Archipelagos and networks: urbanization and water privatization in the South

This paper examines the interrelationship between urbanization and water supply privatization in cities in the global South. The purpose of the paper is not to evaluate the impacts of privatization; rather, the paper analyses the differences in pathways and modes of water supply privatization, focusing on urban and contrasting with rural areas. A distinction is drawn between privatization (organizational change) and commercialization (institutional change) of water supply. Emphasis is placed upon the interrelationship between regulatory change (a shift from public to private management of water supply systems), human use of and access to water, and urban waterscapes. In contrast to metaphors of 'networks' so often applied in analyses of water management, the 'archipelago' is posited as a metaphor which better captures the complex overlapping strategies of water supply provision in urban areas in the South. Building on this metaphor, and in response to the 'public–private' dualism often invoked in studies of privatization, the paper outlines an alternative typology of water management in urban areas in the South. This typology foregrounds the concepts of the territorialization of corporate power as a means of understanding the articulation between privatization and urbanization processes in the South.     

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.     

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.     

Cultural and Geographical Influences on Underweight Prevalence among Preschoolers in Ghana

Underweight prevalence among preschool children in Africa has been studied, but the effects of culture and geography remain unclear. This study used the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data for 2244 children aged 0‐59 months and generalized linear mixed models to analyze these data. The results showed that culture and geography remained significantly associated with preschool underweight prevalence after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of children, mothers, and households. Additionally, the gender of a child, size at birth, fever status, mother's BMI, insurance coverage and number of children <5 years in the household were significantly associated with underweight prevalence in Ghana. The study concluded that in addition to specific characteristics of children, mothers, and households, culturally motivated childhood dietary restrictions among the Ga/Dangme and Ewe could be reduced through appropriately targeted nutritional messages. Additionally, decreasing North‐South disparities in socioeconomic development, and improving nutritional outcomes among disadvantaged households in southern Ghana should be the focus of policies and strategies directed at reducing preschool underweight prevalence in Ghana.     

Housing privatization and the return of the state: changing governance in China

Housing privatization seems to suggest a process of state retreat. However, this is not always the case in China. This paper examines an estate that is mixed with work-unit housing and municipal public housing to understand its changing governance. It is intriguing to observe that the state has had to return to this neighborhood to strengthen its administration following housing privatization, because the attempt to transfer responsibility to commercial property management failed. The neighborhood governance, however, has transformed from one based on work-units to a government-funded administrative agency. The return of the state has been achieved through professional social workers, and it is struggling to operate, leading to the alienation and disempowerment of former state work-unit residents. The side effect of this approach to governance is that, through encouraging market provision and commercial operation which is not fully working, reciprocal activities are restrained. Since housing privatization, the neighborhood has deteriorated from a brand-new estate into an ‘old and dilapidated neighborhood’ in less than 25 years.     

Water Materialities and Citizen Engagement: Testing the Implications of Water Access and Quality for Community Engagement in Ghana and South Africa

We analyze the relationship between perceptions of domestic water access, and quality, in relation community engagement. While others have suggested linkages between material conditions of water access and engagement (e.g., that poor water access might spur engagement), to date there have been no studies those test these relationships using statistical methods. Based on a quantitative analysis of survey data from underserved sites in Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa, our results show that water access and quality are both predictive of community engagement. The analysis also makes a strong case that there are different dimensions when considering the material conditions of water—in this case, water access and quality each condition engagement in opposite directions. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, our study also shows different demographics (notably gender) mediate these relationships in important ways.     

环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境质量协调度

解决好新疆环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境质量之间的关系,对"一带一路"倡议顺利实施及新疆社会稳定具有十分重要的作用。基于2004-2017年环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展与水环境变化状况,构建城市发展与水环境质量的综合评价模型及二者的协调度模型,以探讨环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展、水环境质量变化及二者的协调关系。结果表明：2004-2017年,（1）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展综合指数呈现出逐年稳定上升的趋势,经济发展和城镇空间规模扩大是环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展的主要形式;（2）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市的水环境质量综合指数呈现出逐年降低的趋势,水环境质量形势严峻;（3）环塔里木盆地绿洲城市发展-水环境质量系统的协调度呈现倒U型的稳定发展趋势,但总体上两者的协调度较低,城市发展和水环境质量之间的矛盾日益突出。     

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.     

