The Mobile City of Accra

W.K. Yankson, Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf

Description

This book is a product of collaborative research between the Institut de recherche pour le d�veloppement (IRD, France), the University of Ghana, Legon and CODESRIA. It examines various economic, social and environmental challenges of urbanization that critically affect the capital of Ghana, which has experienced high demographic growth and territorial expansion. The study analyses the Greater Accra city dwellers� residential practices, and focuses on two main factors influencing land and rental markets. On the one hand, it interrogates the constraints and dynamics of urban families, their needs and gender characteristics in terms of accommodation. On the other hand, it explores the opportunities and interests in investment on the part of land owners and real estate developers. At these two levels of describing the social and spatial discriminations, the book attempts to explain the difficult choices that this fragmented city faces. It emphasizes the role of mobility in structuring the metropolitan area, and the negative impact of lack of mobility which results in some households and communities suffering more than others. Light is thrown on diagnostics and prospects in the matter of urban planning.

Sujets

• Sociology

Informations

• Publié par: CODESRIA
• Date de parution: 10 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782869785489
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

The Mobile City of Accra

Accra, Capitale en mouvement

This book is a product of ‘The Evolution of Political Life, Economy, Society and the City in Africa’ project, a joint effort of the Institute for Research and Development (IRD, France), the University of Ghana, Legon and CODESRIA.

Cet ouvrage est le produit de « l’évolution de la vie politique, de l’économie, de la société et de la ville en Afrique », un projet collaboratif entre l’Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD, France), l’Université du Ghana, Legon et le CODESRIA.

The Mobile City of Accra Urban Families, Housing and Residential Practices

Accra, Capitale en mouvement Familles citadines, logement et pratiques résidentielles

Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf Paul W. K. Yankson Monique Bertrand

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa DAKAR

© CODESRIA 2012

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, Angle Canal IV BP 3304 Dakar, 18524, Senegal Website: www.codesria.org

ISBN:978-2-86978-545-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from CODESRIA.

Typesetter: Sériane Camara Ajavon Cover Designer: Ibrahima Fofana Printed by Imprimerie Graphi plus, Dakar, Senegal

Distributed in Africa by CODESRIA

Distributed elsewhere by African Books Collective, Oxford, UK Website: www.africanbookscollective.com

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is an independent organisation whose principal objectives are to facilitate research, promote research- based publishing and create multiple forums geared towards the exchange of views and information among African researchers. All these are aimed at reducing the fragmentation of research on the continent through the creation of thematic research networks that cut across linguistic and regional boundaries.

CODESRIA publishes a quarterly journal,Africa Development, the longest standing Africa-based social science journal;Afrika Zamani, a journal of history; theAfrican Sociological Review; the African Journal of International Affairs;Africa Review of Booksthe and Journal of Higher Education in Africa. The Council also co-publishes theAfrica Media Review;Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro- Asian Dialogue;The African Anthropologistand theAfro-Arab Selections for Social Sciences. The results of its research and other activities are also disseminated through its Working Paper Series, Green Book Series, Monograph Series, Book Series, Policy Briefs and the CODESRIA Bulletin. Select CODESRIA publications are also accessible online at www.codesria.org.

CODESRIA would like to express its gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA/SAREC), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA), the French Ministry of Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Rockefeller Foundation, FINIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), IIEP/ADEA, OECD, IFS, OXFAM America, UN/UNICEF, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), and the Government of Senegal for supporting its research, training and publication programmes.

Content/Sommaire

Authors/Les auteurs ..............................................................................................................vi Acknowledgment ....................................................................................................................vii Avertissement ........................................................................................................................viii Preface .....................................................................................................................................ix Préface .....................................................................................................................................xi

