Abstract
This research utilizes empirical data to explore the sources of demand and their effects on urban fringe housing around Kumasi, Ghana. The research found that housing demand on the urban fringe has accelerated due to changing values ascribed to traditional rural and modern urban locations and to preferences for single-family homes, strengthened by the Ghanaian expatriate housing demand back home. This demand was expressed in a context of uncertainty created by a complex institutional system, which reinforced the attractions of the fringe locations. These results provide a perspective on urban fringe housing demand that differs from those developed in Western cities and the approaches recently used in accounting for change on the fringes of some South-east Asian cities. The paper concludes that more needs to be done to understand the institutional factors and the way that they influence a drawn-out construction process to account more fully for the mosaic of housing structures scattered haphazardly on the fringes of Kumasi.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Despite the emergence of large-scale developers in Accra (such as Regimanuel-Gray, African Concrete Products, Hydraform and Parakou Estates), it is common to build incrementally using own financial surpluses.
The term ‘family’ as generally used in housing classifications is inapplicable to the Ghanaian situation, where the term ‘family’ generally refers to the maternal family rather than the nuclear family. Due to cultural obligations, a single-household house may accommodate other traditional family members who may or may not depend on the household head for meals.
The term homeowner is avoided in this research, as property inheritance is a common practice in Ghana. The research uses the term ‘homebuilder’, which refers to those who actually financed home construction and therefore played an active role in land acquisition, residential location and housing styles. Family members were in some cases used as proxies for absentee homebuilders.
In-movers are mostly urban residents with no blood connections to the long-term village residents. On the other hand, long-term residents trace their ancestry to the villages that are now experiencing socio-economic and physical change.
The original inhabitants of Kumasi were the Asantes. They form part of the larger group of Akans in Southern Ghana.
References
Addison, E. K. Y. (2004). The macroeconomic impacts of remittances, bank of Ghana. Retrieved online on January 19, 2006, from http://www.g24.org/Addison.pdf.
Briggs, J., & Yeboah, I. E. A. (2001). Structural adjustment and emerging urban form in Accra, Ghana. Africa Today, 47(2), 61–90.
Browder, J. O., Bohland, J. R., & Scarpaci, J. L. (1995). Patterns of development on the metropolitan fringe: Urban fringe expansion in Bangkok, Jakarta and Santiago. Journal of American Planning Association, 61(3), 310–327.
Buxton, M., Tieman, G., Bekessy, S., Budge, T., Mercer, D., Coote, M., et al. (2006). Change, continuity in peri-urban regions, Australia: State of the peri-urban regions: Subject bibliography. Melbourne: RMIT University.
Cuba, L., & Hummon, D. M. (1993). A place called home: Identification with dwelling, community, and region. Sociological Quarterly, 34(1), 111–131.
Diko, J., & Tipple, G. A. (1992). Migrants build at home: Long distance development by Ghanaians in London. Cities, 9, 288–294.
European Environment Agency. (2006). Urban sprawl in Europe: The ignored challenge. European Commission/Joint Research Centre, Copenhagen, EEA Report No 10/2006. Accessed online on July 5, 2005, from http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2006_10/en/eea_report_10_2006.pdf.
Filion, P., Bunting, T., & Warriner, K. (1999). The entrenchment of urban dispersion: Residential preferences and location patterns in the dispersed city. Urban Studies, 36, 1317–1347.
Ford, T. (1999). Understanding population growth in the peri-urban region. International Journal of Population Geography, 5, 297–311.
Fortes, M., Steel, R. W., & Ady, P. (1947). Ashanti survey, 1945–46: An experiment in social research. Geographical Journal, 110(4/6), 149–177.
Friedmann, J., & Miller, J. (1965). The urban field. Journal of American Planning Association, 31(4), 312–320.
Ghana Statistical Service. (2005). Population data analysis report, socio-economic and demographic trends analysis (Analytical report), (Vol. 1, 2 pp).
Ginsberg, N. S., Koppel, B., & McGee, T. G. (1991). The extended metropolis. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Grant, R. (2005). The Emergence of Gated Communities in a West African Context: Evidence from Greater Accra, Ghana. Urban Geography, 26(8), 661–683. (23).
Hart, J. F. (1991). The metropolitan bow wave. Geographical Review, 81, 35–51.
Hogan, T., & Houston, H. (2002). Corporate cities—urban gateways or gate communities against the city? The Case of Lippo, Jakarta, Critical Reflections on Cities in Southeast Asia. Times Academic, 243–264.
Leaf, M. (1996). Building the road for the BMW: Culture, vision and the extended metropolitan region of Jakarta. Environment and Planning A., 28, 1617–1635.
Leichenko, R. M., & Solecki, W. (2005). Exporting the American dream: The globalization of suburban consumption landscapes. Regional Studies, 39(2), 241–253.
Mazzucato, V. (2005). Ghanaian migrants’ double engagement: A transnational view of development and integration policies, Global Migration Perspectives, No. 48, Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed online on July 5, 2007, from http://www.gcim.org/mm/File/GMP%2048(1).pdf.
McGee, T. G. (1995). Metrofitting the Emerging Mega-Urban Regions of ASEAN: An Overview in the Mega-Urban Regions of Southeast Asia. In T. G. McGee & I. Robinson (Eds.), Urbanization in Asia. Vancouver: Mitcell Press.
Owusu, T. Y. (2000). The role of Ghanaian immigrant associations in Toronto, Canada. International Migration Review, 34(4), 1155–1181.
Owusu-Ansah, J. K. (2008). Urban dispersal around Kumasi, Ghana. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Prussin, L. (1980). Traditional Asante architecture. African Arts, 13(2), 57–87.
Terkenli, T. S. (1995). Home as a region. Geographical Review, 85(3), 324–334.
Twum-Baah, K. A. (2005). Characteristics of international Ghanaian migration. In T. Manuh (Ed.), At home in the world (pp. 54–76). Legon: Sub-Saharan Publishers.
USAID. (2005). Ghana country report: Private remittances flow to Ghana, Project Country Report. Review Draft Retrieved on 12th Sept, 2007, from http://www.citizensintl.com/docs/ghana_remittances_country_report.pdf.
Webber, M. (1998). The joy of sprawl. Urban Design International, 3(4), 201–206.
Webster, D. (2002). On the edge: Shaping the future of peri-urban East Asia. Stanford, CA, Asia/Pacific Research Centre. Retrieved online on 23rd September, 2005, from http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/20031/Webster2002.pdf.
Webster, D. R., Cai, J., Muller, L., & Luo, B. (2003). Emerging third stage peri-urbanization: Functional specialization in the Hangzhou peri-urban region. Asia-Pacific Research Centre. Accessed online on January 15, 2006, from http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/20294/webster_hangzhou_2003.pdf.
Whitehand, J. W. R., & Norman, M. (2006). The fringe-belt phenomenon and socioeconomic change. Urban Studies, 43(11), 2047–2066.
Yeboah, I. E. A. (2003). Demographic and housing aspects of structural adjustment and emerging urban form in Accra, Ghana. Africa Today, 50(1), 106–119.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Owusu-Ansah, J.K., O’Connor, K.B. Housing demand in the urban fringe around Kumasi, Ghana. J Hous and the Built Environ 25, 1–17 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-009-9173-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-009-9173-x