ARTICLE IN PRESS

Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419

Urban redevelopment, cultural heritage, poverty and

redistribution: the case of Old Accra and Adawso House$
Giovanni Razzu*
Central Economic Advise Division, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Eland House,
3/B2 Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU,UK
Received 28 March 2003; received in revised form 9 August 2003; accepted 5 December 2003

Abstract

There is a complex relationship between cultural heritage and poverty. This relationship is particularly
evident in the depletion of historical centers. In addition, when considered along with the impact of the
intertwined forces of urbanization and modernization, it may result in the dangerous threatening of the
cultural tracts, social structure and urban patterns of the poor living in historical centers. All this seems to
have happened in old Accra, the historical center of the capital city of Ghana.
The paper tries to analyze this complex relationship as it is manifested in Ga Mashie and its impacts on
the poor indigenous population. It also suggests some policy recommendations, in particular, the fact that
urban redevelopment projects of dilapidated historical districts have to genuinely consider the delicate and
peculiar environment in which they are based. The financial elements of the intervention, for instance,
might have to be differentiated from the typical ones used in peripheral slum upgrading projects, opening
new rooms for a substantial redistribution of wealth.
r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Historical centers; Urban redevelopment; Cultural heritage; Poverty; Ghana

1. Introduction

City centers are places where historical buildings of various uses and natures are located:
private houses, palaces, monuments, storehouses, headquarters of former important companies
and administrative offices such as post offices and customs. ‘‘City centers are rich in cultural

$
The views expressed in this paper are strictly those of the author, and do not reflect the views of the UK
Government or the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-20-944-3273; fax: +44-20-7944-3309.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Razzu).

0197-3975/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2003.12.002
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400 G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419

magnets, remarkable buildings, attractive streets and public spaces that can be economic as well as
social assets’’, writes Power (2001), referring to Britain’s cities, but this is also valid for developing
countries’ city centers.
In developing countries, city centers are also places where the poor live, simply because their
livelihood there is more sustainable. The proximity to market places and access to a vast range of
informal activities are essential components of their survival strategies, especially of unskilled
women and children. Moreover, many indigenous communities have historically settled and lived
in what are now city centers. Old Accra represents just one case in point.
Historical districts in poor countries are generally experiencing rapid physical depletion, not
least because of a high concentration of poverty within their boundaries. Poor communities find it
very difficult to allocate meager resources to the maintenance of buildings or other public spaces
and utilities, which are considered to be luxury. The lack of resources adds to the city’s
development policies taken without consideration of poor residents’ wills and needs. Decisions
taken on the development of cities are vital for the survival of their historical centers. This is even
more relevant for African cities, rapidly urbanizing places inhabited by indigenous communities.
The broader impact of urbanization and globalization—(‘‘you do not find many dotcom people
in rural areas!’’)—on the cultural elements of these places and the indigenous communities, have
also significant reflections on many aspects of their life.
The case of Old Accra, Ghana, and Adawso House in particular, are used in this paper to
express the linkages between cultural elements and urban redevelopment and to show how well-
defined participatory approaches can offer viable solutions for preserving the cultural tracts of the
community, redeveloping the area and institutionalizing redistributive policies, trying to reverse
the failures of previous decisions.
This paper is only marginal to the vast literature on urban poverty in developing countries.
Instead, it tries to contribute to the more recent literature on the redevelopment of historical
districts in developing countries, which is mostly based on Latin America, Asia and Middle East
and, to a much lesser extent, Africa (Serageldin, Shluger, & Martin-Brown, 2000). The
redevelopment of historical districts entails the analysis of the links between culture and
development, a link that has only recently secured more attention, in particular after the World
Commission on Culture and Development published the report Our Creative Diversity
(UNESCO, 1996).
It is interesting to note that studies on redevelopment of historical districts are relevant to the
link between culture and development not only because of the tangible aspect of culture (such as
monuments and historical buildings) but also, and especially in African cities, because of its
intangible cultural assets, so vivid within the indigenous communities that populate these districts.
This is certainly the case in old Accra and the paper also touches this element, trying to show how
intangible culture can represent a valuable economic resource to be properly used in the
redevelopment of historical districts. Indeed, as Rojas (2000) notes, old cities are new
assets.
The paper, however, does not analyze the much-debated issue of partnership and
funding sources for the regeneration of historical districts (International Social Science Journal
(2002); the UNCHS campaign on urban governance, Cities Alliance’s projects; Rojas, 2002)
except for a few comments on the possibilities of cost recovery for the preservation of Adawso
House.
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The paper starts by presenting background information on Old Accra, briefly describing its
historical development and current poverty situation. A case study on Adawso House will be the
content of the second part. Policy considerations will conclude the paper.
This paper is the outcome of extensive fieldwork and research, carried out when the author was
Project Officer for the Old Accra Integrated Urban Development and Conservation Framework
as a United Nations Volunteer based at the UNESCO Cluster Office in Accra, from November
2001 to November 2002.
The selection of general information on Accra and Old Accra has followed the normal
approach of digging extensively into library sources and other written material by international,
governmental and non-governmental organizations. It has also been enriched by continuous
formal and informal discussions with the local community (chiefs and other community leaders,
assembly men, community based organizations and NGOs), civil servants in the government and
the municipality, and parliamentarians and ministers. The methodology on the specific case of
Adawso House will be described in detail at the beginning of that section.

