CULTURE AS A VECTOR OF

URBAN INTEGRATION

Urban Spaces Symposium

June 2010
 Contents

• Brief on the context

– Ghana Urban poverty Data
– Growth of Urbanization in Accra

• Multi Dimensions of Poverty

• Migration and Culture
• Democracy and Governance Culture
• CHF Accra Learning Sites (Slums)
• Life in the Slums
• Aspiration of Urban Slum Dwellers
• Land Use in the Slums
• Spatial Anthropology
– Nima
– Ayidiki
– Ga Mashie

• CHF Implementation Strategy

• CHF Experiences
• Culture as a VECTOR of Urban Integration
 Brief on the Context

Ghanaian main data

•

 Area 239,000 km2

 Population 20.2 million
 Urban population 6.7 Million
 Population Living Below Poverty Line 5.6 Million
 % of urban population below poverty line 33.3
 GDP per capita 300
•
 Capital City Accra
 Regions 10
 Metropolitan Assemblies (pop > 250,000) 5
 Municipal Assemblies (pop 95,000) 32
 District Assemblies (pop < 75,000) 101 Source: Government data, 2000
 Brief on the Context (cont’d)

Ghanaian urban poverty data

Source: Making Cities Work; USAID, August 2002 and Pop. And Housing Census, GSS, 2000
 Brief on the Context (cont’d)

Growth of Urbanisation in Accra

 Multi-dimensions
of Urban Poverty

 Multi-dimensions of urban poverty

•Lack of trust between urban stakeholders
 •Lack of consolidating institutionalized mechanisms of collaboration
of good urban governance and political voice •Exclusion from decision making
•Lack of capacity and resources municipalities

•Insecurity of tenure
•Poor housing conditions
•Poor conditions of roads affecting accessibility
•Poor drainage facilities leading to frequent flooding of poor settlements
quate shelters, infrastructure and urban services
•Inadequate sanitation facilities
•Poor water accessibility and affordability
•Poor solid waste management

•High rate of unemployment particularly among the young active population

•Difficult access to capital
Inadequate asset base, safety net
•Lack of private actor investment

•Lack of high capacity and experienced NGOs in housing improvement, drainage and
water and sanitation
•Lack of capacity of local leaders like the assembly members, unit committees and
traditional rulers(chiefs) and the slum residents themselves to participate in pro-
Poor capacity of urban stakeholders poor planning
•No systematic learning agenda in mobilizing the community and tackling urban
poverty
 Migration and Culture

Rural societies are homogenous simple societies

Rural-urban migration demands a blend of cultures to create a new
social structure with its own challenges:
1.Complex power dynamics –
i.Indigenous chief vs immigrant chief
ii.Youth leaders vs opinion leaders
iii.Traditional chiefs vs Appointed (Local) Government Officials
2.Multiple ethnic groups
3.Varied languages
4.Varied interests
5.Varied behavior patterns
6.Landlord-tenancy relationships
7.Fewer coping mechanisms/strategies
 Democracy and
Governance Culture

Participation in governance (local and central) is largely limited to voting every

four years for:
Unit Committee Members
Assembly Members
The President
 AVENOR
Pop: 9,214
No. of houses: AYIDIKI NIMA
447
Tenureship: Pop: 58,940 Pop: 88,640
Family/ clan No. of houses: No. of houses:
1,738 2,429
Tenureship: Stool Tenureship:
Pop: 23,900 Stool/family
No. of houses:
1,252
Tenureship: Stool/

Family
SABON /Clan
ZONGO
AGBOGBLOSHIE
Pop: 9,214
No. of houses: 1,583
Tenureship: Stool/

Private
op: 46,699 GA MASHIE
o. of houses: 1716
enureship: Family/
lan/Stool/Private CHF’ Accra Learning Sites
(Slums)
 Life in the Slums

Housing Ownership Percentage of users of

Public Toilets who queue

Daily Income per

person
 Aspirations of
Urban Slum Dwellers

S/N AYIDIKI AVENOR NIMA KOJOKROM NEW TAKORADI

1ST Provide water, Public toilet Provision of water Water provision Toilet Infrastructure
2ND Provision of public toilet Drainage problem Provision of improved Construction of latrines Sea Erosion
latrines
3RD Creating employment Renovation of school Improved refuse Access to Micro Credit Nurses Quarters
opportunities/ employable management
skills,
4TH Provision of market Speed ramps and Provision of health center Low Income Water Supply

5TH Construction of roads and Traffic light Construction of drains Youth Unemployment Low income
drains
6TH Institution of proper refuse Market Construction of access Access Roads Poor Market
collection in the community roads

7TH Provision of street lights Hospital

and education
 Land Use in the Slums

Percentage

Source: Aryeetey-Attoh (1997) in Bradshaw et al (2004).

Land Use in the Slums (cont’d)
 Land Use in the Slums (cont’d)

Inverted plates of Avenor

 Spatial Anthropology

• Use of the streets for

interaction, cooking
and eating, selling
•
• House, a place to
sleep and a place to
produce
•
• Another way to
“consume” the
urban spaces
•
Spatial Anthropology (cont’d)
 Spatial Anthropology (cont’d)

• Three types of urban spaces for collective

interaction:
– Markets
– Ethnic areas and heritage sites if any
– Soccer fields


• Indoor event used more:

– Schools structure
– Religious building
Spatial Anthropology (cont’d)
 Nima

Youth organized into “Bases”;

The youth love football – nothing competes with it.
Music genre also varies.
 Ayidiki

Diffused foreign culture

Murals (paintings and graffiti) are common art forms on walls
and kiosks
Musical genre is varied, but hip-hop and rap appeals
 Ga Mashie

Boxing appeals especially in

Ga Mashie
Cultural Dances are also
popular and varied
 CHF Implementation
Strategy

• PARTICIPATION: For long term

sustainability, action is taken by
residents for themselves
• INCLUSION: Recognition and use of
existing socio-political structures
(chiefs, opinion leaders, CBOs)
• PARTNERSHIP: Direct implementation
is done by Local NGOs who are
integral part of the societies
•
• Avoid any “hygienist” intervention
 CHF Experiences

Use of drawings and painting by

children to identify some sanitation
practices in the communities

 CHF Experiences (cont’d)

Use of photography competition for

participatory monitoring
 CHF Experiences (cont’d)

Urban Faces
CHF Experiences (cont’d)

Organization of community
fun games to promote
Hygiene Behavior Change
messages through:
Procession in the
settlements
Drumming
Dancing
Theater
Soccer competition
Children drawings
CHF Experiences (cont’d)
CHF Experiences (cont’d)
 CHF Experiences (cont’d)

• Some Ga Mashie youth trained

in Bamboo craft after
completion have set up and
are currently producing crafts
for the local and foreign
market.
 Culture as a VECTOR of
Urban Integration

Enabling Urban Policy Environment

OUTPUTS
ation & participation Increased participation in community deci
Increased economic activity
empower for engagement of municipal authorities
Positive behavioral change
facilitate access to credit
Affordable urban services
change using appealing social interactions Better urban spaces use
romotion

Enabling Urban
Spaces
LET THE WALLS AND BARBED WIRE COME DOWN!!
INTEGRATE NOW!!!