Accra’s Old Fadama/Agbogbloshie settlement. To what extent is this slum sustainable?

ABSTRACT

Slum conditions associated with squatter settlements pose major challenges in African cities. In the city of Accra, Ghana, municipal officials traditionally addressed squatter settlements through demolition and evictions. Despite these evictions, Old Fadama/Agbogbloshie, an illegal squatter settlement in Accra, continues to flourish. Within the context of sustainable principles, this study explores why this slum became embedded.  Results are based on a survey of 100 slum residents, 20 city officials and 20 city opinion leaders. Findings suggest that community participation in concert with municipal authorities can potentially lead to slum improvements sensitive to the social and economic needs of residents.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable Development
• community participation
• squatter settlement
• slum

Notes

1. Old Fadama and Agblogshie are two components of the largest slum settlement in Ghana, with commercial and residential development in Old Fadama and commercial, industrial, railway and residential in Agbogbloshie. For brevity we refer to the entire settlement as Old Fadama.

2. Males comprised 61% of the respondents in comparison to 39% female.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Effah Oppong

Benjamin Effah Oppong is a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University. His fields of interest are sustainable development, urban history, political and social issues in planning and planning for developing countries.

Raymond Asomani-Boateng

Raymond Asomani-Boateng is a Professor of Urban Planning at Minnesota State University Mankato. His research interests include environmental planning, sustainable development, urban history, planning for developing countries, community food systems and solid waste management.

Russell J. Fricano

Russell J. Fricano is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Minnesota State University Mankato. His research interests include environmental planning, sustainable development, urban analysis, planning for developing countries and community food systems.