%0 Thesis
%9 Master
%A Abraham Marshall Nunbogu
%D 2014
%F theses_frw:2991
%T Self-organisation in informal settlements: a case study of the greater accra metropolitan area, ghana
%U https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/2991/
%X The growing interest among spatial planners to see spontaneous behaviours supporting urban development makes it necessary to consider the phenomenon of self-organisation. Self-organisation can be a solution to complex planning issues hardly solved by rational planning. This thesis explores the phenomenon of self-organisation in informal settlements which positively contributes to urban development based on three case studies in the GAMA, Ghana. Three theories of self-organization, i.e., dissipative structures, synegertics and autopoietic are used to analyse the case studies. The research reveals that actors in these informal settlements are triggered by certain contextual factors to undertake initiatives for their own survival. At the regional level, these neighbourhoods jointly form patterns relating to self-organisation. I argue that since self-organising behaviours of actors are context specific, the planning approach should also be situation specific. Planning regulations should be flexible or reconstructed to accommodate the actions of the independent actors in the urban environment