Claims: A postcolonial geographical critique of 'partnership' in Britain's development discourse

This paper uses postcolonial theory to establish a critique of the concept of 'partnership' in the British Labour government's 1997 White Paper on International Development, which is routed through the colonial metaphor of the British Commonwealth 'family of nations' to reproduce racialized hierarchies and deny mutuality in the contemporary development of Britain and its former colonies. In the course of this critique, the paper urges British geography to acknowledge its own postcoloniality, which will lead to a mainstreaming of concerns about global justice and provide intellectual resources to reimagine the geographies of postcolonial Britain.     

Beyond the knowledge-action gap: Challenges of implementing humanitarian policies in Ghana and Uganda

The article deals with challenges of implementing humanitarian policies in Ghana and Uganda by unravelling the roles of various actors and their narratives. In Northern Uganda the discrepancy between articulations and implementations of a humanitarian policy on needs is explored. In Ghana the disconnection between enunciations and policy practices around the ‘right to return’ is studied. Although different, these cases provide complementary insights into policy implementation. Serious differences between agencies’ aims and their implementation outcomes are revealed. Both cases demonstrate that the voices of affected people are muted or ignored in the implementation of humanitarian policies. They highlight the importance of consultations and consensus-making processes, and the need for re-mapping the policies and practices of humanitarian aid.     

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.     

城市群、产业集群与开发区互动发展研究——以长株潭城市群为例

城市群、产业集群与开发区的协同发展是实现城市群地区可持续快速发展的重要手段。在已有文献研究的基础上,基于宏观与微观相结合的视角,梳理了城市群、产业集群与开发区三者之间的关系及互动机制。认为城市群是新型城镇化的主体形态,是产业集群和开发区发展的空间载体,城市群为开发区和产业集群发展提供生产要素、服务和市场;开发区是城市群的创新创业高地与产业集聚、集群发展的重要场所,是城市群的重要生产功能区;产业集群是产业发展的重要组织形式,是推动开发区和城市群发展的重要驱动力。产业集群与开发区共享着城市群的资源与服务,开发区通过产业集聚与创新,产业集群通过产业链延伸、耦合与创新,与城市群形成生产要素、市场交易、创新与服务等方面的多维度相互作用,最终实现三者的协同发展。基于城市群、产业集群与开发区规模、结构、职能和创新等4个方面的17个指标,采用典型相关分析法,以长株潭城市群为案例区,对城市群、产业集群与开发区两大变量组进行了互动因素与强度的量化分析,结果表明：① 长株潭城市群、产业集群与开发区已形成有效互动。其中,城市群通过经济规模、城市结构、创新投入与产出、服务职能的发展,促进产业集群的经济规模、产业集聚、经济效益与产业创新,以及开发区的建设品质、产业集聚与产业效率的发展。开发区通过产业集聚与创新效率的提高,产业集群通过产业规模、效益协同开发区效率的提升,强化了城市群规模、结构、创新与职能的发展。② 长株潭城市群通过经济规模、结构、创新与服务四类因子,对产业集群与开发区产生了全面的促进作用,但产业集群与开发区并未完全协同地促进城市群发展。③ 要进一步提升产业集群的效益与开发区的效率,加强其对城市群发展与繁荣的支撑作用,全面实现三者的多维良性互动,提高城市群的核心竞争力。     

The Changing Geography of Export Trade in Ghana under Structural Adjustment Programs: Some Socioeconomic and Spatial Implications

