A Dynamic Analysis of Winners and Losers in Africa's Urban Housing Markets

Abstract

The significance of housing to well-being is widely recognised. However, opportunities to access housing in Africa are uneven, and are tied to the ability to secure land (often informal), access building materials, negotiate essential services and hold onto the asset. The associated benefits of land ownership, even informal land ownership, have been considerable. Cognizant of continuing urban population growth and economic growth, this paper asks how opportunities to access housing are changing in two large and two smaller towns in Africa, and specifically if the gains that past generations secured are available to younger generations. In answering this question the paper draws on interviews related to housing and housing economies, across genders and age groups from Ghana (Accra and Techiman) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Ifakara). Research findings highlight continuing opportunities but also the difficulties in realising such opportunities. Some tenants are unable to make the transition to ownership. Despite larger cities being generally associated with enhanced economic opportunities, it appears to be increasingly difficult to acquire land in larger cities when compared to smaller towns. Commodification is increasing in each of the four urban centres. Alongside increased commodification is a growing awareness of the accumulation potential associated with land. More optimistically for those concerned with urban inequality, women in all research locations are challenging relations of disadvantage with increasing success in acquiring properties with legal title.