Overcoming Community Development Challenges in Urban Slums

Abstract

Community development has been practiced in slums to address problems such as poor housing and sanitation. However, limited information exists on how to address issues of resource constraint and ethnic conflict that have limited the efficacy of community development approaches. This study was undertaken to understand possible mechanisms to resolve such challenges. The study was conducted in Ashaiman, a municipal area bounded in the same geographical space us Accra and Tema, two key industrial cities in Ghana. A home for many rural-urban migrants, the municipality contains the Tulaku, Taboo Line and Valco Flat slums. All were sites of major community development projects on housing, footbridges and income generating activities. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders of community development in order to obtain detailed understanding about the processes undertaken and the dynamics involved in such projects. Social capital theory was used to explore how existing networks can support community development projects. The key finding was that capacity building and community involvement were effective in resolving challenges encountered in affordable housing projects.