Factors for the presence of avian scavengers in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana

Avian scavengers are common and active in the social life of southern Ghana, yet few studies consider both the ecological factors for avian presence and the avian–human interactions from human gender and age perspectives, and compare avian behaviour in both human-dominated and natural landscapes. This paper examines interactions between people, hooded vultures and pied crows in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana using both ecological and social research methods. Land use was classified for species presence into meat and waste production, vegetable marketing, non-food production, residential and central business areas, green spaces and rural areas. One hundred and eighty-four people were interviewed, classified according to age and gender. Hooded vultures and pied crows were more common in urban than rural areas, and their presence was positively correlated with human numbers. Birds were most common in meat and waste production areas, but also foraged for street discards in non-food production and residential areas, and were most rare in rural areas. Bird consumption of waste was viewed positively, while eating of other foods, close proximity and unusual behaviours were viewed negatively. Both species, especially the larger vultures, were feared as spiritual agents, this measured by odd behaviours. Women and older people had stronger beliefs, due to cultural conditioning. These human perspectives and reactions influenced avian presence. This study contributes to urban avian ecology, socio-cultural studies and urban planning.     

The Emergence of Gated Communities in a West African Context: Evidence From Greater Accra,Ghana

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the global expansion of gated communities has become an increasingly important part of the residential geography of many cities. The gated community phenomenon has not been researched in West African cities, and the extent of these communities' formation and convergence or divergence with global trends is unknown. This article provides the first-ever analysis of their formation in Greater Accra, Ghana. The analysis suggests that the globalization of real estate markets and Diaspora living are important aspects in the residential geography of Accra. The concept of "transnational houses" is employed to explain aspects of the local property market that are being globalized and differentiated from local housing. Transnational houses add another layer of diversity to the contemporary urban geography of Greater Accra.     

The divergence between acceptability of municipal services and urbanization in developing countries: insights from Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi,Ghana

Abstract

In most developing countries, the provision of municipal services and infrastructure invariably fails to match the pace and demands of urbanization. The outcome is often increased informality due to improper planning, official bureaucratic barriers and perhaps insufficient and shrinking public resources, which then makes leveraging private capital for public service provision imperative. Drawing on in-depth qualitative fieldwork in two Ghanaian cities, this paper aims to extend literature on the divergence between service provision and urbanization in developing countries. More specifically, it attempts to qualify recent macro-level data indicating that access to water, sanitation and electricity services in Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi is improving substantively. Contrary to dominant policy narratives circulating in Ghana, we illustrate how the acceptability of key municipal services within urban settings is often inadequate, and how acceptability is tied to spatial and temporal factors. We then identify and examine the reasons underpinning these variations. Through exploring residents’ perceptions of key services, and examining critically the possibility and feasibility of meeting urban service needs through leveraging private resources, this paper contributes to broader academic debates over urban service provision, while also feeding into contemporary policy discussions concerning how to achieve several of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.     

Heavy burdens: Gendered livelihood strategies of porters in Accra,Ghana

Urban poverty is invariably linked to sociospatial dimensions of livelihood strategies. Gendered social relations, for example, have been seen to impact the ability of females to access resources, to gain assets, and to engage in viable income‐generating activities. Focussing on the livelihood strategies of the urban poor as they intersect with neoliberal economic reforms in contemporary Ghana, this paper draws on a field‐based survey of porters in Accra, mostly migrants from rural agricultural northern Ghana, whose primary livelihoods derive from transporting goods for clients in congested market areas of the urban industrial south. The paper highlights the gendered aspects of porters' livelihood experiences such as differences in migration patterns, reliance on physical labour and living conditions, which relatively few analyses have examined, especially as these relate to wider socioeconomic processes. The study illustrates how this perspective is important to understand the intersection of livelihood strategies, gender and national economic reforms in promoting both rural and urban development.     