2. The poverty situation in Old Accra

Old Accra consists of Ussher Town and James Town,1 an area of almost 100 ha on the south-
west coast of Accra. The center of Old Accra is known as Ga Mashie. It is the land of the Ga
people.
It is still disputed whether the Ga people settled the area migrating from other regions in the
late 15th or early 16th century, according to the migration theory, or they had been present in the
area from at least the middle Iron Age, according to the archaeological theory (Quarcoopome,
1993, Chapter 1; Quaye, 1972, p. 12). Probably, Ga Mashie became the center of Ga people only
after 1680, when a war against the Akwamu forced them to find refuge under Dutch protection,
around the present-day Ussher Town (Field, 1940).
Since the Europeans were allowed to build trading lodges on the coast in the 17th century,
Accra had been carved up into three different towns: British Accra or James Town, around James
Fort, Dutch Accra or Ussher Town or Kinka, around Fort Crevecoeur, later Ussher Fort, and
Danish Accra or Christiansborg, around Christiansborg Castle (Amoah, 1974; Parker, 2000).
Once the British colonial power moved the capital city from Cape Coast to Accra in 1877, the
city started to grow and spread not only to the west and east of Old Accra but also northward.
This was accompanied by the growth of the population, which rose from 19,999 people in 1891 to
38,048 in 1931 and 135,929 in 1948 (census reports).
Administratively, the British Colony tried to avoid the decline of the traditional system, by
introducing and enacting ordinances through which a double system of administration aimed at
the preservation of the role of traditional chiefs while tackling the problem posed by population
growth as well as the need for planning.2
1
This composition is used in this paper for geographical purposes as, for many Ga people, defining Old Accra as
composed of these two towns is not appropriate. They argue that James Town, or British Accra, had been established
only later by the British when they built James Fort in the 17th century.
2
In a dispatch dated 7 May, 1858, the Governor wrote: ‘‘To induce the chiefs to cede the remnant of their authority
and for the Government to assume the direct control of the town is out of question’’ (Acquah, 1958, p. 22).
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402 G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419

Box 1
The structure of local government in Ghana and in Old Accra
The Regional Coordinating Councils represent the highest level of Local Government in Ghana, monitoring, coordi-
nating and evaluating the performance of the District Assemblies in the regions. They also monitor the use of all the
money allocated to the District Assemblies by any Agency of the Central Government and review and co-ordinate public
service in the region.
The Metropolitan Assemblies represent the second level, covering a population of more than 250,000 people and in-
corporating Sub-Metropolitan District Councils. They deal with administrative, legislative, executive, planning and
rating authority. Their Chief Executive is not elected but appointed by the Government and then confirmed by the
Assembly.
The Sub-Metropolitan District Councils represent the third level, dealing with administrative and revenue collection matters.
They are divided into electoral areas, from which an Assemblyperson is elected to sit in the Sub-Metro Council together with
appointees from the Government.
The Unit Committees are at the lowest level, covering a population of 500–2000 people and dealing with enforcement
and mobilization matters.
(Republic of Ghana, 2002a,b)
This division takes the following shape in old Accra, from the lowest to the highest level.

Several Unit Committees

2 electoral areas: Kinka & Ngleshie

Assemblypersons

Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro District

Accra Metropolitan Assembly

Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council

Today, Old Accra is part of one of the six sub-metropolitan districts of which the Accra
Metropolitan Assembly is composed, namely the Ashiedu-Keteke sub-metropolitan district. Old
Accra, in fact, is composed of one entire electoral area (Ngleshie), corresponding to James Town,
and the southern part of another electoral area (Kinka), corresponding to Ussher Town
(see Box 1, Republic of Ghana, 2002a,b).
However, this modern distinction has to be considered with the traditional division of Ga
Mashie into quarters (Akutsei), each ruled by one chief, and all controlled by the paramount chief,
the Ga Mantse, or king of the Ga State. There are seven quarters in Ga Mashie: Abola, Asere,
Gbese, Otublohum, Sempe, Ngleshie Alata and Akumanje (see Box 2).3
3
Field (1940) argues that originally no Ga Mantse existed and that every quarter had its own independent Mantse.
The Ga Mantse emerged only for military purposes.
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Box 2
Tradition in Ga Mashie
Ga Mashie is a union of seven quarters or political divisions, three of which are part of James Town (British Accra),
namely Alata, Sempe and Akanmaje, and four are part of Ussher Town or Kinka (Dutch Accra): Asere, Gbese, Abola,
Otublohum. These quarters are, in traditional terms, politically autonomous with dependent settlements, forming a
confederation and recognizing the Ga Mantse as the paramount chief. Despite different interpretations about their
origins, Field’s (1940) thesis is followed here, according to which, after the war with Akwamu, the Ga people left the
Okakwi hills to join their ‘‘seaside brethren’’.
Every quarter is composed of ‘‘sub-quarters’’, with a sub chief. The basic unit of the whole political structure is the
‘‘we’’, the family house.
Ga Mashie State

Ga Mantse

Asere - Abola - Gbese - Akumadze - Otublohum - Ngleshie - Alata - Sempe

Sub-Quarters

We Effective lineage.
Weku We Non- residential unit,
(family house) dispersed in various
households.

