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Department of Spatial Planning
A wall with barbed wire in the city of Lima in Peru © Nick Nowara​/​TU Dortmund

New publication by Philipa Birago Akuoko

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in
  • Forschung
  • Fachgebiet
There is a market in the global south. There are people walking around with goods on their heads, balancing them © Philipa, guest scientist, TU Dortmund
The redevelopment of public spaces in cities south of the Sahara is often accompanied by the marginalization of informal actors, frequently at the expense of historically established customary rights. Using the example of Kumasi, Ghana, this qualitative analysis highlights a critical discrepancy by means of a new institutionalist approach. While formal planning policies ignore informal structures, in practice these structures function as essential vehicles for land use.

Article

Akuoko, P. B., & Agyekum, S. (2026). Commoning Public Spaces Towards Inclusive Urbanism in Ghana. International Journal of the Commons, 20(1), pp. 115–127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1526

Keywords

Redevelopment/ Informality/ Public spaces/Commoning/ Institutions/ Customary laws

Author

Philipa Birago Akuoko

Samuel Agyekum

Abstract

Public spaces in sub-Saharan African cities are undergoing redevelopment, which results in the displacement of informal workers. Despite statutory rule, customary laws still play a role in land use. “Commoning” in Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city, where informality is widespread, is examined using a new institutionalist approach. Through qualitative methods, an analysis of informal workers’ collective management of public spaces through prevailing customary rules and norms shows that informality is a significant aspect of these cities, maintained by local institutions that are often ignored by planning policies. The proposition is that commoning could offer a more inclusive approach to urban governance.