Fighting Over Forest: Toward a Shared Analysis of Livelihood Conflicts and Conflict Management in Ghana

Conflicts undermine forest-based livelihoods for the rural poor. Conflict management is key to preventing such conflicts. This article analyzes actor perceptions of forest- and tree-related conflicts and conflict management in Ghana's high forest zone. It also assesses a phased methodology that promotes shared problem definition and ownership of recommendations on conflict resolution strategies through the presentation and discussion of findings from document analysis, surveys, interviews, and focus-group discussions at a workshop with forest professionals held in Kumasi, Ghana. The study found that conflicts are inherent in forest-based livelihoods due to policy and legislative failures and institutional deficiencies, perceived goal incompatibility, opportunities for interfering with the attainment of one another's goals, and environmental scarcity. Ongoing forest governance reforms in Ghana should consider the stepwise conflict management model developed by the workshop participants involved in this study, but expand it to include the views of other stakeholder groups.     

It's not all about wealth and beauty: Changing perceptions of fatness among Makola market women of Accra,Ghana

Within the African context, body shape preferences may be influenced by culture without necessarily taking into consideration health implications. Thus, fatness is culturally associated with beauty, prosperity, and prestige while thinness is perceived as a sign of ill‐health or poverty. Using a cross section of Makola market women, who traditionally are perceived as fat and affluent, our findings revealed that the perception of fatness as a sign of richness and beauty is changing due to women's access to knowledge and information on the health implications of fatness. The challenge for these women however, is adhering to healthy lifestyles despite living sedentary lives in the market place which is a conducive environment for one to become fat. We recommend that qualified professionals should encourage these women through continuous programmes on regenerative health and nutrition aimed at healthy lifestyle behaviour at the market places. The social groups that women belong to should be targeted, trained and equipped with the right information on healthy living so that they can disseminate this information to other members of their networks.     

Changing urban governance in Ghana: the role of resistance practices and activism in Kumasi

ABSTRACT

This article examines traders’ resistance practices in Kumasi, Ghana and their significance for changing urban governance in Africa. Conceptually, we introduce “activism” as a new variable into the present concept of urban governance as decentralization, entrepreneurialism and democratization (DED). From an empirical study in Kumasi, Ghana, findings reveal that activism by non-state actors does not only occur at the crucial earlier phases of the urban regeneration process, but extends into the subsequent phases, because urban governance is a continuous process. We demonstrate that activism and a multiplicity of resistance practices are embedded and significant dimensions of everyday urban governance in Africa. This paper argues that the additional dimension – activism – is necessary in rethinking urban governance in Ghana and Africa. This conceptualization views non-state actors not as resisters of urban governance but as activists whose resistance practices and innovations produce tangible and far-reaching changes in city governance. We learn that non-state actors do not rely on the state to control all aspects of urban governance but invent new practices to secure their socio-economic interests and provide them with leverage where they have to negotiate with or stand up to authorities. The study shows that successful change in urban governance is a function of the complementary and strategic adoption of contention, subversion and co-production. When the state perceives that the intervention of other key stakeholders legitimizes the grievances of non-state actors, it responds positively.     

Spatial and social transformations in a secondary city: the role of mobility in Sekondi-Takoradi,Ghana

Abstract

Existing research on urban Ghana mainly focuses on processes occurring within the country’s major cities, thereby reproducing a trend within the social sciences to overlook the role of intermediate and secondary cities. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by exploring spatial and social transformations in Sekondi–Takoradi, one of Ghana’s secondary cities and the metropolitan area serving the region’s emerging rubber industries as well as the country’s oil and gas economy. Using qualitative interviews conducted with residents in five of the city’s neighbourhoods, and a modified version of Kaufmann’s typology of mobility, we examine migration into Sekondi–Takoradi, residential mobility within the city and the daily mobility of the city’s residents. The paper highlights how these diverse forms of mobility interact with processes taking place both within and outside Sekondi–Takoradi, most notably influencing and being influenced by livelihood strategies. It is argued that the city and its hinterlands can best be envisaged as a mobile networked whole, rather than consisting of disconnected and compartmentalized locales. The paper thus contributes to broader debates on how mobility shapes urbanization by providing new empirical data on events unfolding in Africa’s secondary cities, and extends existing research by providing a counter-narrative to literature that examines the city and its surrounding rural areas separately.     

