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This paper examines how extreme weather events affect the mobility of low‐income urban residents in Ghana. Bringing together scholarship on extreme weather and mobilities, it explores the differential impact of flooding on their everyday lives as they navigate the cities of Accra and Tamale. A range of qualitative methods were drawn on, including semi‐structured interviews, focus group discussions, and follow‐along‐participant observations in selected communities of both cities. Three key themes emerged: disrupted road and transport infrastructure, everyday mobility challenges, and coping/adaptive strategies. In flooding conditions, residents experienced difficulties leaving/returning home, engaging in income‐generating activities, and accessing transport services and other key urban infrastructure. Conceptually, the paper reveals how disruption to urban residents' daily movements and activities (re)produces new forms of mobilities and immobilities, which have three relational elements: postponed, improvised and assisted. Throughout the analysis, we show how these mobilities/immobilities vary by age and gender: all urban residents, (though women in particular), experience postponed mobility; young people especially engage in improvised mobility; and children and the elderly are in greatest need of assisted mobility. The paper thus contributes to scholarship on extreme weather events and mobility by providing a more spatially nuanced understanding of the multi‐faceted domains in which flooding, socio‐economic conditions and adaptive strategies intersect to influence urban mobility in resource poor settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines (i) the state of environmental conditions in two low-income urban communities in Accra, Ghana, using a Participatory Rapid Assessment (PRA) method, and (ii) changes in the environmental conditions in the two low-income communities over the years using the PRA method. The PRA was augmented with qualitative interviews with selected heads of household and other stakeholders from the study communities. The results showed that environmental conditions in the two study communities were poor as indicated by the computed average scores for the environmental problem areas. However, conditions were poorer in Chorkor compared to La. The paper recommends that local governments units in Ghana must prioritise sustained, improved, and reliable funding for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to ensure undisruptive implementation of environmental health programs and policies. This must be accompanied with improved community education and sensitization on proper sanitary practices, which have the potential to mitigate the effects of disease epidemics such as cholera in the two communities. The study also provides important perspectives on differentials in environmental conditions in low-income communities in urban Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper contributes to unravelling the perceptions of urban commercial drivers regarding their vulnerability to catching the SARS-CoV-2 virus while at work. It further examines how the perception of vulnerability influences personal use of face masks by drivers, as well as on their insistence on appropriate masking behaviour by other persons on-board public transport. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in informal public transport in Africa could facilitate the spread of the corona virus. However, the use of face masks, among other enhanced mitigation measures significantly contain and minimize the spread of the virus. Primary data, obtained through surveys at five major public transport terminals in Accra, was analysed and interpreted using the Health Belief Model as an explanatory framework. Results indicate that most drivers have a high vulnerability perception to Covid-19. It further emerged that older drivers, in particular, consistently wore face masks and insisted on other persons in their commercial vehicles to follow suit. Socio-demographic factors, and the need to ensure one's personal safety and those of loved ones were critical determinants of face mask use among surveyed drivers. The study thus recommends that public awareness campaigns should strategically focus attention on the younger generation of drivers (i.e. 18–39 years) who perceived themselves to be immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Also, the collaborative efforts of state and non-state actors, like the transport operator unions, must be further strengthened if the gains made so far against Covid-19 is to be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discourses on climate change often characterise African cities as homogenous, experiencing the same climate events and requiring the same planning solutions. However, African cities are diverse and different across regions, scales, and contexts, despite some resemblance of urban problems. This paper addresses the generalisation of climate change issues and urban planning responses in African cities by: (i) exploring how climate impact, specifically flooding is different in one African city in terms of shaping the urban space; and (ii) examining the usefulness of city-focused and driven urban planning responses in addressing these risks. Using Accra, Ghana's capital, as a case study and mixed methods approach, findings indicate that despite the commonality of flood events across African cities, Accra's case is caused by a complex web of locally induced factors such as limited understanding of the geography and hydrology of the city by urban planning authorities, poor practice of informality, and changing weather patterns. Yet, the limited understanding of local driving causes of flooding in Accra has contributed to the use of unworkable top-down general responses (e.g., evictions and demolitions). The case of Accra demonstrates that increased preparedness (involving individuals, households, and institutions) is required to enhance adaptation to flood events rather than the current top-down response approach. In this case, we argue that a general approach to urban planning to address flood events across African cities may not work in all situations. Areas requiring further research are proffered, notably ways for capturing, integrating, and disseminating local knowledge in internationally funded flood planning and management initiatives. • This paper questions the overgeneralisation of climate impacts across African cities. • It discusses the importance of context-specific analysis in climate change debate. • Findings show significant differences in climate socio-geographical processes at the city level. • Bottom-up responses that are sensitive to local factors are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban open-air markets are indispensable institutions in the global South. Yet they are most often confronted with formidable environmental problems such as improper solid waste management (SWM). Accordingly, when research is initiated into the complex world of urban market environmental management (UMEM), the focus tends to be on either SWM technological interventions or the performances of formal or informal SWM actors. Whereas city authorities have desired to understand how to regulate the burgeoning number of informal SWM actors, research priorities have been to advocate for the formalisation and integration of informal systems of SWM with formal systems. Consequently, attention is rarely paid to informal actors' perceptions of SWM integration and formalisation pathways. This paper presents insights into how the integration of informal SWM actors is being approached in Ghana, and how this process is being experienced by the informal actors in Accra's open-air markets. The informal actors' critiques generally related to the formalisation processes, enforcement of legitimate expectations, and limited SWM infrastructure. The biggest obstacle related to the narrow conception of integration as formalisation through public and private sector, as this was perceived by informal SWM workers as an exclusionary, exploitative, and restrictive measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses urbanisation and changed lifestyles and to reveal whether or not there is a balance between these and environmental sustainability in Greater Accra-Ghana. Accra, over the years has become highly urbanised. Unfortunately, this urban growth has not been synonymous with salient development in the provision of basic necessities of its residents. The nature of Accra's urbanisation has been characterised with demographic, socio-economic and environmental challenges. Accra, the capital city of the country is unfortunately battling the serious environmental challenges that have resulted from its urbanisation. It is really of a great worry as these issues usually result from the negligence and nefarious activities of the populace arising from such practices as indiscriminate disposal of wastes, de-vegetation, strain in services which aid in preserving urban environment thus resulting in unhygienic environmental conditions, with serious threats from destructive events such as flooding. This indicates that there has not been a balance between urbanisation, changed lifestyles and environmental sustainability in Accra and hence recommends that city authorities as well as the government of Ghana executes their duties professionally without shirking responsibilities due to political differences in order to ensure that environmental sustainability complements the rate of urbanisation in Accra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing assumption in urban studies literature is that the urban poor remain vulnerable to climate change impacts yet excluded from planning interventions and their formation. However, at present, there is dearth of research examining the adaptation practices by the urban poor in African cities. Focusing on Ghana's capital, Accra, the purpose of this study is fourfold: (i) to explore climate change literacy among the urban poor and local planning institutions; (ii) to examine the urban poor's perceptions on climatic events in Accra; (iii) to analyze autonomous adaptation measures to climate change impacts; and (iv) to assess planned adaptation measures to climate change impacts. This paper uses household surveys, secondary data analysis and agency interviews in two informal communities - Nima and Chorkor - in Accra as case studies. Underpinned by the social exclusion theory, the results show limited climate literacy despite widespread experience of climate change impacts by the urban poor. Most adaptation measures were community driven and autonomous while the limited institutional responses were both planned and autonomous. However, both community and institutional planning responses were ad-hoc, reactionary and unsustainable. The paper recommends consideration of community-based self-organizing adaptation measures into city plans to ensure that autonomous measures are complemented with planned adaptation strategies. In addition to stakeholder participation, collaborations and partnerships in climate change adaptation, pro-poor adaptation measures - both autonomous and planned remain imperative as they can contribute to inclusive and just climate change policy. • Urban poor remain vulnerable to climate change impacts. • They are excluded from climate planning action. • Adaptation measures were community driven and autonomous. • Institutional responses to climate change are unsustainable. • Stakeholder partnerships in pro-poor adaptation required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to housing data in Ghana