Community-managed reconstruction after the 2012 fire in Old Fadama, Ghana

Abstract

This paper describes how the residents of Accra's largest informal settlement, Old Fadama, responded to a disastrous fire on 21 May 2012. Although they received no official support for reconstruction, they organized to rebuild using permanent materials, which reduced fire risks and also demonstrated to city authorities their capacities.

Full-Scale Informal Settlement Dwelling Fire Experiments and Development of Numerical Models

“…The fire load densities vary substantially from settlement to settlement as a result of the building materials available in the immediate surroundings of a particular settlement and also as a result of variation in income levels. In this work it was decided to use the average fire load density of 780 MJ/m 2 as specified by [9] for formal dwellings. In order to mimic reality, cardboard insulation was added to the inside of the walls of the dwelling as one would typically find in these dwellings.…”

“…In January 2005, February 2008 and March 2009 more than 3600 homes were destroyed, leaving more than 13,000 people homeless in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town [8]. In May 2012 a fire ravaged an informal settlement in Accra, Ghana, leaving approximately 3500 people homeless [9]. In April 2014, in Valparaı´so, approximately 2500 homes were destroyed by a fire, leaving 12,500 people homeless [10].…”

Building permanence: fire outbreaks and emergent tenure security in urban Ghana

“…He chose this number based on his ‘knowledge of the community’, but it seemed unrealistically large. PD later estimated the number of victims to be 3,500 people (Owusu 2013). The leader prided himself as an expert on the community where he works, but even though he claimed to live there when he spoke on behalf of the community members in front of NGOs and to the media, he sleeps elsewhere.…”

“…This is what Lowe and Feldman call an entrepreneurial region, or a ‘geographic space for bringing together individuals with different institutional interpretations – a space that builds power by encouraging the intersection of multiple institutional lives and thus contributes material for creative activities and action’ (2017: 7). PD was quick to take credit for the reconstruction, going so far as to say that it had supervised and urged residents to rebuild with durable and concrete materials (Owusu 2013: 246). PD partnered with students from University College London (UCL) to raise funds and promote its image of supporting the community (Allen 2012), and it linked with international funders to attract resources and promote its international standing in the human rights community.…”

In a state of slum: governance in an informal urban settlement in Ghana

“…There is a great risk of fire in Old Fadama and every year there are several outbreaks that destroy dozens of households. The configuration of high population density, lack of access roads, the predominance of wooden shacks built back-to-back, the use of open kerosene stoves or charcoal fires for cooking, the blocking of narrow alleys, decrepit electrical wiring with overloaded meters exposed to weather and a lack of hydrants creates a high risk of any fire causing extensive damage (Owusu 2013). To reduce risk, OFADA strongly advises the use of concrete for flooring and cement blocks instead of wood for walls.…”