ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews pertinent international literature on slum-dwelling and informal urban governance to close in on a clearer conception of what it means to be an urban dweller on the blind side of the state. This allows for an initial conceptualisation of how slums are produced as alternative spaces of urban dwelling. Rural-urban migration has characterised the Ghanaian urban system for decades, fuelling the growth of slums and urban sprawl, especially in Greater Accra. The chapter discusses the conceptual and analytical framework thus sketched to investigate the Old Fadama slum in Accra as an alternative urban space of dwelling. Structures available for rent are largely owned by slum landlords/ladies who are often opinion leaders and involved in various organisations in the community. Designations such as “slum” or “informal settlement” belie the fact that urban life in Old Fadama is highly regulated with precise procedures, rules, and norms that govern the ways in which “things get done”.