has been a challenge for researchers due to the lack of comprehensive data sources. However, the recent availability of big data sources has presented opportunities to bridge this data access gap. Using Greater Accra as a case, this study uses web scraping techniques to acquire publicly available housing data from two major E-commerce websites in Ghana and explores the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area's (GAMA) prevailing housing market. Spatial autocorrelation statistics show clustering of high median prices in known high-class neighborhoods. Median prices in high-class neighborhoods were three to five times higher than median prices in the entire metropolis, highlighting high housing costs in high-class neighborhoods. This research highlights the high housing cost in GAMA, making it impossible for the average resident to afford to buy a house. Hence, a more inclusive housing strategy is needed to provide affordable housing options for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban planning remains an important tool in managing climate change impacts. It also remains crucial in building sustainable adaptive capacities, particularly in cities of the global north. It however remains largely unknown in urban Africa about planning agencies' perspectives on climate change adaptation-urban planning conundrum, and corresponding policy responses. This paper thus examines urban planners' perspectives and planning responses on managing climate change impacts and building adaptive capacities in Accra, Ghana. Using a review of four relevant urban planning and climate change policies, and interviews with five urban planning agencies in Accra, findings indicate that urban planning regimes are less efficient, more reactionary, and unsustainable in building resilience and adaptive capacities to climate change impacts. The findings show evidence of weak institutional and stakeholder coordination, inadequate funds and institutional logistics and human capacity, which have contributed to the inability to manage 'normal' climate change impacts such as floods and build resilience to them. The paper concludes with suggestions for building resilience to climate change impacts and incorporating adaptation concerns into urban planning efforts in Ghana. • Hydrological disasters have increased in frequency due to climate change and other human induced activities • Urban planning is an important tool in building sustainable adaptive capacities to climate change • Urban planning regimes are less efficient, reactionary and unsustainable in building climate resilience in Ghana • Weak institutional coordination have contributed to the city's inability to manage 'normal' climate change impacts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compound and shared low-income houses in Ghana have economic, social, cultural, and familial advantages. Yet, COVID-19 and its related lockdown and home confinement in two urban cities, Accra and Kumasi, raised questions about the appropriateness of staying in a compound house while observing the COVID-19 protocols. Whereas a few studies have underscored the ineffectiveness of COVID-19 protocols in low-income shared houses, these assume a homogeneity of such households without reflecting on the diversities that exist among and between the different categories of low-income households and the imperative nuanced implications for the spread of infectious diseases. Against this backdrop the paper employed qualitative methodologies of in-depth interviews and non-participant observations to interrogate the experiences of low-income households' utilisation of space as they observed COVID-19 protocols. Drawing respondents from four low-income communities in Accra, the authors examined how traditional family households and non-traditional family households implemented the safety protocols and their implications for shared housing. Issues of sharing inadequate communal facilities and public health concerns as well as lack of access to inadequate water and living spaces impacted the respondents' COVID-19 experience. The study discovered that households' socioeconomic status is directly related to the management of epidemics in urban spaces in Ghana. • Over-crowding and sharing of communal facilities in compound houses raised public health concerns. • A renewed sense of communalism and bonding resulted among households in compound houses during the pandemic. • Existing social networks in houses increased conviviality and psychological resilience for people to deal with lockdown. • Implementing COVID-19 lockdown directives did not take into consideration the socioeconomic status of urban communities. • Efficient planning should be people-centered as local communities become partners and agents of transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a long-standing debate about the relationship between land title registration and tenure security. Studies in the developing world point to a tenuous link between land registration and stable land tenure. The reason why people continue to register therefore becomes a mystery if tenure security is not entirely assured. This article focuses on the increase in property value as one such factor that induces title registration. Previous studies have quantified the economic impact of title registration on property values. However, the impact varies from city or country to another. The authors seek to investigate the extent of property value increment in Accra attributable to land title registration. Design/methodology/approach: The authors statistically analyzed a data set from two institutions (First National Bank and the Lands Commission) in Ghana using a quantitative technique. Findings: The authors discovered that, holding all other factors constant, the value of the land in Accra increases by 22.6% due to land title registration. This shows that lessees must register to enhance property values, even though the essential due diligence must be done to make sure the acquisition is free from liens and legal disputes. Practical implications: This article highlights the implication of the findings for land administration as well as the practice of property valuation, development and brokerage in Ghana and Global South more broadly. