MAINSTREAMING HEAT RESILIENCE IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED URBANIZING JURISDICTIONS: A Focus on Semi-Arid Ghana
Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals calls for countries to mainstream heat resilience planning to counter the cascading effect of heat waves on communities. In Africa, rising heat is causing frequent heatwaves and longer droughts, straining resilience in many cities and communities. Yet, the scholarship needed to support heat resilience planning and policy is geographically skewed, centering the Global North and larger cities. This chapter attempts to shift the analytical compass by fronting a southern perspective through the case of semi-arid Ghana. Using a mixed-content analysis, this study examined heat resilience mainstreaming of medium-term development plans for eleven jurisdictions in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Findings reveal that reviewed plans exhibit some awareness of heat trends, but there is poor mainstreaming of heat resilience in all eleven reviewed plans. The chapter recommends heat integration in national planning guidelines and building planners’ capacity for heat mainstreaming in local development planning.
Publication Title
Routledge Handbook of Resilient Urban Planning for Small and Medium Sized Cities
Recommended Citation
Diko, S., Abuosi, T., Okyere, S., Mensah, S., Mensah, S., & Donkoh, S. (2025). MAINSTREAMING HEAT RESILIENCE IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED URBANIZING JURISDICTIONS: A Focus on Semi-Arid Ghana. Routledge Handbook of Resilient Urban Planning for Small and Medium Sized Cities, 287-305. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003588801-21