1. Introduction Défis de l'urbanisation au Ghana........................................................................ 3 Challenges of Urbanization in Ghana............................................................ 25 Paul W. K. Yankson & Monique Bertrand 2. Urban Families and Residential Mobility in Accra................................... 47 Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf 3. Household Dynamics and Residential Patterns in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area................................................................................................... 73 Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf 4. Ménages, familles et résidence......................................................................... 99 Monique Bertrand 5. Notion de logement, pratiques résidentielles en discussion................ 129 Monique Bertrand 6. Landlordism and Housing Production in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area................................................................................................. 163 Paul W. K. Yankson 7. Rental Housing and Tenancy Dynamics with Particular Focus on Low-income Households in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area............ 183 Paul W. K. Yankson 8. Citadins en mouvements.................................................................................... 207 Monique Bertrand avec la collaboration de Daniel Delaunay 9. Conclusion Métropolisation et fragmentation du Grand Accra................................... 243 Greater Accra as a Fragmented Metropolis................................................ 259 Monique Bertrand

Authors

Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorfis a geographer and Professor at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she is also the Director of the Family and Development Programme. Paul W.K. Yanksonis a Professor of Geography with specialization in Urban and Regional Development. He is currently at the University of Ghana, Legon, where he is also the Director of the Remote Sensing Application Laboratory. He has researched and published on urban and regional development issues.

Monique Bertrand is a geographer and Director of Research at the Institute for Research and De velopment (IRD, France). Her research activities focus on urbanization in developing countries. She has worked at the Centre of Research on Space and Societies (University of Caen), and the Research Units 013 and 201 of the IRD, University of Paris 1. Her various research programmes and publications deal with social and spatial metropolitan dynamics in several West African countries, as well as land and housing issues, migration and mobility, changes in local power and municipal authority in a context of urban sprawl.

Les auteurs

Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorfest géographe et professeur à l'Université du Ghana (Legon). Elle est aussi Directrice du Family and Development Programme dans la même université.

Paul W.K. Yanksonest Professeur de Géographie à l’Université du Ghana, Legon, où il enseigne le développement urbain et régional. Il y dirige également le Laboratoire de Télédétection appliquée. Ses recherches portent sur le développement urbain et régional, domaines dans lesquels il compte un certain nombre de publications.

Monique Bertrandgéographe et Directrice de Recherches à l’Institut de est recherche pour le développement (IRD, France). Ses activités scientifiques portent sur l’urbanisation des pays en développement, et se sont inscrites dans le Centre de recherches sur les espaces et les sociétés (Université de Caen) puis au sein des unités de recherches 013 et présentement 201 de l’IRD, Université de Paris 1. Ses recherches et publications traitent des dynamiques sociales et territoriales de plusieurs capitales ouest-africaines, des questions foncières et de logement, des enjeux de migration et de mobilité, ainsi que de la recomposition des pouvoirs locaux et de la gouvernance municipale dans l'étalement urbain.

Acknowledgment

This book is a product of scientific collaboration between three researchers and the synthesis they made of the research conducted within the joint French and Ghanaian team “Familles citadines et pratiques résidentielles à l’épreuve de la mobilité: terrains anglophones et francophones en perspective en Afrique de l’Ouest” (Institut de recherche pour le développementand and University of Ghana, Legon). Selected in response to the call for scientific bids made by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ FAC Sciences sociales for a research project on “Évolution de la vie politique, de l’économie, de la société et de la ville en Afrique”, the team worked under a financing contract for its activities through the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) between 2002 and 2004. The submission of the end-of-research report in the form of a book manuscript was in response to the wish expressed by CODESRIA in the research contract. The authors agreed, as a necessary option, to have the text written in two languages (French and English). The three authors of this book are grateful to other active contributors to the research programme. These include a team of field assistants, four Ghanaian graduate students and three French research fellows involved in the statistical and mapping processing of fieldwork data. We thank Thomas Amoako-Mensah, Felicia Agyeibea Okai, Philip Ampadu Oppong and Marshall Kala of the University of Ghana, Legon, and Seth Tei Tawiah (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research of the same university) who unfortunately died before the completion of this study. We also thank Daniel Delaunay (a population economist at the IRD), Jean-Pierre Lévy and Olivier Pissoat (geographers at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Their efforts and contribu- tions are greatly appreciated. Finally, we acknowledge Daniel Delaunay, Director of Research at IRD, for the photographs.

