This paper seeks to analyze the reasons for selling out family homes in the city centre of Tamale Metropolitan Area and relocate to the periphery.

Transformation of the City Centre in an African City: the Case of Tamale.

David Asante Edwin
University of Helsinki, Finland

ABSTRACT

Worldwide, significant clues to understanding growth of cities include trends of migration as well as speculations associated with land as stock of wealth. In Ghana, diverse players are involved including individuals, government agencies, opinion leaders, land owners and an interface between traditional and modern institutions. As an old trans‐Saharan slave route, the city of Tamale provides an opportunity to explore the underlying factors implicated in the evolution of the city, the trajectory into the modern era and the implications for land use today. This paper seeks to analyze the reasons for selling out family homes in the city centre of Tamale Metropolitan Area and relocate to the periphery. A cross-sectional study was conducted with the original occupants of the Central Business Districts, the developers and officials from Town and Country Planning unit of the Lands Commission; through interviews (to uncover the reasons behind transformation of urban space). The findings suggest a complex combination between cultural reasons and the determinants of the modern social life that promote formal education, individualism, monogamy, romantic love and individual quest for social mobility. Findings also suggest that the understanding of the evolution of the city of Tamale and its land use changes presupposes an understanding of the city past: as an Islamic enclave; decades of slave trade; as the seat of the colonial master in the northern territories, and as colonial indirect rule; independence; social restructuring; the legacy of inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic clashes that continue to threaten peace and stability. Despite myriad problems, Tamale is one of the fastest growing city in West Africa effecting decisions about (re)distribution, and valuation of space.

Keywords: City, Transformation of urban space, Selling of land, Relocation, Tamale.