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In Africa, young people are engaging with a globalised world of flows and movements but are coming of age in environments characterised by uncertainty, economic hardship and unemployment. Drawing upon research conducted in Madina, a suburb of Accra, a social navigation perspective is adopted to explore young people's everyday mobility and their aspirations for future mobility. By drawing attention
Due to their dependence on a single crop, agricultural frontiers are often considered to be formed through phases of 'boom and bust'. These phases are closely related to fluctuations in world market prices of the commodity that constitutes the frontier's economic basis. This paper demonstrates how although migration patterns and economic growth are conditioned by world market dynamics, local socio
Claims have recently been made for a 'mobilities paradigm' which is challenging the relative 'a-mobile' focus of much of the social sciences. The agenda drawn up for this mobilities paradigm is clearly based on Northern trends with little consideration of the South. African populations have always been mobile but little is known about the mobility of urban populations and in particular of the yout
The aim of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the sub field 'geographies of children and youth' and outline ongoing research within the subfield in the Nordic countries. It is shown how geography of children and youth is a relatively new subfield in the Nordic countries but is thriving being spearheaded primarily by young researchers. The main fieldwork locations are the Nordic countries
This paper explores the impact that a new type of pineapple, and subsequent changing consumer preferences in the Global North, has had on the livelihoods of pineapple growers in Ghana. The paper starts by tracing how research and development in Costa Rica by the world's largest producers of pineapple, Del Monte and Dole, have resulted in a new variety MD2. This new pineapple type has been marketed
The home plays an important role in people's lives as a key site for personal development. While some people are able to spend vast sums of money styling their homes, for others the maintenance of home, both physically and emotionally, remains a daily struggle. Since the home is not only a physical space but also a symbolic concept and a contested site, connotations of home vary widely both cultur
The 'street' and 'youth' have long been issues of social concern and the subject of research both in Brazil and elsewhere. The perception and experiences of youth in relation to the street, however, and the corresponding gender and class relations which permeate these, remain an under-researched topic. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in low- and middle-income neighbourhoods in Recife, this paper sh
As formal sector employment becomes an increasingly remote prospect for many Africans, the importance of informal income-generating activities which operate from the home are being recognized. This paper compares and contrasts home-based enterprises (HBEs) in low-income settlements in Accra and Pretoria. It analyses which types of enterprises operate, their contribution to household livelihoods, a
Consolidation of dwellings in self-help settlements is directly dependent on the generation of surplus resources beyond that required for subsistence. A significant proportion of households in such settlements are reliant on income generated within the home for household subsistence as well as to finance the construction of the dwelling itself. There is therefore a close interrelationship between
Land markets in African cities are characterised by the co-existence of different modes of supply that originate from the different stages of their development. Customary land tenure remains important in many of these cities, although its future is widely disputed. This paper discusses the implications of the co-existence of customary land tenure and state involvement in the land market in peri-ur
The continuing failure of most human settlement planning in Third World cities, together with the increasing concern for sustainable development, have resulted in a new focus on sustainable urbanisation. This paper examines the nature of the debate which has arisen on the concept of sustainable urbanisation in the Third World. Two of the main physical aspects of sustainable human settlements, land
Like many African cities, Accra has experienced rapid urban growth in recent decades. This paper focuses on the changes taking place in the peri-urban area of Accra where urban development is occurring both within and around the indigenous villages. The impact of rapid urbanization on the physical and residential environment is illustrated and the implications of these changes for environmental ma
During the 1990s Ghana, like most African states, has experienced a change in its mode of governance. A decentralised approach to development planning and administration has met with limited success. This paper examines the roles played by the newly created district assembly members, the traditional chiefs and elders, and the newly formed residents' associations in urban governance in peri-urban A
This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the nature of the self-help housing market by analysing its extent and mode of operation in four self-help settlements in the intermediate sized city of Perdra, Colombia. The evidence from the survey settlements suggests that the market for self-help houses is small. Self-help settlements are dominated by a land market rather than by a housing mar
Although building materials are one of the most important components of housing, there have been few attempts to link the nature of the building materials industry to the construction of housing. This paper analyses the three stages of production, distribution and consumption of building materials in Colombia, focusing in particular on the links between capitalists and petty capitalists operating
Building materials account for a high percentage of the non-land cost of self-help housing. Few studies, however, have examined the use of building materials by self-help builders and the practicalities of producing and distributing the materials in an alternative manner. This paper discusses the nature of construction by self-help in the intermediate-sized Colombian city of Pereira, focusing in p
It is now widely recognised that low-income households in Third World cities often use their homes not only as a means of shelter, but also as a source of income. This paper focuses on the types of enterprises found in five low-income neighbourhoods in the intermediate sized city of Pereira, Colombia. It is argued that it is necessary not only to recognise the importance of home-based enterprises