E. Ardayfio-Schandorf M. Bertrand P. W. K. Yankson

Avertissement

Ce rapport est le fruit de la collaboration scientifique de trois enseignants-chercheurs et de la synthèse qu'ils ont menée des travaux réalisés au sein de l'équipe franco- ghanéenne « Familles citadines et pratiques résidentielles à l'épreuve de la mobilité : terrains anglophones et francophones en perspective en Afrique de l'Ouest », Insti- tut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) et Université du Ghana, Legon. Sélectionnée en réponse à l'appel d'offre scientifique du FAC Sciences sociales du Ministère français des Affaires étrangères par des projets de recherche sur l'« Évolution de la vie politique, de l'économie, de la société et de la ville en Afrique », l'équipe a travaillé entre 2002 et 2004 dans le cadre d'un contrat de financement de ses activités placé sous la responsabilité du Conseil pour le développement de la recherche en sciences sociales en Afrique (CODESRIA). La soumission de ce rapport de fin d'étude sous la forme d'un manuscrit d'ouvrage répond au vœu émis par le CODESRIA dans le contrat de recherche. La rédaction du texte dans les deux langues française et anglaise est toutefois une nécessité retenue d'emblée par les trois contributeurs du rapport. L’équipe se félicite également d’avoir suscité la collaboration, outre des trois auteurs du présent ouvrage : d’une équipe d’enquêteurs professionnels sous la supervision d’un senior research assistant de l’Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, de quatre étudiants ghanéens de niveau Master (Department of Geography and Resource development), et de trois chercheurs français impliqués dans les traitements statistiques et cartographiques. Que Seth Tei Tawiah, malheureusement décédé aujourd’hui, Thomas Amoako- Mensah, Felicia Agyeibea Okai, Philip Ampadu Oppong, Marshall Kala, Daniel Delaunay (démo-économiste, IRD), Jean-Pierre Lévy et Olivier Pissoat (géogra- phes, CNRS), soient chaleureusement remerciés pour leurs contributions. Sans elles, les résultats ici présentés n’auraient pu être aboutis. Nous remercions également Daniel Delaunay, Directeur de recherche à l'IRD.

E. Ardayfio-Schandorf M. Bertrand P. W. K. Yankson

Preface

This book is a product of research undertaken in response to a request for studies in the social sciences by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on ‘The Evolution of Political Life, Economy, Society and the City in Africa’. Examining the challenge of mobility for urban families and the evolution of residential practices in the city, this research aligns with other academic proposals focusing on African urbanization. Based on a case study of Accra, called Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) in this study. It demonstrates the importance of original primary source data collec- tion and its analysis as related to the state of knowledge on African large cities and their social and spatial dynamics. Co-ordinated by Monique Bertrand and Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, the French- Ghanaian scientific team was supported by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the French Institute for Research on Development, and the University of Ghana (Legon). The team thus fulfilled the objective of a North-South scientific collaboration as required by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This book is divided into nine chapters. The introductory chapter is a general overview of the challenges of urbanization in Ghana and a prelude to the book. Chapter 2 examines urban families in Accra, including their changing forms and the dynamics of their space needs, together with the residential patterns that have emerged. Chapter 3 focuses on households and the related residential mobility patterns within GAMA. Chapter 4 examines in detail the composition of urban households and compares the situation in Greater Accra with that of Bamako District in Mali. It also examines the role played by extended families and their gender relationships in orienting migrants and the youth circulating within and between residential areas in Ghanaian cities. Chapter 5 is on housing, its definitions and residential practices; and this is followed, in Chapter 6, by an overview of housing production and landlordism. It looks at who produces housing in GAMA, the changes that have occurred in this sector and how landlords relate with those who rent their houses as well as the effects of these on investment in housing. The process of accessing residential accommodation and the related mobility issues are treated in Chapter 7, while Chapter 8 examines the issue of residential mobility, comparing again the situation in Accra with that of Bamako. The concluding chapter of the book brings together the implications of the key findings on the urban development of Accra. It discusses the issue of fragmentation in not only urban form and planning but also in housing practices and residential mobility within the metropolitan region.