Urban governance and the implementation of major infrastructure projects in Kumasi, Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper explores power dynamics among stakeholders in the Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project in Kumasi, Ghana. It adopts a case study approach and draws on multiple qualitative data collection methods, including in-depth interviews of 62 representatives of evicted traders and project officials. The study reveals the use of participatory approaches that ignored many informal stakeholders of the project. These stakeholders also adopted varied strategies to engage city authorities with myriads of outcomes. We argue that the major infrastructure development projects in emerging African cities should have built-in mechanisms for identifying and including stakeholders at all stages of their implementation process.

KEYWORDS:

• Redevelopment
• urban informality
• power
• governance
• Kumasi
• Kejetia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Functional Title of the King of the Asante State/Kingdom. The occupant of this revered position carries the title Otumfour and is seen as the owner of all the lands and other natural resources in the Asante state.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Clifford Amoako

Clifford Amoako (PhD) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Planning, KNUST – Kumasi, Ghana. He is a development planner and an interdisciplinary scholar who deploys multiple theoretical and methodological lenses to interrogate issues related to urban and regional development in the Global south. His current research interests are in urban governance, vulnerability and responses to natural hazards; transportation planning and artisanal small-scale mining in developing countries. E-mail: [email protected] OR [email protected]

Bernard Adjei-Poku

Bernard Adjei-Poku (PhD) is a lecturer at the Department of Planning and Development, Christian Service University College, Kumasi. He holds PhD Planning from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Bernard is development planner and researcher with special interest in informal power systems shaping urban realities, urban governance, land use and spatial organization, project planning and monitoring and evaluation. Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Simon Kwabena Dankyi

Simon Kwabena Dankyi: Simon is a Lecturer in the Department of Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, where he teaches courses in planning. He is particularly interested in urban and land use planning, as well as climate change and human vulnerability research. Over the course of his career, he has gained extensive local and international industry experience. In his current position, he serves as the Department of Planning’s Examinations Officer. The Johann Wilhelm Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, awarded him a Ph.D. in Political Science. He also holds an M.Sc. in Development Policy and Planning, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Planning, both from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Email: [email protected]