Locational analysis of slums and the effects of slum dweller’s activities on the social, economic and ecological facets of the city: insights from Kumasi in Ghana

Abstract

Slum development has become a major urban planning and management problem due to the challenges they pose to the larger urban environment. Activities of slum dwellers are known to undermine the social, economic and environmental sustainability efforts of city authorities. This makes the slum environment feature highly in urban regeneration programmes as a way of improving the standards of living of slum dwellers. This study analyses the location of some selected slums in the Kumasi Metropolis and assesses the socio-economic and environmental effects of the activities of the slum dwellers. For the purpose of this study, 260 slum households from Aboabo and Ayigya Zongo, all slums in the Kumasi Metropolis, were randomly selected and interviewed. The results showed that the spatial location of slums within the Kumasi Metropolis is influenced by the availability of undesirable vacant lands. Migrants to the city and other poor households squat on these lands, which later develop into slums. The activities of the slum dwellers were associated with environmental problems such as river pollution and poor environmental sanitation. On the socio-economic front, poor state of health, lower educational outcomes and higher noise emission levels were identified. Based on the findings of the study, there is the need for city authorities to formulate green policies that will help transform these unattractive lands into green spaces to halt the development and expansion of slums. The researchers further recommend that, there is the need for city authorities to deepen environmental awareness campaigns in these slums to guarantee uptake of positive attitude towards the management and utilization of environmental resources in the Metropolis.