Analysis of urban slum infrastructure projects financing in Ghana: A closer look at traditional and innovative financing mechanisms

Rapid urbanisation in developing countries has engendered unregulated slum development to provide residences for economic migrants who travel to cities to pursue hopes of a secure future. The development of new financial approaches could play a critical role in unravelling the issues associated with slum development, particularly in emerging economies such as Ghana. Hence, this study investigates slum emergence in Ghana and assesses traditional and innovative financing mechanisms to drive the country’s re-development. Specifically, the study assessed critical indicators of city-urban slums, established critical city-urban slums infrastructure requirements, and examined the traditional and innovative tools of financing city-urban slums to develop more socially equitable and inclusive infrastructure. This research adopted a quantitative research strategy couched within a positivist paradigm and deductive reasoning. Surveys were used to solicit responses from selected stakeholders using purposive sampling. Data was analysed using mean score ranking, one sample t-test and relative importance index (RII). Emergent findings revealed that ‘housing quality’ was the most critical measure of city-urban slum conditions, followed by ‘access to improved sanitation’. Additionally, the findings also asserted ‘virtuous sanitation’ was the most important infrastructure requirement, followed by ‘appropriate disposal of waste facilities’. Cumulatively, the findings suggest that the most prevalent and effective traditional financing tool was to incorporate a slums infrastructure development fund and use taxes and empower urban local bodies (ULB) with increased municipal budgets. Finally, in relation to innovative forms for financing, public–private partnership (PPP) was found to be most effective, followed by municipal bond. In conclusion, the study recommends the participation of industry professionals and governing agencies in the pursuance of these financing options to drive the re-development of slums to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) of ensuring sustainable cities by 2030.