This composite analysis is necessary in understanding the poverty situation of the area. In fact,
even if the provision of services and the collection of taxes are under the authority of the Accra
Metropolitan Assembly and its sub-districts, many other welfare functions are still performed by
traditional bonds. The role of cultural ties is very important in the social and community life.4 In
addition, there is evidence that this form of social capital has deeply influenced and continues to
influence—in a different way—the current issues of administration, such as waste disposal and tax
payment.5
Before analyzing in more detail the poverty situation of Ga Mashie, consider the historical
development of the area.
The transfer of the capital from Cape Coast to Accra in 1877, as already noted above, has had
an important impact on the city. It increased the town’s historical role, as well as the Ga office-
holders’ importance in acting as broker between Europeans and Africans. This added to the

4
One of the main economic activities of the population, fishing, is still moving around strong cultural elements: for
traditional beliefs, fishermen do not go fishing on Tuesday. In addition, funerals, outdoor trips and other ceremonies
represent important safety nets for the poor of Old Accra as well as an important social capital.
5
During a meeting concerning the redevelopment of Old Accra, one chief explained the need to pass through them
any way, because they ‘‘can whisper where others cannot’’.
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effects determined by the transition from slave trade to legitimate commerce, which had opened
up new opportunities for the accumulation of wealth (Parker, 2000). The British started also to
plan its physical growth and tackle health and sanitation problems (Quarcoopome, 1993). The
bubonic plague, which spread in 1908 with devastating consequences, forced the colonial power
indiscriminately to demolish many houses, with further negative effects on the population. The
earthquake in 1939 was another destructive event from which Ga Mashie suffered immensely. In
fact, most of the rich and high-class society then living in the area decided to move out to the new
developing residential areas in the north of the city, generating a detrimental outflow of wealth
from the community. Moreover, in 1962, the new independent government decided to move the
harbor activities to Tema, 40 km to the east of Accra. As a result, Old Accra lost a strategic source
of economic activity. Since then, the collapse of the local economy has been irreversible and its
effects on the whole community’s conditions disastrous.
Turn now to the poverty situation of Old Accra.6
There are divergent opinions on the demographic situation of Old Accra. The population of the
Ashiedu-Keteke district was estimated in 2001 to be 120,000 (CENCOSAD, 2000). Two-thirds of
this number, 80,000 people, live in Old Accra. However, other calculations, based on the
population’s growth rates from 1992, and having as a starting point the 1997 estimation of 84,000
people (GSS, 1997), have determined that the population in the area should be around 98,000.
The population density is around 1000 people per hectare.7
Despite the lack of stronger evidence, the age pyramid seems to suggest that natural growth
constitutes a major source of population growth in Old Accra, considering the predominance of
young people and the fact that a striking 80% of girls are pregnant before the age of 22 (SIF,
1999): 18% of the population are between 0–6 years old (11% female and 7% male); 26% between
7–15 years old (15% female and 11% male); 43% between 16–44 years old (27% female and 16%
male); 10% between 45–70 years old (6% female and 4% male) and, finally 3% more than 70
years old (2% female and 1% male) (CENCOSAD, 2000) (Fig. 1).
These data show two main characteristics of the area: (a) almost half of the population (44%) is
no more than 15 years old; and (b) women outnumber men, which helps in understanding their
vital role: a very great part of the survival needs of the household is provided by women, although
their political influence is limited (Fig. 2).
One of the main occupations of the active population in the area is related to fishing: men go
fishing and women smoke the fish for the market. Petty-trading is the other main economic
activity, engaging mainly women and young girls. Despite the proximity to one of the main
central markets of Accra, the community remains very closed economically, with almost no
income being introduced from other neighborhoods and areas. In addition the demolition of the
slaughterhouse has contributed to this situation. In fact, the meat market was of significant
importance to residents of other communities from adjacent neighborhoods.

6
Various poverty assessments and poverty-related studies have been conducted in the last few years, by different
institutions and organizations: SIF (1999); DfID and EMC (2000); AMA (1999); Maxwell D et al. (1996); NMIMR
et al. (1996); AMA (2000); UNICEF (1998), CENCOSAD (1998).
7
Up-to-date data on the population of Old Accra is yet to be released by the Census Office at the time of writing.
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45
40
35 16
Percentage 30
25
11
20
15 7 27
10 15 4
11
5 6 1
2
0
<6 7 to 15 16 to 44 45 to 70 70 plus
Age

female male
Fig. 1. Age distribution: James Town and Ussher Town.

Information on education also tells of a dire situation: in 2000, about 12,000 children were
attending primary and junior secondary schools, out of a juvenile population of almost 50,000
children.8
In terms of health, a survey has indicated that 71.4% of people died between the age of 1 month
and 5 years (CENCOSAD, 1994).9
The housing conditions are poor and deteriorating. Once a beautiful area, with well-designed
two-story buildings, Old Accra is now extremely overcrowded (7–9 people are living in the same
room, three generations without any privacy). There is no place for cooking, an activity which is
done on the street, and for bathing and toileting, which take place either in the few ‘‘public’’
toilets (for which 200 Cedis have to be paid) or more often in open spaces (gutters and the beach
front in particular).10 Konadu-Agyemang (2001) concludes that, even if housing conditions may
have improved since the 1950s—which many older residents of Old Accra find hard to accept—it
appears that dwellings are much more congested now than at that time.
These aspects would seem to classify Old Accra as a slum.
Paradoxically, recent research on urban issues in Ghana has focussed mainly on Kumasi, the
capital of the Ashanti region. Despite the similarities between the two contexts, some important
differences exist, which are dependent not just on diversity of cultures and tribes. Kumasi is not
located on the coast, and this markedly differentiates it from Accra and other coastal villages and
towns, especially in the form of relationship between the indigenous and the colonial powers
coming from the sea. On the coast of Ghana there are almost 40 forts and castles, all built by

