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Ethnic Residential Clusters in Nima, Ghana

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Abstract

The global debate on ethnic residential segregation has focused more on the developed world, and little is known about similar patterns and processes in African cities. This is in spite of the fact that many African cities are now ranked among the world’s most rapidly growing and least regulated urban areas. Indeed, the dynamics of ethnic residential segregation have scarcely been studied in African cities. The little literature available has looked at ethnic segregation between the neighbourhoods of major cities. This paper goes beyond current literature by examining the pattern and processes of ethnic clustering within a multi-ethnic community. Our goal in this paper is to answer the question as to whether within a multi-ethnic urban neighbourhood the major ethnic groups are residentially clustered, isolated or dispersed. The focus is on Nima, a major slum community of Accra, Ghana. The findings of the study show that even though Nima is a multi-ethnic community, some level of ethnic clustering can be discerned. These patterns are linked to the history of settlement formation, religious affiliation and ethnic or place of origin of earlier house owners.

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Notes

  1. Johnston et al. (2004) used “lock out/lock in” and “group choice” respectfully to refer similarly to place stratification and preference model. These terminologies could also be related to Pamuk’s (2004) use of ethnic enclave and ethnic community.

  2. The Greater Accra received about 84% of the total investment (including agriculture) that came into the country between 2001 and 2008 (ISSER 2008). It accounts for 44% of the total number of manufacturing employees and 69% of the total value output (ISSER 2007).

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible through the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, under its Think Tank Initiative (TTI). However, the views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, P.O.BOX 59, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Samuel Agyei-Mensah

  2. Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    George Owusu

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  1. Samuel Agyei-Mensah
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  2. George Owusu
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Correspondence to Samuel Agyei-Mensah.

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Agyei-Mensah, S., Owusu, G. Ethnic Residential Clusters in Nima, Ghana. Urban Forum 23, 133–149 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-011-9127-8

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