EcoHouse Research

Dr Nicky Morrison

Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge

 

Key to the structure and running of an informal urban is its location both geographically and in the perception of the government. In the case of ‘Old Fadama’, it is in the eye of both, but consistently resists the processes of formalisation and upgrading, that ought to drive it. Dr Morrison leads us through the development journey of this slum and difficulties of research finding its proper outlet to help improve the lives of the affected people.

 

The Old Fadama Slum experienced a massive densification during the civil unrest in 1994 that led to an exodus from the North of Ghana to Accra. Families were attracted to Old Fadama due to its central location, access to jobs, and low-cost housing. The place became an informal settlement that people do not want to leave. This slum has officially 80,000 people living on 147 hectares (1 person per 18m2 compared to over 150m2 per person for Tokyo), in an environmentally degraded area, and with a long history of evictions. The slum has not received formal recognition from the government and runs counter to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA), which aims to ‘clean up’ the city, and consequently, to evict all members in the community.

 

Dr Morrison started her study in 2012 with Amnesty international public awareness campaign and continued in 2013 with follow up interviews, the ‘Slum Radio Project’, and links between academia and grassroots organisations working in slums. The questions that led the research were: What happens without the local government’s formal recognition of a slum? Why does status quo persist? The analytical framework was divided between the New institutionalism (Koelble 1995) and the role of informal rules and conventions (Lowdes 2009), analysing the rules of the game, key players and how their interests are being served by current arrangements. 

 

Crucial to the process of formalisation is to be recognised by the authority and to have the security that their houses will not be demolished. The recognition of the entire slum is the initial step to go from informal (no security, lawless, unregulated) to formal (tenure security, rules and regulation). Nevertheless, this task is difficult for Old Fadama’s residents. On the one hand, AMA does not formally recognise the district to avoid the provision of basic services. On the other hand, informality allows a system of unregulated entrepreneurial businesses to emerge in absence of governmental provisions. Further, the young slum dwellers do not have the intention of leaving the slum. They have locational benefits, rely on informal networks to access housing, and although they live in simple shacks, they can sub-divide and sub-let. Residents invest in their homes, to overcome fire, flood damage, and appear robust and thus reduce the likelihood of being evicted.

 

Despite to resistance to change, community development organisations are determined to initiate the process of formalisation as the living conditions continue to worsen. Nonetheless, as Dr Morrison points out, the first step to formality is to recognise the entire slum (Gulyani 2007), which in absence of political will is impossible. Moreover, different groups take advantage of the informality cycle, and therefore the status quo persist.