Revisiting the political economy of housing in Ghana
Progress or stagnation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21750204 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ernest Teye Ayumu (0009-0001-5943-1716, Hochschule Bremen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1566-4910 • E-ISSN: 1573-7772 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10901-026-10324-3 |
| OpenAlex | W7166687837 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
This paper examines the housing crisis in Ghana from a political economy perspective, highlighting the role of colonial legacies and institutional failure, where housing shortages contribute to social inequality in Ghana. Using qualitative policy analysis, in a materialist framework, through a Foucauldian lens, the research examines important policies across the last 60 years, from 1963 to 2023, through documents and data collected from various agencies. The findings reveal that neoliberal strategies have shifted the role of the state from a provider of housing to a facilitator of the market in a way that marginalises the urban poor. Major barriers include fractured institutional arrangements, limited access to mortgage financing, high interest rates, and political interference in funding. Ultimately, the evidence reveals that the barriers created by neoliberal policies are structural around the nexus of housing, not a product of poor planning, and require a comprehensive transition to understanding housing as a human right, increased state financing, tenant protection, and an understanding of urban planning
Deindustrialization · Embeddedness · Facilitator · Human geography · Inequality · Politics · State socialism · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Urban Planning and Governance
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The Everyday Life of Global Finance
The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
Powers of Freedom
The housing and economic development debate revisited
Neo-liberalism
Housing as a Freedom Right
Housing policy in Ghana
A survey of housing conditions and characteristics in Accra, an African city
Neoliberalizing Space
Cities and the Geographies of “Actually Existing Neoliberalism”
You Either Pay More Advance Rent or You Move Out”
The Demise of the Rent-controlled Public Housing Programmes of Ghana
The Crises of Democratic Capitalism
Brief History of Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism as an object of political analysis
Occupancy Urbanism
Governing development
| Highly cited | No |
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