Techiman: contesting an unplanned city against the commons

Urban geography and planning scholars have argued that secondary cities can create enclaves of opportunities for urban population absorption and reduce pressures of urbanization on large cities. Yet, much remains to be understood about secondary cities whose geography, patterns of development and economic health are shaped by urban informality, and the forms of contestation and resistance articulated against it. In this paper, we use Techiman, a rapidly growing secondary city in Ghana, as a case study and a mixed methods approach to respond to this gap in literature by (i) analyzing emerging and often contentious spatial morphologies and typologies; (ii) exploring the competing demands of local (i.e. formal-informal development practices) and global (i.e. neoliberal) forces; and (iii) discussing major urban policy and planning challenges confronting the city. Findings show complex interactions of formal-informal relations, yet urban planning continues to advance neoliberal agenda and aberrates urban informality. We argue for an integrated system of urban development to position the city on a sustainable anchorage.