Assessing the sustainability of ghanaian cities : the case study of accra metropolitan ares

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to develop Accra Sustainability Indicators (ASI) to assess the sustainability status of Accra Metropolitan Area. In all, 41 indicators were selected and classified into Economic, Environment, Social and Institutional dimensions. Statistical data on all indicators were collected from Accra Metropolitan Assembly and its departments, other relevant central government institutions and publications for a period of 4 years, from 2012 to 2015. Statistical analysis using SPSS and Microsoft Excel was used to evaluate the city's sustainability performance. The results showed that Accra's economic and social dimensions were approaching sustainability while environmental and institutional dimensions were performing poorly. Economic sustainability rose from 0.84 in 2012 to 0.87 in 2015 so also was the social dimension which increased from 0.50 in 2012 to 0.52 in 2015. Meanwhile the environmental dimension remained at ~0.2 and the institutional dimension moved slightly from 0.35 in 2012 to 0.4 in 2015. The overall sustainability score of Accra however showed a little progression to sustainability over the last 4 years rising from 0.48 in 2012 to 0.51 in 2015.