Fragile and compromised housing: Implications of land conflicts on housing development in peri-urban Accra, Ghana

Existing housing literature in the Global south suggests housing development processes are linear and do not appear to incorporate unexpected events such as land conflicts, which cause destructions, stoppages, and setbacks to housing development. This paper argues that the nexus between land conflicts and housing development can best be conceptualised as fragile and compromised housing. This concept draws attention to the highly violent politics of land and its impact on the housing process, the housing product, and the well being of the housebuilder. Using evidence from peri-urban Accra and drawing on interviews, the study unpacks the lived experiences of individual housebuilders in navigating through land conflicts to build. The study found that the impact of land conflicts on housing development manifests in complex ways including multiple financial commitments, capital lockdown, cyclical building, compromised housing, and compromised wellbeing. Arguably, these findings highlight the contemporary perspectives to understanding incremental and piecemeal housing in peri-urban Accra and by extension, the Global South

Peri-urban Development: Land conflict and its effect on housing development in peri-urban Accra, Ghana

Rapid urbanisation, alongside increasing housing deficits, is compelling many individuals to acquire land to build their houses in peri-urban Accra. The relative availability and cheaper costs of land in peri-urban areas also account for this phenomenon. This development has caused significant transformative impacts on the land market, tenure systems and ultimately on the peri-urban spaces of Accra. Tied to this, is the increasing forms of land conflict, which have become evident given the dynamic processes of development in peri-urban Accra. These conflicts, in turn, are shaping housing development in multiple ways. However, few studies have been conducted on the impact of these transformations and its associated contentions on housing. Therefore, the study investigates the relationship between land conflicts and individual housing development processes in peri-urban Accra. The thesis adopts a situated Urban Political Ecology (UPE) approach as the overarching theory to investigate the everyday politics of access to land and its effect on housing development processes in peri-urban Accra. To explore these in-depth, concepts and ideas of access theory, institutional multiplicity, the significance of the past and the idea of space draws on a key theme of situated UPE (everyday politics), to provide an integrated approach to understanding how land conflict impact on housing development in peri-urban Accra. Using the cases of four communities in peri-urban Accra, namely Abokobi, Oyibi, Oshiyie and Achiaman, the research was conducted through a qualitative lens to gain in-depth insights into the lived experiences of how individual house builders navigate through land conflicts. Interviews were conducted with four main categories of participants: land sellers, housebuilders, state actors and others, such as the Ghana Real Estate Development Association. Additionally, observations were conducted at various police stations, law courts, building sites and land registration centres to understand the day-to-day struggles of individual house builders. The study found that the transformational processes in peri-urban Accra are accompanied by uneven access to land and unequal power relations, which are causing several forms of contentious tenure issues. Significantly, the study shows that the privatisation characterising land is increasing the number of actors in the land market, shaping the everyday access to land and compounding tenure insecurities. The study argues that the interplay of these contentious tenures is creating what the study conceptualises as fragile and compromised housing- a housing development process characterised with intense politics of land access, violence, fragilities, and uncertainties. Consequently, many houses and housing development processes in peri-urban Accra are experiencing ‘capital lockdown’, ‘cyclical building,’ and ‘compromised housing’. These housing development processes further compromise the wellbeing of individual housebuilders. The study concludes that the transformation processes of peri-urban Accra have created contested spaces with a complex interplay of uneven access to land, inequality, and intense politics shaped by historical and contemporary development trajectories through privatisation and capital accumulation. In the context of customary land, transformation processes remain inconsistent and unpredictable due to the multifaceted interaction between forces of demand and supply, coupled with the continuous neglect of state interventions in the land market. While land plays an important role in peri-urban housing, demonstrated uncertainties continue to deepen existing housing challenges, particularly, among individual housebuilders, who contribute the largest percentage to housing development

‘Landguardism’ in Ghana: Examining public perceptions about the driving factors

Landguardism has become a bane in Ghana's urban land markets. Previous studies have qualitatively explored the drivers of this phenomenon from the perspectives of both state agencies and landguards themselves. Despite the insights uncovered, understanding of public perceptions about the factors driving landguardism in Ghana is still lacking. This paper fills this critical gap by drawing on data from 172 residents living in both the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and the Greater Kumasi Area to ascertain their perceptions about the main factors driving landguardism in Ghana. The results from our exploratory factor analysis show that (1) challenges with state-led land rights formalisation, (2) customary land maladministration, (3) government policy failures in housing and land markets, (4) reliable and cost-effective landguard services, and (5) challenges with seeking legal redress, are the five main drivers of landguardism in Ghana. The study concludes that mitigating landguardism must consider multiple factors within which the concept sits. The political and policy implications of the results are elaborated

Place, People & Diseases: The Association Between Geography & Diseases in Ghana

The nexus between geography and the health of humans is of interest to many scholars globally. However, this nexus is not fully examined in developing nations like Ghana as compared to developed nations. Therefore, this study examines this nexus in the Ledzokuku-Krowor municipality, a suburb of the Greater Accra region of Ghana using a means comparison approach. Malaria, diarrhea, and intestinal worm related disease are common in the municipality and strongly supported by previous studies. However, hypertension and rheumatism are two diseases that are on the rise in the municipality which are not on the list of the diseases common in Ghana