Vice President John Dramani Mahama has said the need for proper spatial planning for cities in Ghana has become imperative as urban population overtakes rural population. “In the past we used to have 70 per cent of our population in the rural areas and 30 per cent in the urban areas but now the figure has swapped to an estimated 53% in the urban areas and 47% in rural areas due to economic growth and this means we need to do proper spatial planning in our ‘disorganized’ cities,” he said. The Vice President was speaking at a grand ceremony to unveil plans by the Renaissance Group to build two new modern cities in Ghana where an estimated 180,000 people can live, work and play within the same environment. One of the cities would be at Apolonia in Accra, and would be called the City of Light, and the other would be in Takoradi and would be called the King City. The City of Light would be located on a 2,000-acre land, and would accommodate up to 90,000 residents, while the King City would be on a 2,150-acre land in the oil city of Takoradi, and would accommodate an estimated 88,000 residents. Both projects are estimated to cost at least US$300 million, and would have schools, as well as clearly demarcated commercial, residential, and entertainment areas where utilities and facilities would be in full use 24/7, unlike the current cities where the commercial areas get completely abandoned throughout the night. The two projects are due to start in 2013 and complete over a period of 10 years. Vice President John Mahama said government did not have a hard time giving its blessing to the projects because it was a private initiative, which would not be a burden on government’s budget, but promised to yield great benefits for the country, particularly with the oil find. He thanked the Renaissance Group for choosing Ghana and assured them of government’s full support for the projects.