Abstract

Like many other countries in Africa, Ghana has traditionally depended on a few export products—namely, cocoa, timber, and mineral resources—as the mainstays of its economy. The often-volatile nature of the world market price of these products made the economy very vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of export commodities. Moreover, the geographical distribution of these resources meant that only a few regions could participate in their production and export. This resulted in wide spatial and socioeconomic disparities between the producing and nonproducing regions. Within the past eighteen years, however, a shift seems to have taken place. Under the auspices of the ongoing structural adjustment programs, emphasis is being placed on nontraditional export goods. This is not only helping to reduce the vulnerability of the economy by diversifying the sources of export earnings, but also engendering participation in the export trade by regions that have been traditionally left behind. This study analyses the changing geography of the export trade of Ghana using data from the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, the Ghanaian government, the World Trade Organization, and field observation. The study argues that while these new trends and efforts are laudable, they cannot bridge the gap between the export producing and nonproducing areas and cushion the economy against the vagaries of the export market unless deliberate attempts are made to improve transportation and other basic infrastructure in the less-endowed areas.     

The Changing Geography of Export Trade in Ghana under Structural Adjustment Programs: Some Socioeconomic and Spatial Implications

Like many other countries in Africa, Ghana has traditionally depended on a few export products—namely, cocoa, timber, and mineral resources—as the mainstays of its economy. The often‐volatile nature of the world market price of these products made the economy very vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of export commodities. Moreover, the geographical distribution of these resources meant that only a few regions could participate in their production and export. This resulted in wide spatial and socioeconomic disparities between the producing and nonproducing regions. Within the past eighteen years, however, a shift seems to have taken place. Under the auspices of the ongoing structural adjustment programs, emphasis is being placed on nontraditional export goods. This is not only helping to reduce the vulnerability of the economy by diversifying the sources of export earnings, but also engendering participation in the export trade by regions that have been traditionally left behind. This study analyses the changing geography of the export trade of Ghana using data from the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, the Ghanaian government, the World Trade Organization, and field observation. The study argues that while these new trends and efforts are laudable, they cannot bridge the gap between the export producing and nonproducing areas and cushion the economy against the vagaries of the export market unless deliberate attempts are made to improve transportation and other basic infrastructure in the less‐endowed areas.     

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.     

北京市县域都市农业可持续发展水平动态分异与提升路径

促进都市农业可持续发展是当前加快新型城镇化进程,统筹城乡一体化发展的重要举措。本文以北京都市农业为研究对象,综合都市农业可持续发展能力时间变化轨迹刻画和空间分异格局归纳两个视角,解析都市农业影响因素的共栖关系和互动效应,结合地区特点提出合理的提升路径,以期为北京都市农业的科学发展提供科学支撑。研究表明：资源环境本底仍是制约北京都市农业发展的关键瓶颈,城镇化和工业化对北京都市农业发展影响具有两面性,宏观经济环境变化中北京都市农业显现出异常的敏感。基于研究结果,提出了促进北京都市农业可持续发展的对策建议：依托资源环境优势,拓展都市农业发展空间;瞄准城市发展需求,提升都市农业产品层次;顺应经济发展趋势,创新都市农业服务体系;创新经营管理体制,培育新型农业经营主体;发掘政策调控潜力,强化都市农业示范作用。     

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.     

美国自由贸易区的实践特点透析及借鉴

自由贸易区是以高水平开放实现外部经济集聚优势的重要制度空间。作为我国全面深化改革和对外开放的战略举措,自由贸易试验区建设率先在上海、广东、天津和福建展开试点。本文以自由贸易区的概念内涵界定、核心区位因素分析为基础,重点从区位类型、产业选择和管理模式等方面,透析美国自由贸易区的发展实践及其有益借鉴。本文认为,美国自由贸易区发展特点包括:涵盖临空、临港和陆路枢纽等区位类型,呈现数量众多、分布广泛和产业多元的总体特征,实施主-辅区并行运营、双层管理机构及矩阵联络制的管理模式。文章最后提出了创新贸易经济的治理体系、推动内外贸易的融合联动、加快制造业的转型升级和提升法律监管的保障力度等有益借鉴。     

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.     

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.