Governance Issues in the Construction of Metropolitan Spaces: Reflections on Greater Lomé.

The metropolitan region of Greater Lom, characterized by continuous growth in both population and territorial extent, faces profound territorial, institutional, and functional transformations.This expansion manifests as booming demographics, excessive concentration of urban activities, and often unplanned peripheral urbanization.All these factors undermine administrative unity and hinder coherent integration of public policies.This study aims to analyze the challenges and limitations of the new institutional framework established with the creation of the Autonomous District of Greater Lom (DAGL), instituted in 2022 to coordinate urban interventions across the 13 municipalities of the conurbation.The methodology combines document analysis, field observation, and 36 semi-structured interviews with elected officials, technical officers, and decentralized state actors conducted between January and April 2025.Results reveal three major governance bottlenecks: persistent overlap of responsibilities among municipalities, the District, and State services, especially in urban planning, sanitation, and environmental management; absence of effective inter-institutional dialogue mechanisms; and structural financial dependence, with over 85% of budgetary resources still covered by state allocations.Moreover, over 70% of new subdivisions occur outside formal channels, promoting urban sprawl and occupation of agricultural lands.The study recommends clarifying competencies across governance levels, introducing a metropolitan fiscal regime, and establishing citizen participatory mechanisms at the DAGL level.These findings contribute to broader reflections on urban governance models in West Africa and open debate on conditions for a metropolitan area that is effective, inclusive, and sustainable.