Earth observation based urban profiling in Northern Ghana : Earth observation as tool to guide sustainable urbanisation

This study conducts a spatial analysis in urban centres in northern Ghana using Earth observation and spatial analysis techniques to understand the local and regional context of urbanisation processes. The spatial analysis informs potential planning interventions and evaluates their impacts. The urban extents are delineated based on the Degree of Urbanisation, which forms the basis for the data collection. This includes spatial information on land use and land cover, hazards (flooding), and water and sanitation. By analysing the collected data, the study identifies existing urbanisation patterns and determines opportunities for planned sustainable urban development, taking into consideration the specific physical and social environment of the studied area. The analysis and conclusions derived from this study may provide valuable guidance to decision makers in Ghana in planning and priorisation of on interventions related to urban development and the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Additionally, it can support the promotion of an integrated urban development approach for secondary cities in Northern Ghana and could serve as a blueprint for similar studies given the global availability of the data used in the study.