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

This book is a product of collaborative research between the Institut de recherche pour le développement (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. This work 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. The book throws light on diagnostics and prospects in the matter of urban planning.