8
These data were collected by the Accra Metro Directorate of Education, in 2001. Not all the schools involved are
physically located in Old Accra, so that the population they attract is larger than Old Accra’s population. This fact
highlights how the enrolment rate for the juvenile population of Ga Mashie is even lower.
9
CENCOSAD was commissioned by UNICEF to carry out the survey in 1994. The sample was very limited (less
than 1000 people) but representative of all the area.
10
A family of 6 people, using the toilet at least twice per day, should spend 2400 Cedis per day. With a monthly
salary, if working in the Government sector, of 300,000 Cedis, this family should allocate 24% of the salary to satisfy
this basic need. A woman or girl selling ice water in small plastic bags can get 2000 Cedis per day. Using the toilet three
times means allocating 25% of her daily money for it.
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Fig. 2. Teenager mothers at Ussher Clinic.

different European nations. It is easy to imagine the impact of such a powerful presence on the life
of the indigenous population. It seems more appropriate, in this sense, to see Accra in this latter
context, where the contact with European powers was based not only on pure commercial aims
but on several other elements as well, not least the fact that Europeans were living and housed in
the coastal cities. In this respect, Cape Coast represents a more appropriate term of comparison
than the more studied Kumasi.
As mentioned above, Cape Coast was the capital of the Gold Coast until 1877, when this was
moved to Accra. It thus experienced an important colonial presence which strongly marked its
urban shape. The town under Governor Mclean enjoyed its period of great prosperity, a period in
which ‘‘the European and mulatto merchants competed with each other in building substantial
brick and stone houses’’ (Hyland, 1995). With the transfer of the colonial capital to Accra, the
economy of the town never recovered and, despite a cocoa boom at the beginning of 1900, the
opening of the Sekondi-Takoradi harbor diverted most of the cocoa trade from Cape Coast. All
this sounds quite similar to what happened to Accra. The situation is now such that older
traditional buildings survive mainly in two quarters of the town, Ntsin and Idan, while most of
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them close to the Castle have been demolished. These buildings, despite their poor structure and
unsanitary conditions, have some positive qualities, such as their location, which contributes
immensely to the livelihoods of the fishing population. According to Hyland (1995, p 173), ‘‘the
internal layout of the houses is suited to the lifestyle of the inhabitants while the external layout of
the houses is well related to the topography of the area’’. The need for preserving this architectural
heritage has been recognized and, in fact, Cape Coast has received the attention of international
bilateral donors, especially the US Agency for International Development, which have started a
redevelopment project for the town’s historical center. Unfortunately, precise data on the current
situation of Cape Coast does not exist, but all this seems to indicate that this town went through
similar experiences to those of Accra.
In returning to Old Accra, it is apparent that the district experiences what has been defined as
‘‘paradoxical poverty’’, typical of low-income areas that are poor in ‘‘material terms’’ but rich in
other critical resources.
An important characteristic of Old Accra is, indeed, the fact that it is an historical center. Being
the center of the city, it has some extraordinary assets, represented by a tangible and intangible
cultural heritage. Ga Mashie is the heartland of the Ga people and, therefore, the place where
their history, as well as an important part of the history of the country, are still evident. Two forts,
listed as World Heritage Monuments, are located on High Street, which is the coastal road cutting
across Ussher Town and James Town. Other historical buildings are located around Ga Mashie,
some representing the link to the traditional Ga life (the chiefs’ palaces, the shrines and priests’
houses) and others more related to the colonial presence (the customs, the forts, other private
houses). Many other buildings and places are now in ruins, although they have a remarkable
significance for the Ga people: for example, the ‘‘execution ground’’ (Modza We), closed down in
1910 by the British because of its morbid reputation and corruption (Field, 1940), was the only
judicial court where all the seven quarters of old Accra were represented, presided over by the Ga
Mantse, and with the right to impose capital punishment.
There is also another peculiarity in Ga Mashie, which brings together tangible and intangible
cultural assets and provides another angle for the analysis of the area and the community. In old
Accra, there is still evidence of the traditional urban Ga pattern, partly described in Box 2 above
and visible from Fig. 3.
The basic unit is the We, the House, the lineage, which can be dispersed in different dwellings,
Shia. Traditionally, Ga men used to live in one compound (hiamli) and their wives and children in
another (Kilson, 1974). Usually, in the past, these two establishments were joined.11 The We gives
also the name to the family and the new-born children, as regardless of whether they are male or
female, receive automatically a well-defined name, in a generational-rotating system.12

11
Acquah (1958) reports how the Town Planning Department found that, in a study carried out in 1953, ‘‘this pattern
was still prevalent, especially among the fisherfolk’’. During visits to Ga Mashie, the author has seen entire compounds
lived in only by women and children.
12
There are four sets of names in each We (two for male and two for female descendants), which are automatically
given to the new child in a such a way that, if male, he is given his grandfather’s set of names. This means that, if you
meet a Ga person in Chicago, for instance, it is automatic, given their name, to understand from which house and
quarter he/she comes from in Ga Mashie. If the name is, for instance, John Saka, you know he comes from the Sempe
quarter, Saka being a name of that quarter of Ga Mashie.
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Fig. 3. The Ngleshie Alata quarter in 1924. The figure shows also Adawso House (marked in red) and many forms of
compound family houses, at intact, incipient, advanced and terminal fission (Amole et al., 1993, p. 360). At the extreme
left, big warehouses had been developed.