The environmental impact of small-scale gold mining in Ghana: identifying problems and possible solutions

This paper examines the environmental impacts of small-scale gold mining in Ghana, and prescribes a series of recommendations for improving environmental performance in the industry. Since the enactment of the Small Scale Gold Mining Law in 1989, which effectively legalized small-scale gold mining in the country, industrial operations, collectively, have made important contributions to national gold output, foreign exchange earnings and employment. Accompanying this pattern of socio-economic growth, however, have been increased environmental complications – namely, mercury pollution and land degradation. The Ghanaian Minerals Commission has been burdened with most of the jurisdictional responsibilities related to small-scale mining, but with a staff of only 35–40 people working with a pool of highly obsolete research resources, it is clearly incapable of facilitating sufficient environmental improvement on its own. It is concluded that marked environmental improvements can only be achieved if: (1) assistance is provided to the Minerals Commission from local governmental bodies and academic units; (2) industry-specific environmental management tools and strategies are designed and implemented; (3) concerted effort is made to prospect for deposits suitable for small-scale gold mining, a key to preventing unnecessary exploration; and (4) a nation-wide industrial mercury study is commissioned, and a mercury retorting programme is implemented.     

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Structural Adjustment Programs and Uneven Development in Africa: The Case Of Ghana

Since 1983, Ghana has been undergoing World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The implementation of the SAPs, it is claimed, has arrested Ghana's economy from complete collapse, resulted in consistent growth in GDP averaging 6% over the past decade, reduced inflation levels, created budget surplus, and increased export earnings. Compared to the 1970s, these are the best of times indeed. But while these SAPs‐derived improvements in the national economy have been recorded at the macro level, the benefits at the micro level are a matter of considerable debate. This study revisits the issue of socioeconomic and spatial disparities that have characterized Ghana since colonial times, emphasizing the period from 1983 when Ghana's SAPs began. It examines current patterns of socioeconomic disparities with emphasis on the distribution of, and access to, health, education, basic services, and the like. The study focuses on urban‐rural as well as interregional disparities in the country.     

Spatial Integration,Adjustment, and Structural Transformation in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Some Linkage Pattern Changes in Ghana

In 1983, Ghana embarked on a program of structural adjustment under the auspices of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to resuscitate the economy and to foster development. This paper utilizes the Lagos Plan of Action, a comprehensive, continent‐wide effort and African‐led policy strategy for the economic development of the African continent, to examine the contribution of adjustment to the development of an integrated economy in Ghana. Adjustment is examined as a form of structural transformation, as evidenced by the emergent intranational (intra‐ and inter‐sectoral) and international linkages in the formal wood processing industry, a key sector with tremendous potential for such linkages. Intranationally, this study shows that, as in the pre‐adjustment years, inter‐sectoral linkages, although important, were not dynamic enough to play a significantly galvanizing role in the nation's economic development. However, intra‐sectorally, a dramatic expansion in lumber exports led to an unprecedented constriction in the traditional forward linkage between sawmills and downstream processors. This forced the latter to depend on the informal sector for inputs. Internationally, Ghanaian firms operated as subcontractors of convenience for firms overseas (particularly in Europe) via an expanded forward linkage, reflecting a new “colonial relationship” under the program.     

Pathways for Participatory Water Governance in Ashaiman,Ghana: Learning from Institutional Bricolage and Hydrosocial Perspectives

Coupling a hydrosocial perspective with institutional bricolage, this research considers possibilities for participatory water governance in Ashaiman, a peri-urban settlement of Accra, Ghana. We explore three questions: (1) How do people in Ashaiman evoke ideas or experiences of water in general and water governance in particular? (2) What possibilities currently exist for engaging the community in key water-related decisions? (3) What possibilities exist for enhanced participatory water governance in this context, including potential for and interest in new institutions and engagement processes? Results of qualitative interviews and semistructured observation suggest that a siloed, water-centric approach inadequately captures everyday realities of water as hydrosocial and of existing institutions in Ashaiman. In contrast to “modern water,” we propose that water issues may be more meaningfully addressed as bundled with social welfare. Potential implications and alternative ways of understanding socio-institutional arrangements for participatory water governance are explored.     

