Kumasi Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This report presents a situational analysis on housing for the Greater Kumasi Sub-Region (GKSR)—a newly designated functional region under Ghana’s new spatial planning system for the purposes of strategic spatial planning and sustainable growth management. The report was prepared to inform the formulation of the first Comprehensive Urban Development Plan for the Sub-region .
The report has three main sections. Section one focuses on analysis of the housing situation in the GKSR based on statistical data released by the Ghana Statistical Services on official request by the project study team . Section two provides a description of the physical condition of housing in the Kumasi Metropolis based on seven main identifiable sectors of housing proposed by the author. The final section presents the findings of a short study conducted on the role of private real estate developers in housing supply within the GKSR.

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- Housing, Ghana, Urban And Regional Planning, Population Studies

Commuting patterns in Sub-Saharan African cities are evolving in tandem with rapid levels of historical urbanization. Yet, our understanding of how the prevailing urban spatial structures shape travel patterns is limited. This study explores the land-use-travel nexus in the Kumasi metropolis in Ghana, by focusing on work commuting. It uses newly available land-use datasets to present TAZ-level analysis of the distribution of land-use activity types. From a survey of a representative sample of 1,158 workers, the characteristics of commuters and their travel patterns are examined. The analyses reveal a unique structure for the urban system, that is polycentric in both morphological and functional dimensions, but with a relatively stronger centre (i.e. CBD). Overall, homework commute flows strongly reflect the prevailing spatial structure. Residence in suburban neighbourhoods; non-home-based employment locations; homework distance exceeding 0.3km; and relatively higher-incomes influence motorized transport choice and car-use for work journeys. Walking to work is strongly associated with lower-income levels, residence in historical-core neighbourhoods and home-based employment. The paper contributes to conceptualizing, theorising and understanding the spatial structure-travel nexus at the intra-urban scale by focusing on a previously unexplored urban context. The implications of the findings for integrated urban development and transportation planning are highlighted.

- by Ransford Acheampong
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- Transportation Studies, Urban Planning, Transport Planning, Travel Behaviour

The hazardous particulates or vapours found in informal small scale auto body and furniture manufacturing industries come from the solvent, lacquer, paint and hardener systems used in the spray painting processes. The health implications of workers' exposure in this industry are well established. The purpose of the study was to assess the occupational chemical hazards perceptions , safety practices and their enforcement in the Kumasi Metropolitan automobile, furniture and coffin spray painting industry. One hundred and fifty (150) randomly sampled paint sprayers at eighty-three (83) spraying workshops in nine (9) suburbs in Kumasi Metropolitan Area were selected for the study. A combination of questionnaires and purposive interviews were used to collect data for analysis. There was high level of self-reported exposure to spraying fumes, because only 0.7 percent of respondents reported always using the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), during the spray painting process. Virtually all the workers were aware of the manifest health hazards; coughing, throat irritation, headache and breathing problem but did not know the extent to which these hazards could be dangerous to their health. Respondents rated Law enforcement concerning safety practices as low; EPA and DFI officials attributed this to lack of adequate logistics and personnel to carry out the task effectively. Lack of Chemical education and enforcement of safety practices in the metropolis are major contributing factors of the occupational chemical hazard exposure in the paint spraying industry. Mandatory training for initial certification to work and operate a paint spraying workshop and re-fresher training every two years by the government is therefore recommended.

- by Stephen Osei-Bonsu
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- Chemistry, Chemical Education, Perception, Assessment

This study aimed to analyze the consumption of street food across various income groups in the Kumasi metropolis. A combination of stratified, simple and systematic random sampling technique was employed to select operational areas and respondents house respectively. Primary and cross sectional data at household level collected from three towns in the Kumasi metropolis were used to identify the factors that determine Street Food (SF) consumption by employing multiple regression model through the use of Ordinary Least Square (OLS). Further, total household food expenditure and proportion of household expenditure on SF by individuals were estimated. It was found out that: estimated average monthly household expenditure was GH₵ 476.91, GH₵ 403.3, and GH₵ 390.23 for the high, middle and low income groups respectively. However the low income groups spent 85% of their income on food compared to middle 79.99% and higher 60.09%. Likewise, 84.79, (21.73%), 68.69 (17.03%) and 45.51 (9.56%) were the estimated individual proportion of household expenditure on Street Food across the same income groups. It was empirically noted that educational level and household size were significant at 1% with negative relationship with street food consumption whilst income was also significant at 5% with a negative relationship. Gender and time spent away from home (TSAFH) also had a significant positive relationship with street food consumption at 1% level. It can therefore be concluded that low income groups spent greater portion of their income on food and individually, greater proportion of their household food expenditure on street foods than other income groups.

