ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comparative analysis of poverty in three urban centers in southern Ghana – Kumase, Sekondi-Takoradi, and Accra – from 1945 when Meyer Fortes and his team commenced the Ashanti Social Survey, to1990 during which the first phase of the Program of Action to Mitigate the Social Cost of Adjustment (PAMSCAD) was initiated. Among other things, the chapter examines urban poverty and change and the forces that mediated it and how urban cultures emerged. Several forces mediated change in the three identified urban centers. These included the structure and regulation by government under different regimes and ecological, economic, and socio-psychological factors. The challenges to overcome to ensure effective governance included poverty, housing, and environmental issues against the backdrop of the new social and economic forces including urbanization, social amenities, and employment opportunities. Related factors such as diet became an important index for a better standard of living.
