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作者

Jacob Nchagmado Tagnan;Owusu Amponsah;Stephen Appiah Takyi;Gideon Abagna Azunre;Imoro Braimah

来源

HABITAT INTERNATIONAL,Vol.123,P.102555

语言

英文

关键字

作者单位

Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana;Environmental Change and Governance Group (ECGG), School of Planning, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada;Department of Geography, Planning, Environment, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana;Environmental Change and Governance Group (ECGG), School of Planning, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada;Department of Geography, Planning, Environment, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;School of Management, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China;Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK;Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong;Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, United Kingdom;School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, 2 Southeast University Road, Jiangning District, Nanjing, 211189, China;National School of Development and Policy, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China;Business School, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia;Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong;The State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) and Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518057, China;Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, South Africa;Center for Real Estate Studying, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China;Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China;Ningbo Urban Construction Investment Holding Company Limited, China;The Hongkong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

摘要

The authorities of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are struggling to contain urban sprawl. The region's rapid population growth is expected to exacerbate the situation. Diagnoses of the problem identify rapid population growth, improved transportation network and surface condition, improved utility service distribution and high household incomes as the combination of factors that drive urban sprawl although the drivers are not the same across all regions and within countries. Scholars observe that the nuclearisation of the family system in Ghana creates a need for more houses and living spaces. Given this context, the proposition of current study is that the nuclearisation of the family system in urban Ghana is a major driver of urban sprawl. Accordingly, a comparative case study research design was adopted to assess the effects of family nuclearisation on sprawl. Data were obtained by interviewing 236 household heads from three carefully selected settlements in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city. Housing density data were also obtained from satellite images. The data analysis revealed that the dominant compound housing vernacular of the 19th - 20th Centuries in Ghana was informed by the need to accommodate extended family members. However, in the 21st Century, the nuclear family system has usurped the influence of the extended family system on housing supply. Desirous of privacy, pristine environmental conditions and low-cost land, the nuclear family members acquire land at the peripheries of the cities for the construction of low-density housing. Their affinity for low-density housing units expands the boundaries of the cities, which the satellite images confirmed. The overall implication is that the nuclearisation of families in Kumasi is an important driver for urban sprawl. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing these intractable urban planning issues.