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies in Ghana to investigate the specific premium that housing markets put on land title registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of large-scale projects including road infrastructures is often seen as the driver of socio-economic growth and development of countries. Interestingly, in the Global South, road infrastructures trigger various socio-spatial impacts, including fragmentations and changes in the quality of life in cities, however, little attention is given to that. This paper addresses the question: how does socio-spatial fragmentation triggered by road expansion connect to different domains of peri-urban life in Accra, Ghana? The research employed a case study approach using qualitative, quantitative and spatial methods to examine how socio-spatial fragmentations triggered by road expansion affect different domains of Accra peri-urban quality of life, Ghana, at the community level. The study found that with the road infrastructure, gated housing types emerged, and low-income residents were displaced into the hinterlands, leading to residential segregation, which negatively affected social interactions in peri-urban Accra. Moreover, though the road infrastructure improved the connectivity of physical infrastructure services, which attracted more people to the studied communities, informal settlements emerged within certain parts of them due to the non-enforcement of planning regulations, creating some fragmentation processes. The findings of the study suggest that fragmentation is due to policy shortcomings and improvements in housing and services domains. • Road infrastructure improves the connectivity of physical infrastructure services in peri-urban communities. • Road infrastructure attract middle-and high-income people to peri-urban communities to enjoy those physical infrastructure services. • Low-income people tend to be displaced by those high-income people attracted by the improved road infrastructures. • The movement of low-income into hinterlands creates fragmentation processes within peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous studies report that independent transnational female migration is growing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, scholarship on the 'left-behind' in the migration process largely focuses on women and children, with little attention paid to men left behind. Using qualitative methods, with Folkman et al.'s coping theory, to examine the coping strategies of men left behind in the migration process in Ghana, this study fills an important research gap in the migration and the left-behind literature. Through the snowball sampling method, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with men in the Accra Metropolis whose spouses were staying abroad. Participants explained that left-behind husbands cope with domestic work and care through support from family relations, careful planning and time management, eating out in food joints, and paid services from domestic workers. Participants also mentioned that these men cope emotionally through social media, religion, regular visits to spouses and engaging in extramarital affairs. The results demonstrate that in the absence of migrant spouses, husbands adapt using a variety of coping mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rapid expansion of African cities has created both housing deficits and a pluralization of urban orders, including the growth of slum settlements. With an ever‐increasing middle class, urban sub‐Saharan Africa is now also characterized by large‐scale land acquisition processes linked to the construction of wholly private and increasingly enclaved cities. This article maps the impacts of the Appolonia City of Light project—a privately built enclaved city catering to the housing needs of a rapidly growing middle class in Ghana. Building on field research and exploring various dimensions of the development marketed as 'The City of Light', we highlight how the project has dramatically altered social relations and resulted in dispossession rippling through nearby local communities. We therefore argue that, instead of merely focusing on the actual physical spaces of private developments or turning attention to often phantasmagoric and utopic visions of the future, research should be directed at changes in the immediate surroundings of urban developments. We highlight the problematic land acquisition inherent to such enclaved developments and demonstrate how these intrinsically constitute assemblages of livelihoods and exemplify dynamics of appropriation, dispossession and commodification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the British declared Accra the capital of their Gold Coast Colony in the 1870s, they sought to remake the politics of space and the culture of everyday life in the old town, which had long been settled by members of the Ga ethnic group. British efforts concentrated particularly on issues of "sanitation." While sanitation debates included issues of road drainage, water provision, and rubbish collection, the most animated conversations centered on issues of sewage. What appears on the surface to be a relatively straight-forward conversation about public health highlighted fundamental cultural fissures over relatively mundane issues such as smell, bathing practice, and the organization of the household or compound. In historicizing