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Introduction to the Accra School: An Overview of Health, Poverty, and Place in Accra

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Spatial Inequalities

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 110))

Abstract

Most of the future growth of population in the world is expected to take place in cities of developing countries. This fact alone provides a rationale for this volume, but there are also broad policy and programmatic reasons for our interest in the demography, health and well-being of urban centers in low income countries. Cities in developing countries are the power-houses of national economic growth, not least because they contain some of the most skilled, best educated and economically productive people in their respective countries. Despite these advantages, there are major threats to the future success of such cities, including those related to governance, provision of water, sanitation and housing, as well as the emergence of stark inequalities in income, wealth, and health. These issues offer challenges to our knowledge and understanding of the processes of urbanization and economic growth, provoking comparisons with the late nineteenth and early twentieth century transitions in health, mortality, fertility and economic activity in the industrializing cities of northwest Europe and North America. Today’s high income countries are struggling with the administration and financing of their modern welfare states, while leaders in low income countries are casting around for equitable solutions that produce full employment and rising incomes without leaving large sections of the population impoverished and resentful of the success of their neighbors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, International Population Center, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-4493, USA

    John R. Weeks

  2. Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Center for Population & Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Allan G. Hill

  3. School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Room 4027, Murray Building, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Allan G. Hill

  4. Department of Geography and Regional Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, 1000 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-2221, USA

    Justin Stoler

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Correspondence to John R. Weeks .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Geography, San Diego State University, Storm Hall 308, San Diego, 92182-4493, California, USA

    John R. Weeks

  2. , Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Murray Building, Highfield 58, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom

    Allan G. Hill

  3. , Dept of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami, Memorial Drive 1000, Coral Gables, 33124-2221, Florida, USA

    Justin Stoler

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Weeks, J.R., Hill, A.G., Stoler, J. (2013). Introduction to the Accra School: An Overview of Health, Poverty, and Place in Accra. In: Weeks, J., Hill, A., Stoler, J. (eds) Spatial Inequalities. GeoJournal Library, vol 110. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6732-4_1

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