European colonization and later the urbanization process, as well as the adoption of inheritance
legislation designed to favor the nuclear family (Amole, Korboe, & Tipple, 1993), have obviously
engulfed this pattern as well as the social structure. Nevertheless, sensitive planning for the
redevelopment of the area can preserve this cultural heritage which, being the result of a
combination of tangible and intangible, represents the intrinsic cultural elements to be considered
in any urban redevelopment project cum historic and cultural components.
The traditional system, mixed with the later colonial buildings and developments resulted, at
the beginning of the century, in a planned area with public green spaces, hotels and magnificent
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houses: a place where the high society lived along with poor communities engaged in various
activities.
Adawso House, which forms the focus of the following section, is just one of these magnificent
houses, which is now falling into a state of decay.

3. Cultural heritage, poverty and redistribution: the case of Adawso House

A note on the methodology is necessary at this point.

The basic assumption of this paper is that there must be a linkage between culture and
development, which is unambiguously manifest in old Accra in many respects. The potential
tension between poverty and culture came to be particularly evident in the case of Adawso House,
when the author became deeply involved in trying to avoid its sale and consequent demolition.
The decision to carry out a case study of Adawso House was thus dependent on the fact that it
represented to the author a vivid example of the complex relationship between culture and
development in developing countries.
When involved in the Adawso House issue, the author met with family members and
particularly the two senior members currently living in the house who were consequently deeply
involved with its fate. An initial interview was carried out with the senior woman (together with
Professor Wellington from University of Kumasi) which was followed by several meetings with
other family members. Two of these meetings were attended by all the senior members of the
families owning the house. The information was thus cross-checked by telephone interviews with
other family members, especially the ones not currently living in the house. In this sense,
information on which a coherent and clear perspective was impossible has been deliberately
eliminated. A limited amount of other information on the owner and the house has been found in
some maps in the National Archive of Ghana and in the Macmillan’s (1968) Red Book of West
Africa.
Adawso House is located in the west section of James Town, south sector of Bruce Road in the
Ngleshie Alata quarter (see Fig. 3 above). Being over 86 years old, the house—named in order to
commemorate the town (Adawso) where an important cocoa center was developed—was built at
the beginning of the 20th century by a rich cocoa farmer and broker, who was born in Accra in
1870.13 The Gold Coast Survey of 1923 shows Adawso House as being the Gold Coast
headquarters of Messrs. Grace Bros. and Co., Ltd., a multinational business firm. Before this
date, it is reported to have been the office of the Anyiman Sindicate, Ltd. engaged in the cocoa
trade and the importation of various kinds of merchandise. The house’s builder was the Chairman
of this company (Macmillan, 1968).
Family members recall that the house was built to serve as a hotel or guesthouse, its use justified
by the proximity to the then burgeoning harbor of James Town (Fig. 4).
The original builder’s family moved to Adawso House only in the early 1940s. The house is now
part owned by his grandchildren who are not living there. They say it has never been rented out.
In the early 1990s, the house suffered serious damages, with the complete collapse of the part
13
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gold Coast (as Ghana was then called) became one of the biggest cocoa
producing countries. The cocoa trade created enormous wealth, which was often converted into edifices.
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Fig. 4. Adawaso House, northern side.

Fig. 5. Surrounding of Adawaso House.

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facing the bungalow located at the back of the property. After this event, the lack of maintenance
added to the damage, accelerating the decay of the building.
Communal ownership, according to the owners, is the main reason for the lack of investment
and the rapid deterioration of the building. This explanation, however, has to be considered amid
the general background of poverty and lack of resources. The families agreed that the best
solution was to sell the house, avoiding the cost of maintenance and the opportunity cost from its
definitive loss. On the other hand, the general public interest is obviously to conserve and restore
the building, avoiding further decay of the area and the loss of an architectural monument.
There is a need to intervene to conserve this building, the value of which is even more
appreciated if considered in the Ghanaian and the Accra contexts (Fig. 5).

