A cross-sectional study was conducted with the original occupants of the Central Business Districts, the developers and officials from Town and Country Planning unit of the Lands Commission; through interviews (to uncover the reasons behind transformation of urban space).

As an old trans‐Saharan slave route, the city of Tamale provides an opportunity to explore the underlying factors implicated in the evolution of the city, the trajectory into the modern era and the implications for land use today. This paper seeks to analyze the reasons for selling out family homes in the city centre of Tamale Metropolitan Area and relocate to the periphery...