城市体检：空间治理机制、方法、技术的新响应

城市体检评估是促进空间治理体系和治理能力现代化水平全面提升的重要政策工具,有助于落实国家发展战略意志、提高城市综合治理水平、有效回应人民美好生活需要。总结北京已开展的体检评估实践经验,提出城市体检评估从机制、方法、技术3个维度对空间治理优化提供了新响应。机制维度,注重建章立制,形成了"监测-诊断-预警-维护"的城市体检闭环工作体系、"自评估+第三方评估+公众参与"相结合的工作模式、综合多源数据的常态化数据获取渠道,面向不同关注重点,强化体检评估结论严肃性权威性。方法维度,围绕指标体检、任务体检、领域体检3个方面建立成果体系,与总体规划统筹实施机制流程上下衔接。技术维度,积极运用多维度多层次、全要素多主体、重思辨可验证的诊断思路,不断深化城市体检评估多维诊断分析关键技术。     

After the 1997 financial crisis in Bangkok: The behaviour and implications of a new cohort of street vendors

After the 1997 financial crisis, many retrenched workers preferred not to return to provincial homes but remained in Bangkok to establish informal retail businesses in branded and other consumer products. In contrast to traditional street vendors, who specialized in food items primarily catering for low‐income customers, and focused on high volume, these ‘new generation’ street vendors also adopted more formal business practices. Given their greater sophistication and better education, we hypothesized that they would be more organized advocates of vendors' rights and thus more prone to conflicts with municipal authorities. Based on interviews, however, we found that new generation vendors are adaptive to location and business strategy, and prefer a low profile in dealing with officialdom. By contrast, traditional vendors remained more tied to particular spaces, are more likely to stand up for their rights to use public space and, because they expect more from government, are more prone to conflicts with municipal authorities. Our findings relate to ongoing discussion on the rights and needs of street vendors to access urban public space and the responsibilities of authorities to meet and provide for these informal sector livelihoods that make up a significant share of the national economy in Thailand, as elsewhere in the global South.     

Cross‐border Urban Governance in Hong Kong: The Role of State in a Globalizing City‐Region*

The rapid development in the Hong Kong‐Pearl River Delta (PRD) city‐region has taken place alongside complicated cross‐border governance. The framework of time‐space envelopes (TSEs) is adopted for a study of cross‐border governance in Hong Kong, especially in the role of the state, that is, the Hong Kong government, in cross‐border urban governance. This article argues that tension‐ free regional integration has never existed due to a complex governance network. The shift from “cross‐border protectionism” to “cross‐border free trade zone” in Hong Kong's cross‐border urban governance since 2001 is a result of the rearticulation of the state cutting through the geoeconomic and geopolitical TSEs.     

黄河流域城市群扩张的时空格局演化及情景模拟——以呼包鄂榆城市群为例

黄河流域城镇扩张对区域景观格局影响显著,城市群人口聚集与增长引发了流域“人-地”矛盾和“空间冲突”等一系列生态环境问题。基于土地利用数据和FLUS模型对2025年和2035年呼包鄂榆城市群城镇化与土地利用时空演化特征进行多情景模拟预测。结果表明：① 1990—2018年呼包鄂榆城市群整体发展水平较低,建设用地面积经历了“平稳增加-缓慢增加-急剧增加”的变化过程,区域总体以草地为主,其占土地总面积的50%以上,其次是未利用土地和耕地,林地和建设用地次之。② 城市群扩张最剧烈地区在空间上主要发生在呼和浩特市、包头市等城市主城区,且扩张模式以外延式扩张为主,扩张来源主要是耕地、草地等生态用地。③ 三种情景模拟发现,2025年和2035年区域土地利用变化的空间结构和特征差异明显。自然发展情景下,城市扩张不受约束,高速增长占据了大量生态用地;加入生态约束条件很好的控制了对草地和林地的占用;经济发展情景下,城市扩张将进一步占据更多的未利用土地和耕地。本研究通过城市群扩张时空格局演化及情景模拟分析,尝试为区域规划、城市空间规划和区域生态空间保护提供多角度、多情景和可选择的政策决策参考。     

