplays an important role in climate change adaptation,
though in a limited way. The physical planning department at the municipallevel has varying amounts of
capacities across various determinants, but there are opportunities for improving the capacity of the
department.
Originality/value –The authors provide empirical evidence to support the need to prioritize spatial
planning as a strategy for dealing with the impactsof climate change and the building of capacities at the
nationaland community levels for improved adaptive capacity.
Keywords Ghana, Adaptation, Climate change, Spatial planning, Adaptive capacity
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Ghana is a signatory to the UN framework convention on climate change and the
sustainable development goals, which succeeded the millennium development goals in
September 2015. These UN mechanisms require member countries, including Ghana, to
strengthen institutional resilience, among other strategies, to confront theadverse effects of
climate change. This is essential because climate change impacts in Ghana include: rising
temperatures; declining rainfall totals and increased variability; rising sea levels and high
The authors express their gratitude to Dr. Abdul-Mumin Abdulai, Head of Department for the Institute of
Local Government and Sam Hilton for their time and support in carry out this research work.
Spatial
planning
63
Received26 August 2022
Revised17 February 2023
23April 2023
Accepted25 April 2023
Journalof Property, Planning and
EnvironmentalLaw
Vol.15 No. 2, 2023
pp. 63-82
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9407
DOI 10.1108/JPPEL-08-2022-0028
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9407.htm
incidence of weather extremes and disasters which lead to significant loss of property and
lives in the country, especially flooding (Poku-Boansiand Cobbinah, 2018). For instance, the
June 2010 floods caused a total of 24 deaths, more than 1,000 homes destroyed, millions of
dollars in property losses, 5,000 people evacuated in Tema and the collapse of a bridge
linking Ghana and neighboring Togo, cutting off travel between the two West African
countries (MESTI, 2013). Additionally, the country witnessed an unprecedented flood
alongside a filling station explosion that resulted in a death toll of 152 on June 3, 2015, in
Accra, Ghana’s capital(Asumadu-Sarkodie et al., 2015).
Flood continues tobe a majorconcern during periods of heavy rain.
It is evident that communities are already facing more extreme and frequent droughts, floods
and heat waves and other weather extremes (Park et al., 2012). Climate change has brought
about unceasing and unpredictable impacts, which have even been set to intensify (Richardson
et al., 2011; Anderson and Bows, 2011). To address these impacts, reducing greenhouse gasses
has been identified as a priority approach for many. However, the need to adapt to climate
change impacts is gaining similar popularity among researchers, policymakers and other
stakeholders (Poku-Boansi and Cobbinah, 2018). This is against the background that the
vulnerability of communities to climate change is a function of the communities’exposure to
climate change effects and their adaptive capacity to deal with those effects (Smit and Pilifosova,
2003;Gupta et al., 2010). As Smit and Pilifosova (2003: 12) put it, “the more exposed a system is
to a climate stimulus, the greater the system’s vulnerability; conversely, the greater the adaptive
capacity of the system to a given climate event, the lower its vulnerability.”As such, society’s
adaptive capacity, which will enable it to be ready to anticipate and respond to changes that
may occur, is vital to its resilience. Consequently, society’s institutions need to support social
actors to proactively respond to actual andpredicted climate change impacts.
One critical sector that has been identified as an effective strategy for providing
adaptation needs is the spatial planning sector. This is because land use and land
development have a significant impact on the vulnerability of societies to the effects of
climate change (Serrao-Neumann et al.,2015). Additionally, other scholars view the
necessity of spatial planning in the success of adaptation efforts from the perspective that
vulnerability and its causes are locationspecific and adaptation is a local issue (Naess et al.,
2005;Davidse et al.,2015). Though several studies have established that spatial planning
plays a significant role in climate change adaptation, it has also been established that the
extent to which spatial planning can influence climate change adaptation in a particular
society depends largely on how broadly it is defined and what level and types of
interventions,tools and resources are available to it (Davoudi and Strange, 2008).
From Ghana’s perspective, researchers (Adarkwa, 2012;Mohammed, 2014;Cobbinah
and Anane, 2016) argue that the spatial planning sector is not in the best of state when it
comes to the delivery of its services. Issues of uncoordinated and haphazard development
have led to the development of unplanned settlements and slums. These areas usually
attract large numbersof the poor, who are especially vulnerable to climate change(Darkwah
et al.,2018). These challenges faced by Ghana’s spatial planning sector have been relatedto
many factors, including inadequate financial and human resources, inadequate logistics,
outdated legislative frameworks, undue political interference, complex land tenure system
and lack of effective collaboration among the relevantstakeholder institutions (Fuseini and
Kemp, 2015). These inefficiencies in Ghana’s spatial planning sector constitute a challenge
for climate change adaptation efforts in Ghana (Cobbinah and Anane, 2016). This is in the
wake of increasing threats posed by climatechange in the country. For instance, the June 3,
2015 flood was attributed to poor waste management, poor structural settlement and poor
hydraulic performanceof the basins in Accra (Asumadu-Sarkodie et al.,2015).
JPPEL
15,2
64
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