Housing the Urban Poor in Sub-Saharan Africa: Comparative Analysis of “Compound” and “Swahili” Housing in Ghana and Tanzania

Abstract

Nowhere in the Global South is the housing crisis in cities intense than in Sub-Saharan Africa where decades of rapid urbanization in the context of sluggish economic growth, fragmented housing policies, weak urban planning and investments in housing have created urban poor population and growing incidence of slums and informality in the housing sector. The inability of the existing housing delivery system to meet effective demand has resulted in a situation where many urbanites in the global south are forced to live in housing conditions characterized by overcrowding and low-quality basic infrastructure and services. However, in many countries either through the formal or informal sectors, certain housing designs and units have evolved to meet the needs of poor and low-income groups. In Ghana and Tanzania, the “compound” and “swahili” housing units have over the decades served as the main source of abode for many people particularly the urban poor. However, under the growing influence of social change, changing housing designs and tastes, and foreign-influence, etc these housing units with common characteristics of hosting low-income households with shared facilities such as toilets, bathrooms and kitchens are on the decline. In this paper, we provide comparative analysis of the drivers of the decline of compound and Swahili housing in urban Ghana and Tanzania based on the most recent population and housing censuses and examine its implications for urban low-income households. Furthermore, we assess the policy implications for both Ghana and Tanzanian in meeting their national and Sustainable Development Goal targets on housing.