Urban Transformation and Informal Livelihoods

Abstract

Cities across the world are experiencing rapid urbanisation, bringing complex challenges related to employment, housing, and infrastructure. In response, governments are increasingly implementing large-scale urban transformation projects aimed at enhancing modernity, liveability, and economic competitiveness. In Accra, Ghana, these interventions often produce exclusionary outcomes for informal workers whose livelihoods depend on contested urban spaces. State-led demolitions and evictions have thus become central tools of urban restructuring, deepening socio-spatial inequalities. <br/> This dissertation examines the tensions between urban redevelopment and the lived realities of informal e-waste workers, focusing on the 2021 demolition of the Agbogbloshie scrapyard. It analyses how redevelopment rationales intersect with displacement, livelihood precarity, and the reconfiguration of informal economies, drawing on three interrelated publications. <br/> Methodologically, the research adopts a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative, qualitative, spatial, and policy analysis. It draws on a survey of 350 displaced e-waste workers, 58 semi-structured interviews with workers, residents, and institutional stakeholders, and two focus group discussions involving 96 participants. Additional data include policy document analysis, GIS mapping of post-demolition e-waste clusters, and field observations. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and Stata, while qualitative data were thematically coded using NVivo. <br/> Findings reveal that the demolition reflects a broader neoliberal and revanchist urban agenda that prioritises elite-oriented development over inclusive urban governance. The intervention resulted in severe livelihood disruptions, income losses, health challenges, and the breakdown of institutional support networks. It also triggered the emergence of 26 new e-waste clusters across Accra, alongside environmental risks and weakened regulatory capacity. Notably, partial reoccupation of Agbogbloshie highlights the resilience of informal actors and the limitations of exclusionary planning approaches. <br/> The dissertation concludes that demolition-led urban transformation reproduces inequality and calls for inclusive, participatory governance that recognises informal workers as co-producers of urban space, essential for sustainable and just urban futures.