Paper short abstract:

Climate resilient infrastructure is heralded globally as the most critical need of cities, particularly African cities. In this paper, we aim to understand how this process is enacted within Ghana’s decentralised model and the future implications thereof.

Paper long abstract:

Resilient infrastructure is heralded globally as the most critical need of cities, particularly African cities since urbanization and climate change remain a daunting challenge to many city authorities. In the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Ghana’s most urbanized region, perennial flooding has become a ‘monster’ of the city because resilient infrastructure is inadequate in the context of adverse consequences of climate. As a consequence, private-sector players, international donors, development agencies, national and supranational institutions (such as the World Bank, China Development Bank and United Nations) which can finance major infrastructure investments (e.g., drainage, roads, railways, dam, etc.) have capitalized on this situation to connect with political decision-makers and local actors to implement resilient urban infrastructure development (UID). In this paper, we aim to understand how this process is enacted within Ghana’s decentralised model since existing research rarely pays attention to how multiple actors at different scales come together to transform the urban space and everyday life in cities. Using the Greater Accra Climate Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project as a case study, this paper argues that UID is a co-production process involving a network of actors seeking to redeem ‘the vulnerable city’ from the grip of urbanization, climate change and the limited resilient infrastructural troubles.