4. How to intervene: the potential for redistribution

The building’s characteristics and its present condition need an amount of resources that are
unlikely to be available from any single Ghanaian family. Even supposing that the saving or other
micro-finance initiatives within the community gave priority to the restoration of Adawso house,
the amount would also be insufficient. An external injection of resources is necessary to conserve
Adawso House. It is necessary to plan the intervention in such a way to attract this external
amount of money, to restore the building according to its architectural and historical
characteristics and by trying to adopt at the same time a broad development strategy in which
community and public interests as well as poverty reduction concerns are all seriously considered.
Within such a development-oriented intervention, forms of redistribution policies can also be
included. In fact, while the use of the restored building probably depends on the source of
financing, the process can be strategically oriented to reach the desired result. For instance, the
restoration programme can be used to set up a building-school on the site, which would train
young unemployed people from the community in the restoration of historical buildings. The
result will not only be the restored building but also the empowerment of the involved young
people through the acquisition of strategic skills and help in establishing their own businesses in
this very specific sector. This developmental approach can be extended to the ultimate use planned
for the restored building, but this, as noted above, depends largely on the source of funding for the
restoration. In fact, if this comes from the Government or related bodies, or from other
development organizations, the building can be recycled for purposes with a developmental
impact larger than the one possible with private intervention, which might be potentially limited
to profit generating activities. This is not to say that the public intervention is necessarily better
than the private intervention, but merely that the end-uses would meet quite different needs:
public interest vs. those determined by the market. If the renovated building were recycled as a
bank’s branch, it could be important for income generation, by reactivating the economic base of
the area and creating various spills-overs, but it would have a different impact if compared to a
school, a community or youth center with attached services. In this second case, the income
generated would be lower but the human impact might obviously be higher.
It is relevant, at this point, to consider the mechanisms by which the costs of restoration can be
recovered. This makes sense only if the restoration comes out of public money or from an
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international organization. In the case of private financing, in fact, two options are possible,
which do not require a public analysis of cost recovery:
* the private intervention is profit oriented, and being an investment automatically incorporates
cost recovery; or
* the private intervention is of philanthropic motivation, and as such it is like a gift, for which an
analysis of cost recovery is of lesser importance.
Another alternative might be a blend of the public and the private in the form of a public–
private partnership (PPP). In this case, it may fall to the private sector to fund the restoration and
temporarily manage the renovated building in a manner to earn a profit to repay the cost.
The most complex situation is the case of the restoration depending exclusively on public
money. It is not appropriate to consider public intervention as a gift to the community nor as
exclusively profit oriented. Cost recovery has to be seriously taken into consideration, but this
analysis has to include the social impact of the intervention. Social impact is obviously difficult to
assess but, nevertheless, it exists and has a value. A school might have an incredible social impact
in a community in which out of more than 50,000 children only about 12,000 attend primary
education. There is reason to believe there will also be an economic result, apart from the very
little amount of money children would spend for their meager breakfasts in the women’s kiosks
around the area.

5. Policy considerations

The case of Adawso House in Old Accra raises some interesting public policy issues. Some of
them are of general concern in urban regeneration while others more specifically related to
historical buildings and the financing requirements for their restoration.
The first consideration is that even the most pleasant areas can deteriorate into what is
popularly referred to as a ‘slum’. This can happen for many reasons and sometimes independently
of their location. Old Accra is just a few minutes walking distance from the main Accra market,
from the business district and from government offices. However, the community seems to be
rather closed, as many young persons have never left the area and people from other communities
do not go there but to visit some relatives and only during family occasions (funerals, other rituals
and the annual Homowo festival). Cultural components might be viewed as important in helping
to understand this situation. During discussions or interviews, especially with young people, when
questioned about their origin, the responses includes such statements as ‘‘I come from Bukom’’,
‘‘I come from Adanse’’, ‘‘I come from London Market’’ or ‘‘I come from Lamptedza we’’, which
are well-defined areas in Old Accra, more specifically limited than the quarters. In addition, Ga
people give extreme importance and meaning to the land, the family and the house or ‘‘we’’: as
already noted, a Ga child is given an already established name, which is related to the grandfather
and to the original founder of the house (we), the basic social unit in the Ga community.
Moreover, his umbilical cord is cut and put in a white piece of cloth, which is buried in the center
of the house. A physical part of the newborn is forever linked to the house. The attachment to a
very well-identified place is a typical attribute of the Ga people. It is not completely incorrect to
say that the isolation of Ga Mashie is partly determined by this underlying cultural base. If this is
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G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419 413

the case, it is important to understand why, given this attachment to the family and its physical
place, these important residential areas are running down without intervention. The explanation
comes back to the poverty of the community and its lack of income.
In the case of Old Accra, the transfer of the harbor has been very detrimental for this fishing
community. The consequent economic loss has further accelerated an already existing process of
decline. This negative process has been determined mainly by overall city development strategies
implemented by the authorities during the years. The development of the city mainly to the north
of Ga Mashie, and the creation of specific residential areas have made of Ga Mashie a relatively
less attractive place and pushed out the rich urban elite. The rich ‘‘community’’ has moved out
with its wealth, leaving behind their houses, which were in turn subdivided and rented out. In
other cases, poor remote relatives were authorized to live there to collect the rents and supervise
the houses.
As a result, these beautiful houses started to suffer from lack of maintenance and repairs and to
deteriorate. The situation was worsened by the increasing overcrowding resulting from the inflow
of migrants drawn by the economic growth of the country in general and Accra in particular.14
The upper classes left the poor indigenous community to cope with economic and social forces.
The poor thus suffered the economic burden of the crisis and the social burden of the fight to
preserve their culture.
Poverty, overcrowding and cultural aspects constitute therefore critical explanations to the
process of decline in Old Accra, touching both humble and rich accommodations.
It is evident that poverty and culture are closely related and how poverty might undermine
culture:
* directly, with the physical decay of the tangible cultural heritage, as historical buildings cannot
be preserved and
* indirectly, as the indigenous cultural basis is undermined by the overall depletion partially
resulting from modernity and standardization. It is not a case, in fact, that many families prefer
to spend 150,000 Ghanian Cedis (almost US$19) for a nice dress rather than for repairing a
window or paying school fees—which was at the time 12,000 Cedis per term.15