both the infrastructural politics and sanitary cultures of urban residents and the regulatory and policy strategies of government officials in the context of colonial Accra, this article aims to refocus debates about sustainable development to think more carefully about what a just, inclusive, decolonized, and community-centered approach might look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land acquisition remains a critical issue that poses threats to the perceptions people have on land matters in Ghana. There have been diverse perceptions of land acquisition systems in Ghana. Despite the availability of lands in Ghana, the numerous challenges coupled with acquiring land present extreme nervousness to potential land buyers. This study sought to find out the perceptions people have in relation to the current challenges coupled with land acquisition in Ghana and the ways to curb these problems. Based on reviews of relevant land acquisition documents in Ghana, a questionnaire and semi-structured interview questions were used to gather data from 201 respondents. The findings revealed that the perceptions most people held about acquiring land in Ghana have to do with the cost involved and institutional bureaucratic issues (weak policy implementations, delays in processing land documents at the lands commission, and extortion of monies by some lands commission officers from clients, etc.) associated with acquiring land. It is suggested that public education, adoption of a digital land registry, fighting corruption, and effectively enacting land policies should be proactive government measures to curb the current challenges associated with land acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sexual and reproductive health education among girls and women has several reproductive health benefits, including improved contraceptive knowledge, contraception use at first intercourse, increased chance of contraceptive use in a lifetime, and effective usage of contraceptives. It is however not clear whether women/girls in urban slums who have had sexual and reproductive health education would likely utilize contraception. This study sets out to test the hypothesis that Accra slum women who have had sex education have higher chances of ever using contraception. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among reproductive aged women in two slums (i.e. Agbogbloshie and Old Fadama) in Accra, Ghana. A sample size of 691, made up of respondents who provided responses to the question on ever used contraception, sex education as well as those with complete information on all the other variables of interest was considered in this study. Binary logistic regression models were fitted to examine association between sexual and reproductive health education and ever use of contraception. Crude odds ratios (cOR) and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) at p-value less than 0.05 were used to assess the strength of the association between the outcome and independent variables. Results: More than half (56.73%) of the women have never received sexual and reproductive health education. Most of the respondents (77.28%) had ever used contraceptives. Women who had no form of sexual and reproductive health education had lower odds of ever using contraception (OR = 0.641, 95% CI 0.443, 0.928) and this persisted after controlling for the effect of demographic factors (AOR = 0.652, 95% CI 0.436, 0.975] compared to those who have ever received any form of sex education. Non-married women as well as women who were exposed to media (newspapers/radio/television) were also more likely to use contraceptives in slums in Accra, Ghana. Conclusion: The study revealed a relatively low prevalence of sex education among women in urban slums in Accra. However, sex education was found to increase the odds of ever use of contraception. These findings call for intensified sexual and reproductive health education among reproductive aged girls and women in urban slums in Accra using existing informal social networks and local media platforms. Plain Language summary: Sexual and reproductive health education among girls and women has several reproductive health benefits, including improved contraceptive knowledge, contraception use at first intercourse, increased chance of contraceptive use in a lifetime, and effective usage of contraceptives. It is however not clear whether women/girls in urban slums who have had some form of sex education would likely utilize contraception more than those who have not. This study sets out to test the hypothesis that Accra slum women who have had sex education have higher chances of ever using contraception. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among reproductive aged women in two slums (i.e. Agbogbloshie and Old Fadama) in Accra, Ghana. A sample size of 691 girls/women aged 15–49 was considered. More than half (56.73%) of the women had never received some form of sex education. Most of the respondents (77.28%) had ever used contraceptives. Women who had no form of sex education had lower odds of ever using contraception and this persisted after controlling for the effect of demographic factors compared to those who have ever received any form of sex education. Non-married women as well as women who were exposed to media (newspapers/radio/television) were also more likely to use contraceptives in slums in Accra, Ghana. In sum, the study revealed that while prevalence of sex education was relatively low among urban slum women, sex education generally increased the chances of ever use of contraception. These findings call for more and targeted sexual and reproductive health education among reproductive aged girls and women in urban slums in Accra using existing informal social networks and local media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]