A comparative study of ethnic residential segregation in Ghana’s two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi

Abstract

The rate of urbanization is far more rapid in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other major region of the world. However, little is known about patterns of ethnic residential segregation in rapidly urbanizing African cities. This paper is crafted to make an important contribution through its focus on Ghana's two largest cities: Accra and Kumasi. Making use of the most recent population and housing census data of 2000 to generate a Location Quotient index, the analyses explore the cities' degree of ethnic diversity and concentration for comparative purposes. In relative terms, the study reveals that the level of residential ethnic segregation is fairly balanced in Accra compared to Kumasi. However, there are important differences between the findings of this Ghanaian case study and findings from research in the West, where the residential segregation is heavily determined by cultural/racial factors in addition to socio-economic factors. In the absence of institutional and ethnic discrimination, the most fundamental underlying cause of segregation in the Ghanaian case appears to be the socio-economic circumstance of ethnic groups present in the cities. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the study for urban and national development in Ghana as well as the future patterns of ethnic clustering likely to emerge in Accra and Kumasi.

Longitudinal causal impacts of preschool teacher training on Ghanaian children’s school readiness: Evidence for persistence and fade‐out

“…Providing parents with opportunities to observe and participate in play‐ and activity‐based learning in their children's classrooms is emerging as one promising approach to changing their perspectives (Krutikova et al, ). In addition, the Greater Accra Region is one of the great ethnic and linguistic diversities given the rapid internal migration occurring in the region (Owusu & Agyei‐Mensah, ). Further research is needed to examine whether and how ethnic backgrounds, coupled with urbanization, may have moderated the impacts of both treatment conditions on children and their caregivers.…”

“…The selected districts were rated as the most disadvantaged districts in the region according to the 2014 UNICEF District League Table (a social accountability index that ranks regions and districts based on development and delivery of key basic services, including education, health, sanitation, and governance; UNICEF, ) that were within a 2‐hr drive from Accra (for teachers to be able to attend the training in Accra). The Greater Accra Region is also the most developed part of Ghana, has the smallest proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged citizens of all the regions, and is rife with ethnic diversity (Owusu & Agyei‐Mensah, ). According to the 2012 Population and Housing Census, the Akans are the predominant ethnic groups in Ghana (47.5%), followed by the Mole–Dagbani (16.6%), the Ewe (13.9%), the Ga‐Dangme (7.4%), and other groups (14.6%).…”

Türkiye de Bölgelerarası Sektörel Verimliliğin Analizi - The Analysis of Interregional Sectoral Productivity in Turkey

“…According to this: -LQ < 1,25 => no regional specialization; -1,25 ≤ LQ < 2,00 => started regional specialization; -2,00 ≤ LQ <3,00 => high regional specialization; -LQ ≥ 3,00 => full regional specialization. Some examples from international literature are: Kortus, 1969;Cortes and Leftwick, 1975;Prohit, 1975;Winsberg, 1979;Boylan, 1980;Brantingham and Brantingham, 1998;Blinova, 1999;Toussaint-Comeau and Rhine, 2005;Brown and Chung, 2006;Széles et al, 2010;Owusu and Agyei-Mensah, 2011;Soelistijo et al, 2015. And some examples from the national literature are: Dinçer, 2007;Karakayacı and Dinçer, 2012;Yardımcı, 2014;Lazaretti et al, 2014;Yakar, 2015;Seçkin, 2015;Seçilmiş, 2015;Sungur, 2015;Değirmen et al, 2016;Sandal and Şen, 2016;Şahin and Türkoğlu, 2017. Correlation analysis was applied with Pearson, Spearman and Kendall approaches. Coefficients of correlation values were changed according to three boundary values.…”

Developing Accra for All? The story behind Africa's largest millennium city

“…Paralleling the spatial differentiation is uneven distribution of municipal services to the different class of residents. In 2000, whereas in Airport residential area^a high-class suburb^74.5 percent of waste generated was collected, only 8.6 percent of the waste generated in Nima^a low-income areaŵ as collected (Owusu and Agyei-Mensah, 2011). …”

“…It attracts many itinerant migrants. The population of Accra is hard to determine for this reason, among others, but the official estimate, as of 2000, was 1.7 million (Owusu and Agyei-Mensah, 2011). The World Bank (2010) estimates the 2009 population of Accra to be between 2.1 and 3.5 million.…”