- by James Mensah
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- Food Science, Nutrition, Consumption, Food and Nutrition

Satisfied customers are considered to maintain contact with the company, buy more products or services especially in the services sector. This study assessed the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. The main research question that guided the study was does customers' satisfaction have an impact on loyalty in the rural banking industry in Ghana? The study adapted Garvin's (1998) Managing Quality Model to assess the impact of customer loyalty determinants such as satisfaction and switching on RBs customers. In this study, descriptive approach was employed. The population of the study was customers of RBs in the Kumasi Metropolis and the sample was made up of two hundred (200) customers. Data collection instrument was questionnaire and multi-stage sampling was employed. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.The main finding from the study indicated that customer satisfaction has no direct impact on customer loyalty amongst RBs customers in Ghana. Recommendations have been made for RBs and other stakeholders in the industry.

- by Ofosu Amofa and +1
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- Customer Satisfaction, Service Qulity and Customer Satisfaction in Banking Sector, Kumasi

Urbanization induces spatial and environmental changes. Monitoring and understanding the nature of these changes is crucial to achieving sustainable urban development imperatives. To this end, this paper examines the evolution and spatio-environmental impacts of rapid urbanization in two major metropolitan regions of Ghana-Accra-City Region and the Greater Kumasi Sub-Region. The analysis uses Landsat satellite data and landscape metrics to examine land use transitions and to characterize the emergent landscapes over the last three decades. The results show that built-up land has increased significantly in these metropolitan regions largely at the expense of environmental land cover classes. The expansion process follows a general trend where the historical-core zones were initially sites of rapid land cover conversion to built-up, with settlements in the suburban and peripheral zones expanding in recent years and becoming integrated into the conterminous urban areas of the metropolitan regions. The analysis also uncovered a unique, dynamic and complex process whereby the urban-open-space class, being in a permanent state of flux, mediates transitions between built-up land and vegetation and vice versa. The metric-based land use transformation analysis shows that the landscape of the metropolitan regions has fragmented because of an increased expansion and aggregation of patches of built-up land in the core areas and leapfrog, sprawling expansion in the outlying suburban and peripheral zones. The paper concludes on the need for integrative urban growth management strategies that brings together spatial planning and environmental resource governance to avert the negative consequences on the natural environment of unfettered urban expansion.

- by Ransford Acheampong
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- Landscape Ecology, Spatial Analysis, Urbanization in Developing Areas, Ghana

This paper aims is to provide an understanding of the housing market situation in Ghana, the financing instruments available and the challenges faced by low-income households in accessing housing finance. The gap between incomes and house prices is shown to be huge across different groups in Ghana. It is also demonstrated that conventional mortgage finance is inaccessible to low-income households due to high payment-to-income ratio, the lack of cash for down-payment and long repayment period. Three alternative housing finance strategies are proposed. First, practical approaches to financing housing development through the spatial planning system are discussed. Second, strategies to develop and make Housing Microfinance accessible to low income households are discussed. Third, strategies to mobilize labour for housing development at reduced costs through community-based initiatives have been recommended. Together, these alternative strategies can provide sustainable and affordable housing finance options for low-income housing development in Ghana.

- by Ransford Acheampong
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- Housing Affordability, Housing Policy, Housing, Ghana

This study was conducted against the backdrop of the rapid physical expansion of Kumasi and the concomitant
growth of peri-urban settlements of mainly residential land use around the city’s main built-up area. Adopting
the case study approach and selecting Abrepo and Esreso as study areas, it sought to understand the factors that
inform households’ decisions to live in Kumasi’s peri-urban settlements. Based on households’ likelihood of
change of residence in the future and their stated residential location preferences, the implications for sustainable urban growth were examined. The study found that family relations, relatively low land price and house rents as well as work-place proximity were the most significant reasons underpinning households’ choice of the urban
periphery. In view of the aggregate cost reducing advantages associated with the urban periphery therefore, the
study concludes that rapid expansion of the city into peripheral areas due mainly to residential development will
continue to occur. It therefore suggests that urban development policies that aim at securing liveable conditions and promoting mixed-use development in the dominantly commercial central areas of the city will be crucial to managing growth and averting unsustainable urban expansion.

- by Ransford Acheampong and +1
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- Urban Planning, Sustainable Urban Environments, Housing, Ghana

The physicochemical and microbial properties of some sachet drinking water sold in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana is reported in this study in order to assess the quality of water being consumed by the public. Nine different sachet water samples were taken from different parts (sub- metropolises) of Kumasi and analysed for their odour, colour, turbidity, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, alkalinity, total hardness and coliform bacteria. Metals and anions analysed were Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, NO3−, NO2−, PO42− and Cl−. Microbes determined were faecal and total coliforms. The faecal coliform determined was Escherichia coli. Most of the sachet water samples analysed within the Ghana and WHO standards for drinking water. However, BKD, AHN and DDE water samples failed bacteriological tests and therefore makes them unwholesome and harmful to consumers.

