The process of urban change does not only occur on the outskirts of the city but also in the inner cities in the form of infilling and alterations to existing housing. However, arguments and discussions on urban sprawl have concentrated on an expansion along the periphery of the city with less emphasis on expansion within the inner city, which results in the development of slums. An observed trend in most cities of Ghana is the concentration and development within the city centres.

Using the Wa Municipality as case study, this study seeks to explore the nature and extent of urban sprawl within city centres in Ghana; and also examines the dynamics of inner city developments. A stratified sample of residential areas and a systematic sampling of households were employed for the selection of respondents and data was collected using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews. This study seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge on urbanisation and urban change dynamics, but particularly on how urban policies and local level by-laws can enhance control of the nature and extent of urban change.