The Nexus between Peri-Urban Transformation and Customary Land Rights Disputes: Effects on Peri-Urban Development in Trede, Ghana

Barikisa Owusu Ansah and Uchendu Eugene Chigbu
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Barikisa Owusu Ansah: Chair of Land management, Faculty of Aerospace and Geodesy, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 80333 Munich, Germany
Uchendu Eugene Chigbu: Chair of Land management, Faculty of Aerospace and Geodesy, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 80333 Munich, Germany

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 6, 1-28

Abstract: Typically, peri-urban areas are havens and vulnerable receptors of customary land rights (CLRs) disputes due to the intrusion of urban activities or an uncoordinated mix of both. Although it is a dictum that CLRs cause setbacks to socioeconomic and spatial development, there seems to be a paucity of empirical studies on the effects of the CLRs disputes on the development of peri-urban areas, especially in developing countries, such as Ghana. This study addresses this issue by establishing a link between peri-urban transformation and emerging CLRs disputes, while assessing the effects of these disputes on the development of peri-urban areas. The study adopted a problem-centered mixed methods approach with a focus on the case of Trede, a town in Ghana transitioning from rural to urban status. Findings reveal that the changes leading to enhancing of peri-urban transformation are also the same changes inducing CLRs disputes in the area. It was found that the implementation of a local land use plan is a critical driver of CLRs disputes in Trede. A land-use plan implemented as a major step in converting rural lands into urban plots, triggered tenurial changes, land market development, high land values, loss of agricultural land, etc., which become recipes for the CLRs disputes in the study area. These CLRs disputes have hatched detrimental consequences on the economic, social, and physical developmental trajectories of Trede. As a way forward, the study proposes measures for peri-urban land management and CLRs dispute prevention.

Keywords: Ghana; peri-urban area; peri-urban development; customary land rights disputes; land rights; land-use plan; tenure security; Trede (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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