Skip to main content

Crime and poverty in urban Ghana

 

The ways in which crime and poverty interact have been much studied and debated in western research literature, yet little is known about these dynamics in Africa. In a series of seven papers, this 2016 special issue of the Ghana Journal of Geography helps to fill a critical gap in African perspectives on the issues. It presents findings from three years of research, led by the University of Ghana Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, on the relationship between poverty and crime in neighbourhoods of four Ghanaian cities: Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, and Tamale.

These fresh insights challenge a widely held assumption that higher levels of poverty produce higher levels of crime by shedding light on features of low-income neighbourhoods that can enhance the protective effects of social cohesion. The collection underscores how housing and infrastructure design, and a range of other policy and planning choices, can help reduce crime and insecurity in neighbourhoods rich and poor.

Read the articles

Learn more about the 2016 special issue of the Ghana Journal of Geography.

Learn more about the IDRC-supported project, Exploring the crime and poverty nexus in urban Ghana.

Learn more about IDRC’s research support to make cities safer through the Safe and Inclusive Cities partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development.