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.
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Notes
The 2010 Population and Housing Census was conducted in late September–October 2010, with preliminary results expected in the first half of 2011.
The Akan comprises about 20 sub-ethnic groups of which the Asante and Fanti with 15 and 10% of Ghana’s total population, respectively are demographically the largest sub-ethnic group. However, due to their similar cultural, social and political institutions and customs, the Akans are officially classified as one ethnic group (Langer 2007; Agyei-Mensah and Owusu 2010).
A Ghanaian by birth refers to a person, born in or outside Ghana, one of whose parents is a Ghanaian citizen, or children of not more than 7 years of age found in Ghana whose parents are not known (GSS 2002, p. viii).
These minority ethnic groups and others are captured in this study as Other Ethnicities.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the four anonymous reviewers of the journal for their useful comments and suggestions, and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) for the census data. We are also grateful to Lori Hunter for some useful comments. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada under the Think Tank Initiative. However, the views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.
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Owusu, G., Agyei-Mensah, S. A comparative study of ethnic residential segregation in Ghana’s two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi. Popul Environ 32, 332–352 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-010-0131-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-010-0131-z