The Political Economy of Housing and Urban Development in Africa - Ghana's Experience from Colonial Times to 1998

Providing adequate, accessible, and affordable housing is a major problem affecting many African countries. Focusing on the West African country of Ghana, Konadu-Agyemang explores the urban housing question in light of current development theories. He concludes that it would be naive to see Ghana's housing crisis primarily as a result of political instability or economic mismanagement. Instead, the author argues that economic and social problems in Africa are products of the structural distortions created by colonialism and the draining of African resources to European countries.

The postcolonial continuation of relations of dependency has led to underdevelopment, which is manifested in malformed urban areas characterized by housing shortages, slum environments, and atrophied infrastructures. Konadu-Agyemang concludes that affordable housing in Ghana will only occur with the implementation of policies aimed at decreasing Ghana's dependence on imported building materials and standards. Solutions to the housing crisis in Ghana require remedies to both the internal constraints that impede development and the inequities in the global economy that foster dependency and neo-colonialism.

List of contents

Preface
Introduction
The Political Economy of Urbanization, Urban Growth, and (Under) Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Urban Population Dynamics in Ghana: 1921-1998
Accra - From a Fishing Village to a Millionaire City: The Political Economy of the Growth of an African City
Housing and Related Infrastructures in Accra: The State of Affairs
Housing Delivery, Demand and Affordability in Ghana with Special Reference to Accra
The Political Economy of Town Planning, Housing Policy and Strategies in Ghana: From Colonial Times to Present
Housing Policies in Ghana: Towards Strategies for the Future
Bibliography
Index

About the author

KWADWO KONADU-AGYEMANG is an Assistant Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Akron./e

Product details

• Authors: Kwadwo Konadu-Agyemang, Konadu-Agyemang Kwadwo
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.10.2000
• EAN: 9780275970031
• ISBN: 978-0-275-97003-1
• No. of pages: 248
• Weight: 567 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Miscellaneous; Ghana, History: specific events & topics, HISTORY / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Economy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Development / Economic Development, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Services, c 1500 onwards to present day, Urban & municipal planning, Political Economy, History: specific events and topics, Development economics & emerging economies, Urban and municipal planning and policy, Development economics and emerging economies, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards, Welfare & benefit systems, Welfare and benefit systems, Politics, Law, and Government: Comparative Politics