Informal settlement and urban development discourse in the Global South: Evidence from Ghana
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography
Abstract
The growth of informal settlements across the Global South has generated concomitant empirical
research, and research attention has focused on a different aspect of informal settlements.
However, despite the plethora of literature in the growing field of informal settlements research,
there is a paucity of research concerning the contribution of informal settlement dwellers to the
economic development of the urban economy and the perception of informal settlement
dwellers and their challenges, particularly in the context of many countries in Africa. The article
contributes to filling this gap by examining the contribution of informal dwellers to urban economic
development and the challenges they encounter in the process. Based on a case study involving
In in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in Accra, Ghana, the authors found that despite
the challenges confronting informal dwellers and their characteristics, they contributed to urban
development through revenue generation, labour provision, and the creation of employment.
Furthermore, the findings uncovered context-specific contributions of informal settlements to
urban development that helped both policy actors and practitioners. The authors conclude that
the findings imply that urban managers should focus on the settlers and recognize the
contributions of informal settlements to urban development.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
informal settlements, urban development, Ghana