PROGRAMME COURSES

DPM 551 Environmental Planning and Resource Management

 This course introduces students to various environmental planning and policy instruments in response to contemporary local and global environmental problems, and discusses the ecological concepts and principles embedded in the planning and policy instruments. The course is concerned with the complex and the often-problematic relationship between humans and the environment. 

DPM 553 Introduction to GIS for Planners            

This course introduces the concepts and components of geographic information system (GIS). It also introduced students to the essential skills of spatial data management, analysis, and visualization using the ArcGIS software package. Upon completion of this course, students will understand the fundamental concepts of GIS including spatial data models, spatial analysis, and cartographic principles. They will also gain hands-on training in spatial data collection, editing, transformation, and mapping, as well as spatial analysis operations such as location-based query, address geocoding, terrain and watershed analysis, spatial interpolation, best site selection, least cost path delineation, and several other GIS modeling techniques. 

DPM 555 Agriculture and Local Economic Development Planning

The course seeks to provide students with the basic concepts, skills and tools of planning for agricultural and local economic development within specific contexts. It aims at discussing the fundamental institutional, policy and strategic issues necessary to transform agriculture and the local economy for the benefit of those engaged in it and also for the support of national development. The need to consider agriculture and the local economy within the framework of the development is the thrust of the course. 

DPM 557 Human Settlement Planning

The course introduces students to the various concepts, theories and principles associated with the growth and management of human settlement. Students are exposed to the key aspects of settlement growth dynamics including locational determinants and distribution patterns, morphology and structure, land use patterns, planning process, development control measures.

DPM 559 Development Theories and Strategies

This course is designed to help students analyze the shifting “development” paradigms and policy prescriptions designed to bring about positive change and thereby developing the human potentials. In addition, it seeks to equip students with the skills to evaluate the degrees of success and failures of the development strategies emanating from development thinkers to guide development. Students of the programme will be able to evaluate the applicability of these theories and the associated strategies to developing countries particularly Ghana.

DPM 561 Foundation Workshop in Development Planning and Management I 

The SPRING Workshop is the main component of the SPRING Programme. It is conducted in a selected district to portray a wide range of grass root development problems. It places emphasis on development management at an intermediate level between macro-regional or national level and community-based planning. The Development Planning Workshop is seen as a problem-oriented management toolkit with the objectives to provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge in development planning theory, principles, techniques and methods that they acquire the course of the programme.

DPM 558 Foundation Workshop in Development Planning and Management II 

The second semester SPRING Workshop is a continuation of the first’s semester workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge in development planning theory, principles, techniques and methods that they acquire during the first semester of the course to a real-world situation using a selected MMDA as the unit of study. 

DPM 563 Organisation and Management

This course is designed to help students develop course - specific competences to have the ability to solve theoretical and practical professional problems with the use of research methods and procedures and the ability to form their own their own conclusion and ability to solve the problems. In addition, students will develop the skills to understand the role and meaning of theoretical knowledge to solve concrete projects, understanding and critical assessments of the established theory’s and acquired skills and the application of knowledge in the field of management in practice and ability to deal with selected issues. 

DPM 550 Planning Surveys and Research Methods    

The course exposes students to principles and techniques for conducting scientific research. It assumes that students have basic knowledge in research methods and therefore builds on that foundation. Students are further exposed to some practical issues in research design and management, the emerging challenges of participatory research and the increasing role of computers in the processing and management of data. It covers different types of research, principles of research design, major schools of thought regarding research approaches, determination of data needs and collection methods, analysis and synthesis of data, report writing and preparation of research proposals. 

DPM 552 Financing and Budgeting

This course focuses on financing as an integral part of planning. Budgeting on the other hand deals with a framework which guides organizations to spend money according to scheduled format. This implies that if an organization or district has no budget it cannot manage its resources judiciously. The emphasis of the course is on the District financial system where the participants’ responsibilities include financial analysis, management and implementation processes. 

DPM 554 Demography and Social Infrastructure 

Population growth is often considered as a major cause of underdevelopment. It is the driving force behind the increasing demand for social infrastructure in the developing world, while in the northern hemisphere stagnating or even shrinking populations are posing a different challenge to infrastructure provision. The one semester course combines an introduction to demographic analysis and population projections with a discussion of principles, strategies and techniques of social infrastructure planning. In demographic analysis, the course participants will learn how to apply basic demographic terms and definitions, to work with the standard demographic data base at the regional, districts and municipal levels and to comprehend the interrelationships between development, social change and demographic trends and policy. Social infrastructure planning in developing economies is confronted with a growing gap between demand and supply. The subject will therefore concentrate on concepts and strategies to improve the provision of social infrastructure under the constraints of severely limited resources. The challenge of adapting the existing infrastructure and the provision of modern infrastructure to stagnating or shrinking populations of the rural areas and rapidly increasing population of urban areas in Ghana will also be considered. Upon successfully completing this course, students should be able to:
•    Use population data to assess social infrastructure needs
•    Assess the implication of using data to guide decision making for the rational allocation of limited resources
•    Analyse the interaction between population dynamics and social infrastructure planning provision and management

DPM 556 Transportation Planning

The main aim of the course is to introduce students to the role of transport in local, national development and poverty reduction. Specifically, the course is to introduce students to the role of transport in regional development and the movement of persons and goods, the functions of various systems and modes of transport in regional planning. It further equips students with the methods and techniques of transport planning and analysis especially at the local level.

DPM 560 Spatial Statistics

This course is about quantitative analysis of spatial data. It is intended to provide a broad survey of various spatial statistic methods useful in environmental and social sciences. This course covers four broad topical areas: (1) point pattern analysis; (2) area data analysis; (3) continuous data analysis; (4) spatial sampling; and (5) multivariate spatial and temporal analysis. The course is a mix of theories, methods, and applications geared towards helping students: (1) develop an understanding of the important theoretical concepts in spatial data analysis; and (2) gain practical experience in application of spatial statistics to a variety of social and environmental problems using advanced statistical software.

DPM 562 Advance GIS for Planners

This course covers advanced topics in understanding and using geographic information systems (GIS). Students learn how to use a global positioning system, perform raster analysis, create and analyze three- dimensional surfaces, visualize geospatial data, and perform advanced spatial analysis. The lectures discuss underlying theory and its implementation in GIS software. The assignments give students the opportunity to learn for themselves how to put that theory into practice, gaining hands-on experience with ArcGIS Desktop from Esri Inc., the most popular GIS software and an industry standard in many fields. 

DPM 564 Dissertation (MSc. Students Only)

This guided research on planning and development issues is aimed at building the capacities of MSc students in carrying out independent research. The students are expected to apply the knowledge acquired in other courses by defining, researching and addressing an issue related in a recognizable framework of development planning theory and practice. The candidate is expected to liaise with staff for direction and subsequently work closely with their thesis supervisors. 

DPM 651/652 Thesis (MPhil Students Only)

This guided research on planning and development issues constitutes the core of the Master of Philosophy programmes. It is intended to build the capacities of the students in carrying out advanced and independent research. The students are expected to apply the knowledge acquired in the courses they took in year one by defining, researching and addressing an issue related in a recognizable framework of development planning theory and practice. The candidates are expected to liaise with staff for direction and subsequently work closely with their thesis supervisors.