HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA

Ghana is experiencing high population growth, rapid urbanization and a constantly accelerating growth of urban areas. Yet, the accurate delineation of urban settlements remains a major challenge faced by urban planners. While the emergent urban settlements are being characterized by highly-diverse,...

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Main Authors: John E. K. AKUBIA, Paul W. K. YANKSON
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bucharest 2020-09-01
Series:Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis
Subjects:
Online Access:http://jurareview.ro/resources/pdf/volume_30_how_to_classify_the_urban_area_a_perspective_of_multi-criteria_approach_in_the_context_of_hyper-diversity_in_settlements_in_ghana_abstract.pdf
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spelling doaj-171431e7619846719fc92b90683cbbb42020-11-25T03:16:38ZengUniversity of BucharestJournal of Urban and Regional Analysis2067-40822068-99692020-09-0112218119710.37043/JURA.2020.12.2.4HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANAJohn E. K. AKUBIA 0Paul W. K. YANKSON1University of Trier, Trier, GermanyUniversity of Ghana, Accra, GhanaGhana is experiencing high population growth, rapid urbanization and a constantly accelerating growth of urban areas. Yet, the accurate delineation of urban settlements remains a major challenge faced by urban planners. While the emergent urban settlements are being characterized by highly-diverse, heterogeneous, and multiplicity of features, the need to rethink how best to classify new urban growth areas, beyond the commonly used population threshold of ≥ 5000 inhabitants, is becoming increasingly inadequate. Thus, this paper proposes a multi-criteria approach, drawing on the concept of ‘hyper-diversity’. Eight key dimensions – urban form, built-up extent, socio-economic functions, land-use dynamics, occupational structure, and governance structure and population size – were identified as a guide to the delineation of new urban settlements. Inferring these dimensions requires accurate spatial and statistical data on the prevailing land-use dynamics. Thus, the paper argues that analysing satellite-based remote sensing and ground truth-gathered data may provide standardized and timely information on the aforementioned dimensions. Applying this multi-dimensional approach may be useful for Ghana and similar countries where there is a lack of regular mapping of urban areas. http://jurareview.ro/resources/pdf/volume_30_how_to_classify_the_urban_area_a_perspective_of_multi-criteria_approach_in_the_context_of_hyper-diversity_in_settlements_in_ghana_abstract.pdfurban classificationpopulation sizehyper-diversitysatellite-based remote sensingghana.
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author John E. K. AKUBIA
Paul W. K. YANKSON
spellingShingle John E. K. AKUBIA
Paul W. K. YANKSON
HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis
urban classification
population size
hyper-diversity
satellite-based remote sensing
ghana.
author_facet John E. K. AKUBIA
Paul W. K. YANKSON
author_sort John E. K. AKUBIA
title HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
title_short HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
title_full HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
title_fullStr HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
title_full_unstemmed HOW TO CLASSIFY THE URBAN AREA? A PERSPECTIVE OF MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH IN THE CONTEXT OF HYPER-DIVERSITY IN SETTLEMENTS IN GHANA
title_sort how to classify the urban area? a perspective of multi-criteria approach in the context of hyper-diversity in settlements in ghana
publisher University of Bucharest
series Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis
issn 2067-4082
2068-9969
publishDate 2020-09-01
description Ghana is experiencing high population growth, rapid urbanization and a constantly accelerating growth of urban areas. Yet, the accurate delineation of urban settlements remains a major challenge faced by urban planners. While the emergent urban settlements are being characterized by highly-diverse, heterogeneous, and multiplicity of features, the need to rethink how best to classify new urban growth areas, beyond the commonly used population threshold of ≥ 5000 inhabitants, is becoming increasingly inadequate. Thus, this paper proposes a multi-criteria approach, drawing on the concept of ‘hyper-diversity’. Eight key dimensions – urban form, built-up extent, socio-economic functions, land-use dynamics, occupational structure, and governance structure and population size – were identified as a guide to the delineation of new urban settlements. Inferring these dimensions requires accurate spatial and statistical data on the prevailing land-use dynamics. Thus, the paper argues that analysing satellite-based remote sensing and ground truth-gathered data may provide standardized and timely information on the aforementioned dimensions. Applying this multi-dimensional approach may be useful for Ghana and similar countries where there is a lack of regular mapping of urban areas.
topic urban classification
population size
hyper-diversity
satellite-based remote sensing
ghana.
url http://jurareview.ro/resources/pdf/volume_30_how_to_classify_the_urban_area_a_perspective_of_multi-criteria_approach_in_the_context_of_hyper-diversity_in_settlements_in_ghana_abstract.pdf
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