Browsing by Author "Otchere-Darko, Emmanuel"

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    Bui Dam Site Development (Mixed-Use Development)
    (2009-08-23) Otchere-Darko, Emmanuel
    Rising cost of energy. Shifting population demographics. Residential inequity. A highly ethnocentric populace that is always prone to conflict. The Bui Dam Project may be solving energy insufficiency in Ghana but at the same time has the potential to push the frontiers of development of Bui into a special economic development zone (SEZ). In the brink of oil discovery the nation is replete with forces to renew its commitment to economic and infrastructural development pushing simultaneously the development of the deprived three northern regions of the country by establishing Bui as SEZ. This thesis posits that there is both the need and an inherent potential for the emergence of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) at Bui due to its strategic geographical location on the transport corridor of the country. TOD is a mixed-use development around a « transit station with smart growth principles and its application in the proposed 'Bui City' will help solve the problems associated with congestion, housing deficit, and fragmented growth. Bui Dam Site has lain fallow ever since it was considered for a possible dam construction and the US$622 million loan for the project has come at the right time. The thesis analyses the factors for the possible development of a transit rail network through the 'Bui City', making it an interchange for travellers between the northern and southern part of Ghana. This is studied through a series of case studies that would be mapped and compared with a literature survey. This methodology is then tested on a selected site of the proposed master plan, where the confluence of the Black Volta and other site infrastructure makes an ideal site for a mixed-use (Transit Oriented) development. Findings are then translated into a three-dimensional architectural expression.