Living in beehives: the growth of unauthorised structures in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Kwabena Barima Antwi, University of Cape Coast
Collins Adjei Mensah, University of Cape Coast
Peter Kwabena Acheampong, University of Cape Coast

Living in unauthorised housing structures in urban areas invariably put human welfare into jeopardy and inconvenience. This paper investigates the factors that have influenced the growth of unauthorised structures in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana and how the problems associated with slums can be addressed. A sample size of 238 respondents, comprising 119 house-owners and 119 household heads were covered in the study. Interview schedule and personal observation were used to collect the primary data, while the Principal Component Technique was used to analyse the data. The results of the study revealed that a combination of socio-economic, cultural, institutional, physical, political and historical factors have influenced people to live in unauthorised housing structures in the Kumasi Metropolis. The paper recommends that local and national governments should provide affordable housing schemes, enforce land-use planning regulations, and ultimately eliminate public institutional practices such as bribery and unacceptable delays in issuing building permits.