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Urban Land Policies in Ghana: A Case of the Emperor’s New Clothes?

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  • Franklin Obeng-Odoom

Abstract

The paper examines evidence on the reasons for inefficient land management in Ghana. It argues that the perceived custodians of land have consistently acted in their individual interest while successfully using a discourse of ‘communal’ to secure the backing of the colonial and post colonial state. Overall, the state has substantially promoted the interest of private capital. In turn, the ‘public good’ outcomes the current land policies ostensibly seek to achieve have only been modestly achieved. Instead, land policies have had perverse implications for weaker groups such as women and impacted cities negatively. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2014. "Urban Land Policies in Ghana: A Case of the Emperor’s New Clothes?," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 119-143, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:blkpoe:v:41:y:2014:i:2:p:119-143
    DOI: 10.1007/s12114-013-9175-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harvey, David, 2005. "The New Imperialism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278084.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richmond J. Ehwi & Lewis A. Asante, 2016. "Ex-Post Analysis of Land Title Registration in Ghana Since 2008 Merger," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, April.
    2. Ehwi, Richmond Juvenile & Mawuli, Divine Asafo, 2021. "‘Landguardism’ in Ghana: Examining public perceptions about the driving factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    3. Festus A. Asaaga, 2021. "Building on “Traditional” Land Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Rural Ghana: Adaptive or Anachronistic?," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Andrews, Nathan, 2018. "Land versus livelihoods: Community perspectives on dispossession and marginalization in Ghana's mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 240-249.
    5. Frimpong Boamah, Emmanuel & Sumberg, James & Raja, Samina, 2020. "Farming within a dual legal land system: An argument for emancipatory food systems planning in Accra, Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    6. Ahmed, Abubakari & Kuusaana, Elias Danyi & Gasparatos, Alexandros, 2018. "The role of chiefs in large-scale land acquisitions for jatropha production in Ghana: insights from agrarian political economy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 570-582.
    7. Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah & Clifford Amoako, 2020. "Planning by (mis)rule of laws: The idiom and dilemma of planning within Ghana’s dual legal land systems," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(1), pages 97-115, February.
    8. Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2015. "Understanding Land Grabs in Africa: Insights from Marxist and Georgist Political Economics," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 337-354, December.
    9. Mintah, Kwabena & Boateng, Festival Godwin & Baako, Kingsley Tetteh & Gaisie, Eric & Otchere, Gideon Kwame, 2021. "Blockchain on stool land acquisition: Lessons from Ghana for strengthening land tenure security other than titling," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Mintah, Frank & Amoako, Clifford & Adarkwa, Kwasi Kwafo, 2021. "The fate of urban wetlands in Kumasi: An analysis of customary governance and spatio-temporal changes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

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