Given this situation, and considering that the cultural significance of these houses is so
important, their disappearance represents a tremendous loss for the community. The history of
families who used to live there can suddenly vanish.
Which solutions can be envisaged? Is the financial support generally used for incremental
upgrading a proper means, given it is based on saving groups, fabrication of their own up-grading
materials and small loans from neighborhood moneylenders? This type of incremental
intervention and uneven and slow improvement—necessary for allowing poor families to afford
the upgrading process—is not completely compatible with the characteristics of historical
buildings. The conservation of urban heritage encompasses a complex set of interventions, which
14
The annual population growth rate of Accra during post war period exceeded 12%, according to Brand (1972).
15
The moving out of the indigenous elite can also be considered a standardized behavior, once these people feel the
attractions of a westernized way of life, in westernized buildings, in areas lived by foreigners. In those places, their status
is considered to be higher.
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requires continuity and coordination.16 In addition, the typical size of a loan for incremental
upgrading is between US$300 and US$3000. Yet loans of this size are very small in terms of what
is required in the vast majority of the cases for undertaking a conservation project. For instance,
the price for buying Adawso House was US$35,000. Total purchase and restoration costs may be
as high as US$300,000.
At the same time, traditional methods of lending for house purchases and improvements, such
as from the formal sector financial institutions, qualified mortgage, standard underwriting criteria
and liens on the property, are also incompatible simply because they are not affordable to poor
families (Ferguson, 1999).
Consequently, it seems plausible that two sets of financial interventions are necessary for the
rehabilitation of historical centers where important historical buildings (for their size and
architectural value) are located. The first one would be designed to tackle the majority of the
structures, the houses in poor state of repair but not of historical significance. The second one
would be directed to the restoration of historical buildings (Fig. 6).17
This issue underlines the difference that can easily be identified between slums in historical
centers and peripheral slums or squatter settlements developed on vacant land. In this latter case,
it is possible to identify a ‘‘positive spirit’’, a positive initiative—the use of vacant land to build
housing, even if in an unplanned manner—while in the first case it is the ‘‘negative spirit’’, the lack
of initiative to be dominant. Referring only to the habitat and housing situation, while peripheral
areas are characterized by creative processes, on the contrary, depleting historical centers are
characterized by a negative and declining trend. Any intervention, in the case of historical
centers, has to reverse the negative trend—and, financially, this might justify a relatively
large external investment. In the case of newly created slums, on the other hand, the policy should
be designed to foster creativity. The financial involvement can in this sense be smaller in
magnitude.
This is not a general rule that applies indiscriminately to every periphery and historical center in
all countries. However, if housing and the urban habitat are in decline, the situation described
above might be considered as having a more general application. In fact, very often poor buildings
in historical districts are on a descending path and this is the case even if very economically active
people live there, as it is evident by vibrant informal sectors in so many slums, centrally or
peripherally located.
Rojas (2000) has described how in Latin America the progress in urban heritage conservation
has followed three phases, which differ with the typology of intervention and the main actors
involved in the projects of conservation. The first phase has been led by the urban cultural elite,
with a focus on specific edifices. The second phase has sought a more proactive role played by the
public sector, with direct responsibility in legislating and investing in the urban heritage
preservation. In the third phase, conservation and preservation of urban heritage become the

16
Rojas et al (1999) and The World Bank (1994) offer a comprehensive account of conservation principles.
17
It has to be pointed out, however, that different combinations of intervention are possible. For instance, an urban
rehabilitation effort can start with a financial intervention directed to the conservation of historical buildings and the
generation of positive externalities to the overall urban project: creation of economic activities and income, which will
boost from the bottom the rehabilitation of the housing stock, supported, contemporarily, by housing micro finance.
The negative side effects of this intervention have to be carefully considered.
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Fig. 6. Adawaso House: this picture shows the scale of the house and its current status of disrepair. Also evident are the
structural defects and the part that collapsed in 1990.

responsibility of a broader set of actors: the private sector, the public sector, the civil society and
the interested communities. This third phase goes beyond the previous stages as ‘‘the beneficiaries
of the preservation—the local communities—pay a substantial part of the cost of preserving the
area and receive the help of the national or provincial community when the heritage is of national
importance’’ (Rojas, 2002, p. 12).
As the case of old Accra and Adawso House shows, it is difficult to apply this approach to such
a context. The level of poverty is so high that it is not possible to involve the community, or the
interested owners, in the payment of ‘‘a substantial part’’ of the intervention. It seems that the
elements of the third phase, while being of extreme importance for the long-term sustainability of
any regeneration project—as specified later on—have to be adapted to the level of poverty of the
community involved, leaving room for a more or less ambitious wealth redistribution. In fact, the
case of Adawso House seems also to indicate that cultural preservation can be potentially more
redistributive than ‘‘normal’’ upgrading, as it needs an external injection of money otherwise not
available within the community. Communities can mobilize internal resources to sustain an
upgrading and regeneration project, as experiences around the world show very clearly. It seems
much more difficult, as explained above, to direct the financial efforts of saving groups and other
sorts of micro finance activities for cultural restoration and heritage preservation. In terms of
financing requirements, the project’s investments represent a financing envelope that exceeds the
funding capabilities of individual or joint saving groups or other micro finance initiatives, based
on the experiences of governments, international organizations, such as World Bank,
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416 G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419

Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, as well as private donors.18
The need for external financial involvement does not exclude the equally strong need for direct
and effective participation of the community. This is particularly true in old Accra. Apart from
the commonly accepted ‘‘democracy-based’’ justification for community participation, two other
reasons are worth mentioning, which are evident in the case of old Accra. The first, which can be
called an ‘‘ethics-based’’ reason, results from the fact that the indigenous community suffered the
double burden caused by the depletion of the area (determined by decisions beyond their control)
and by the fight for keeping their culture alive. Despite all the problems, old Accra is still a vibrant
cultural environment, at the heart of the capital city. This fact poses the direct moral question of
whether it is correct to implement a redevelopment strategy without taking into consideration the
interests of those who have mostly contributed to keep the community as cohesive and culturally
active as possible. A major issue arises at this point, which has to do with what is considered
‘‘community interest’’ and whether or not gentrification might be in the interest of the poor. The
extensive literature on urban poverty and participation, reflected in the approach of the United
Nations as well as in other international organizations (Cities Alliance (2003), the joint initiative
between World Bank and former United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, and the Human
Settlements Programme of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED,
2003) just to quote two) are clear in pointing out that the issue does not consist just in analyzing
whether poor people, if given the choice, would decide to pull down an historic center to make
space for modern housing and shopping malls. The International Council on Monuments and
Sites’ (ICOMOS) Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas, a result of 12
years of study and development by international specialists, underlines the principles and
objectives for the conservation of historic towns. It recognizes the concern of poor people who
wish to see their housing conditions bettered, making clear that ‘‘the improvement of housing
should be one of the basic objectives of conservation’’ and ‘‘the participation and the involvement
of the residents are essential for the success of the conservation program’’. It does not see a
contradiction between cultural preservation and poverty reduction (in this case considered as
housing improvement). On the contrary, there can be an interesting affinity, partially captured in
the second reason for community participation, to which we now turn: the ‘‘economics-based’’
reason.
This is linked to the fact that the project can economically benefit from community
participation. Cultural tourism, for example, can enormously benefit the local community
(Desthuis-Francis, 2000) but, at the same time, it can be enhanced by community participation. It
is the community that possesses the cultural elements, such as religion, music, stories on the area
and the people etc. More tourists can be attracted to visit Old Accra if, for instance, guided trips
are organized to the numerous shrines located in many houses or if they can eat local food, or if
18
Just to quote a few initiatives, the World Bank has intervened and is intervening in the restoration of the cultural
heritage of Lebanon, St. Petersburg in Russia, Split in Latvia, Fez in Morocco. The International Finance Corporation
has invested in the restoration of the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, the Hanoi Metropole in Vietnam, and the
Polana Hotel in Mozambique and the Old Stone Town of Zanzibar, Tanzania. The Inter-American Development Bank
has been involved in various projects of historical centers’ redevelopment in Latin America, such as Quito, Ecuador, or
the Monumenta Program in Brazil. Mostar cultural heritage project has seen a partnership between UNESCO, World
Bank and other actors.
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G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419 417

they can be introduced to the local customs, religion, music, social structure, history and the way
that names are given to the newly born. This cannot be done without community participation. In
this respect, cost recovery can be improved through the direct involvement of the community, the
custody of a marketable local culture.
It is apparent that both the ‘‘ethics-based’’ and the ‘‘economics-based’’ reasons, jointly with the
common ‘‘democracy-based’’ justification, strongly suggest that community participation is
essential to the sustainability of historical districts’ redevelopment projects.

6. Conclusions

Accra’s historical center, known as Ga Mashie, the home of the Ga people, is now one of the
most deprived urban areas in Ghana and Accra. Old Accra has been in the past a well-planned
and very lively and dynamic area. It is now an important historical city center, with national and
international cultural heritage.
Natural events, but above all political decisions about the development of the city, generated
and accelerated the deterioration of the area. The rich community left, leaving behind the poor to
cope with the crisis and with the burden of keeping alive the cultural tracts of the Ga people.
In this paper an attempt has been made to show, by using the case of old Accra and Adawso
House, how cultural elements, so deeply rooted in urban centers, especially in Africa, could be
extraordinarily intertwined with poverty issues. The general situation in old Accra represents the
background on which the case of Adawso House has been placed. From this, some policy
considerations have been introduced.
Three main lessons can be extrapolated from the paper:
* First, there is a complex link between cultural elements and urban poverty in developing
countries. The complexity of this link suggests a need of a serious and thorough analysis of
these important elements when redevelopment projects in urban areas are considered.
* Second, following from the previous point, is the need to adapt the financial intervention to
reflect the cultural dimension of the project. In particular, incremental upgrading may be
insufficient and external financial intervention (from the private sector, international
organizations, etc) may be extremely successful as far as redistribution concerns are considered.
Consequently, cultural preservation may potentially be more redistributive than other more
generalist redevelopment projects.
* Third, cultural preservation in urban centers is intrinsically linked to community participation
and may be effectively rewarding in economic terms. As culture constitutes an intrinsic
component of the community, any project involving cultural elements must by definition
involve the community. Community participation must be a definitive priority in this type of
projects. The paper analyzed three main justifications for this: the ethics-based, the democracy-
based and the economic-based justifications. The democracy-based justification is traditionally
grounded on good governance and the effectiveness of the subsidiarity principle. The ethics-
based justification is more context-dependent, but it certainly applies to old Accra as the poor
community suffered the double burden caused by the depletion of the area (determined by
decisions beyond their control) and by the fight for keeping their culture alive. Finally, a more
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418 G. Razzu / Habitat International 29 (2005) 399–419

satisfactory economic return may arise if the community is involved in rendering the cultural
elements of the project more marketable.
Poor communities as well should concern themselves with conservation and preservation of
their habitat and take advantage of these aspects, not least in economic terms.

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