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作者

Kristijn van Riel, Ashraf M. Salama

来源

OPEN HOUSE INTERNATIONAL,Vol.44,Issue1

语言

英文

关键字

Accra, Youth, Exclusion, Belonging, Auto-photography.

作者单位

摘要

This paper examines young people’s ‘lived’ experience of urban spaces in Accra, the capital of Ghana, by focusingon the use of auto-photography as an appropriate method for this investigation. Accra has a very young populationand low rates of employment among the young people, demographics that are often associated with societal instabilityand increased risk of civil conflict. Research into African youth and the urban spaces they occupy is scarce and involvesreal challenges, but it is necessary and urgent due to various issues of exclusion and identity. This paper reports partof a larger phenomenological study on the spatial exclusion of youth in Accra’s urban spaces. The theoretical frameworkbuilds on Lefebvrian dialectics of space and focuses on how notions of belonging and exclusion are reflected inthe mode of ‘lived space’. The fieldwork was completed on a small sample of young people in two distinct neighborhoodsof Accra. In essence, the focus of the paper is on the urban spaces occupied by young people and on the utilityof the participatory research tool adopted, auto-photography. In this context, the tool is less intrusive than direct observationand therefore well equipped to allow an ‘insider’ view into personal experiences and perceptions of place thatare otherwise difficult to access and study. The paper concludes with a call for urban professionals and decision makersto produce inclusive urban environments that cater for all while allowing for differences and belonging to co-exist.