中国城市老工业园区更新的空间治理机制研究——多层次视角的分析框架

城市老工业园区更新中的空间治理涉及多元主体博弈与产业用地发展权重构问题,是当下城市研究的重要学术议题。本文以转型理论中多层次视角的形势、体制与利基为立足点,深层次挖掘城市更新中空间治理转型创新的演化过程与内在机制,提出一种不同层次多种因素间相互作用、动态演化下理解中国老工业园区更新空间治理的方法。该解释框架被应用于上海上钢十厂园区更新转型中,通过关注2004年后两次更新转型的过程和机理,研究发现：上钢十厂的更新转型是由宏观外部形势、空间利基创新、空间体制转型三个层次互动而实现的,上钢十厂两个阶段的更新均在产业转型、城市发展需求变化等宏观形势下诞生创新“新奇”,政府、社会团体或企业等空间治理行为主体共同参与推动“新奇”合法壮大并形成利基,在空间资本积累、产业类型转换中,驱使空间体制成功转型,其本质是利基层的空间创新“新奇”在宏观形势或空间体制要素的影响下解构重塑空间体制的过程。城市更新促进了老工业园区产业转型,提高了环境品质、土地利用强度和经济效益。多层次视角能结合城市更新中空间治理的外部环境、内在驱动因素和演变过程等多方面,有助于从动态演化维度理解城市更新空间变迁及转型治理的内在机制。     

The poor peasant: One label,different lives. The dynamics of rural livelihood strategies in the Gia-Kajelo community,Northern Ghana

The literature on rural dwellers or peasants has for long been characterised by homogeneous treatment of the label 'peasant'. This article adds to the voices of those who recognise and explore the diversity and dynamism of rural places and try to incorporate these in the explanation of meaning and realities. Peasants are a heterogeneous group of people engaged in multiple activities and with multiple characteristics. The article exposes the dynamic and complex nature of rural places by examining the survival/livelihood strategies of peasants using a four-category wealth-ranking scheme. Poverty in the Gia-Kajelo community of Northern Ghana, in conjunction with the difficult physical environment, has led to a multiplicity of livelihood paths. In this article it is argued that the livelihoods of peasants constitute dynamic, complex and diverse paths. The paths chosen by peasants in pursuit of food security and secure livelihoods are dynamic in response to changing economic, political and environmental conditions. Households and individuals vary in their emphasis and choices of strategies, according to their entitlements within the wider socio-political and economic context and their internal structure in terms of size, composition and capital.     

Zone Fever,Project Fever: Development Policy,Economic Transition,and Urban Expansion in China

With the pursuit for global competitiveness and economic growth, Chinese cities have recorded massive urban land expansion. This article examines the effects of development policies and economic restructuring on urban land expansion in China through a case study of Nanjing, representing the rapidly growing and globalizing coastal cities in China. Wei investigate the development process and changing contents of government policies, and analyze development zones and key projects as privileged, trait making, and even path‐breaking elements of the development process. We highlight the transition and paradox of the Chinese state in the urban development process, and the broad contexts underlying urban land expansion in Chinese cities. We see urban expansion in China as a process largely responding to top‐down policy change and economic transition initiated by the central government. We hold that the role of the state has to be analyzed to understand urban transformation and land expansion, moving beyond local factors of accessibility and feasibility. Development‐zone and project fevers, and lagging administrative reforms, however, have made Chinese cities heavy with debt and led to wasteful development, corruption, and social unrest in China.