Speakers
Description
Urban transportation is a vital driver of city development, shaping the urban morphology and influencing the long-term transformation of cities across time. As cities evolve and change, transportation infrastructure must adapt to meet the evolving needs of residents, businesses, and visitors. Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city, demonstrates these dynamics as its transportation infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with rapid growth, producing congestion, air pollution, and spatial fragmentation. With a population of approximately 4.2 million, the city combines historical significance, vibrant culture, and economic importance, yet its evolving transport systems continue to redefine its physical and functional structure. The study investigates the relationship between urban transportation and urban morphology in Kumasi, focusing on how successive transport decisions from the colonial era to the present have guided the city’s metamorphosis. By employing a mixed method approach of literature review, archival data, and field-based observation, the paper analyses the current transportation systems and their implications for land use, connectivity, and urban form. Key challenges such as infrastructure deficit, planning gaps, and environmental pressures are examined alongside opportunities for sustainable integration. The findings reveal how transport infrastructure has been both a catalyst and a constraint in the urban transformation of Kumasi. The paper concludes with recommendations for strengthening transport planning, which align infrastructure provision with morphological goals to enhance urban resilience. These insights contribute to the broader discussion on sustainable urban development and provide transferable lessons for cities in Sub-Saharan Africa facing similar mobility and growth pressures.