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1 – 10 of 151Simon Ofori Ametepey, Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala
This Chapter examined the development of sustainable road infrastructure in Ghana including transportation roads, and laws, regulations, and frameworks. The Ministry of Transport…
Abstract
This Chapter examined the development of sustainable road infrastructure in Ghana including transportation roads, and laws, regulations, and frameworks. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) and the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH) are responsible for the development of transportation infrastructure and related services. The Department of Urban Roads (DUR) is responsible for facilitating the movement of people, goods, and services and promoting economic and social development of urban regions. The Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies established road centres to manage, construct, and maintain city roads, the Ghana Road Fund (GRF) was established to provide funding for the maintenance of Ghana’s road network, and the Koforidua Training Centre (KTC) was established in 2007 to provide management and project implementation staff with professional development and hands-on training. The current road length is 71,418 km, including 42,045 km of feeder roads, 14,873 km of trunk roads, and 14,500 km of urban roads. The budget for preventative maintenance is expected to rise year over year. Road infrastructure development (RID) can lead to positive societal outcomes, such as financial gains, employment opportunities, social support systems, equal rights for women and men, increased productivity, and less pollution, but it can also have unintended consequences such as deteriorating air and water quality, noise and vibration, soil erosion and sedimentation, disruption of essential services, confusion between drivers and pedestrians, changes to the landscape and habitat, and eminent domain takings. Environmental and social evaluations of development projects in Ghana must comply with several laws and regulations, and there is no unified sustainability policy or guideline in place to regulate the development of highway infrastructure projects. Resettlement is expected to help those who have been displaced by development initiatives and the Environmental Protection Agency Act of 1994 provides the authority to authorize facilities, set performance standards, and ensure compliance with standards and regulations. The Forestry Policy focusses on reducing deforestation and enhancing ecological and social commitment of forest areas, while the method for managing cultural property requires investigating and cataloguing damaged objects. Sector medium-term development plan (SMTDP) provides solutions for enhanced RID access, while the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) incorporates ecological factors into the Ghana Integrated Transport Plan. The resettlement policy framework (RPF) coordinates laws, rules, and procedures to manage road infrastructure projects and establishes criteria for determining eligibility and entitlement. The Directorate of Policy and Planning of the MRH is responsible for managing road safety and the environment, while the Directorate of Monitoring and Evaluation oversees Monitoring and Evaluation of road projects. The Ghana Highway Authority’s (GHA) four-person Road Safety and Environmental Management Unit (EMU) is responsible for addressing social and environmental issues associated with the feeder roads zone. Sustainable development (SD) has not received much attention from the Ghanaian government, with state-owned institutions prioritizing economic growth over social benefits and environmental preservation. Local governments should include a sustainability framework in their strategic planning for the successful execution of sustainable projects.
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Kazuaki Miyamoto, Surya Raj Acharya, Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Jean-Michel Cusset, Tien Fang Fwa, Haluk Gerçek, Ali S. Huzayyin, Bruce James, Hirokazu Kato, Hanh Dam Le, Sungwon Lee, Francisco J. Martinez, Dominique Mignot, Kazuaki Miyamoto, Janos Monigl, Antonio N. Musso, Fumihiko Nakamura, Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Omar Osman, Antonio Páez, Rodrigo Quijada, Wolfgang Schade, Yordphol Tanaboriboon, Micheal A. P. Taylor, Karl N. Vergel, Zhongzhen Yang and Rocco Zito
The increasing trend towards sustainable development has seen a shift from ‘end of pipe solutions’ to the ongoing threat of pollution. Policy makers have come to accept the need…
Abstract
The increasing trend towards sustainable development has seen a shift from ‘end of pipe solutions’ to the ongoing threat of pollution. Policy makers have come to accept the need for some form of inbuilt environmental standards to be included in any overall planning strategy. These shifts come in the wake of the Brundtland Report and the Rio World Summit. They have also shaped environmental policy. A central feature of this new thinking is the theory of ‘Ecological Modernisation’ (EM). Underpinning this debate are the theorists Janicke, Weale and Hajer, who have each contributed to the conceptualisation of EM as a feature of modern society. It can be argued that EM theory reflects a critical new positioning of the environmental debate, moving away from the periphery of social, cultural and political channels and becoming an important aspect of policy planning in these areas.
Zaheer Doomah, Asish Seeboo and Tulsi Pawan Fowdur
This chapter provides an overview of the potential use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and associated artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the land transport sector…
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the potential use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and associated artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the land transport sector in an attempt to achieve related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets. ITS applications that have now been extensively tested worldwide and have become part of the everyday transport toolkit available to practitioners have been discussed. AI techniques applied successfully in specific ITS applications such as automatic traffic control systems, real-time image processing, automatic incident detection, safety management, road condition assessment, asset management and traffic enforcement systems have been identified. These methods have helped to provide traffic engineers and transport planners with novel ways to improve safety, mobility, accessibility and efficiency in the sector and thus move closer to achieving the various SDG targets pertaining to transportation.
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Daphne Gondhalekar, Adris Akhtar, Pascal Keilmann, Jenny Kebschull, Sven Nussbaum, Sonam Dawa, Phuntsok Namgyal, Lobzang Tsultim, Tsering Phuntsog, Stanzin Dorje, Tsering Mutup and Phunchok Namgail
This chapter studies the link between urban planning and health. Access to safe drinking water is already a very serious issue for large urban populations in fast-growing…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter studies the link between urban planning and health. Access to safe drinking water is already a very serious issue for large urban populations in fast-growing economies such as India. Water availability is further being impacted by climate change, leading to the drastically increased spread of water-related diseases.
Design/methodology/approach
Leh Town, which is located in an ecologically vulnerable semi-arid region of the Himalayas in Ladakh, has been considered for this study because it is undergoing large-scale transformation due to rapid growth in its tourism industry. In 2012–2013 our interdisciplinary group comprising researchers from Germany and India conducted field surveys, including geographic information system-based (GIS) mapping of point sources of water pollution, questionnaire surveys of 200 households and 70 hotels and guesthouses and semi-structured interviews. We also reviewed secondary medical data.
Findings
We found that diarrhoeal incidence has increased in the local population in Leh in the past decade, which may be linked to water pollution: Further, we found that rapidly increasing water consumption coupled with a lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure is causing serious water pollution.
Research limitations/implications
Further, data is needed for causal connections between water pollution and health impacts to be conclusively drawn.
Practical implications
This study discusses the use of GIS to support a call for the need for more integrated urban planning and decision-making that holistically addresses water and health challenges in Leh and advocates the development of a decentralized or hybrid sanitation system to support water resources conservation as a central dimension of an integrated health management approach.
Social implications
GIS is also a very useful platform for supporting participatory urban planning in Leh.
Originality/value
With such an integrated urban planning approach, Leh would be a lighthouse example for other towns in the region.
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