- by Nathaniel Boadi and +1
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- Water quality, Ghana, Bacteriological Analysis of Sachet Water, Physicochemical Properties

Attitudinal and perceptual factors are important determinants of bicycle use as a mode of transportation. Understanding how attitudes and perceptions vary across different population is critical for successful cycling promotion interventions. Drawing on research from the context of an African city, this paper examines attitudes and perceptions about utility cycling in the general population, and determines if there are differences in how males and females who have different cycling experience perceive cycling for commuting purposes. Using non-parametric test, the study found that attitudes and perceptions regarding the environmental, financial, exercise and potential health benefits of cycling for transportation were very positive generally, and slightly stronger in females who had never cycled before than in males in the same group. Cycling was also not perceived as the most comfortable, safe, easy, convenient and flexible mode of transportation suitable for long distance travel among the majority of the respondents. These perceptions and attitudes were pronounced in females in the sub-group of respondents who had never cycled before and those who cycled previously than in males in the same groups. Among frequent cyclists, males perceived cycling for commute as a less tiring activity than females. Moreover, cycling’s public image as a less prestigious mode of transport that could not be taken to important social events was prevalent among the respondents, although this perception was found to be stronger in males than in females who had not cycled before. The findings could inform tailored cycling promotion programmes within the general population and across specific groups.

- by Ransford Acheampong
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- Urban Planning, Ghana, Urban And Regional Planning, Urban Transportation

- by seyi mepaiyeda
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- Water quality, Ghana, Bacteriological Analysis of Sachet Water, Water Quality

Despite the rapid urban transformation in green space in most cities in Ghana, knowledge on urban tree diversity and the evidence of the consequences of built-up expansion on trees is scanty. This article provides a novel contribution to the current urban trees abundance and richness in Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Ghana. Post classification change detection technique was applied to quantify urban land use land cover (LULC) transformations (urban forest, agricultural, riparian vegetation and built-up) from 2007 to 2017. Species rank abundance distribution and richness were quantified using geometric series and individual-based rarefaction models. A total of 858 individual trees belonging to 76 taxa were recorded across the four LULC classes. Species abundance distributions in three LULC types varied substantially, with the exception of riparian LULC (slope [k] ¼ 0.086 6 0.12, v 2 P ¼ 19.42, P ¼ 0.15). Land use pressure led to a 13.56 km 2 reduction in forest cover, while built-up and agricultural LULC increased by 31.13 and 1.85 km 2 , respectively. These disturbances did not only affect indigenous tree dominance (41.3%) in favour of exotic species (58.7%) in the agricultural and built-up LULC types but also impacted on tree abundance (n ¼ 126) and richness (n ¼ 28) in agricultural land compared to abundance (n ¼ 280) and richness (n ¼ 67.86) in forest cover. Despite the contribution of LULC transformation to increase in tree diversity, there is the likelihood of future dominance of exotic species in the Metropolis if urban planners do not institute measures to conserve indigenous species.

- by Emma Agyapong
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- Biostatistics, Ecological Modeling, Urban Ecology, Vegetation Ecology

- by Prince Anokye
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- Human Geography, Housing Affordability, Housing Policy, Housing

Analysis of water resources of this area was carried out in order to assessing the water quality by determining the concentrations of cations, Anions, Heavy metals, Trace elements, PH, Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids and microbial loads in water samples. Ten (10) water samples were collected from the study area-samples each of rain water, two pond waters-1 and 2, stream water, four (4) hand-dug wells, hand pump water and a motorized borehole. The results obtained were compared with WHO standards and it showed that all the cations in water samples are within the limits. The water samples at locations B, E, F, G, H, I, and J have high alkalinity and HC0-3 content. The heavy metals (Pb, Ni and Cd) and trace elements (Fe and Cu) are dominantly high in the surface waters. Microbiological substances in the water samples from the study area revealed indicator organisms higher than the WHO standard for drinking water. Samples obtained from location G, I and J recorded an absence of E. coli and are fit for human consumptions but needed to be treated due to high MPN (Most Probable Number) index of viable microorganisms as against WHO standard. This research showed that the water resources of the study area are gradually polluted and in the near future may not be good for drinking.

- by Kakaba Madi
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- Water quality, Ghana, Bacteriological Analysis of Sachet Water, Water Quality

In the last seventy years, countries in the Global South, including Ghana, have experienced high levels of urbanization. Rapid urbanization manifests in two ways. Firstly, the phenomenon is evidenced by the large concentration of population in urban areas. Secondly, in spatial terms, urbanization results in the utilization of land for various uses including housing, infrastructure and economic activities, which can be monitored over time through land-cover transitions from non-built-up to built-up areas. Built-up area expansion trends, in turn, shape the physical size of cities and leave lasting impacts on the natural environment and livelihoods. The urbanization process therefore has serious implications for urban growth management and sustainable development. This chapter focuses on the interface between urbanization and spatial planning. It explores urbanization trends globally as well as trends in Ghana. Using remotely sensed data, this chapter presents historical analyses of spatio-temporal settlement expansions trends for major metropolitan regions in Ghana. The various tools and strategies that could be deployed through the spatial planning system to achieve sustainable growth management outcomes in urban areas in Ghana are also identified.

- by Ransford Acheampong
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- Urban Planning, Ghana, Urban And Regional Planning, Urbanization

Performance appraisal showed a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual),in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development; has become the most powerful tool to calibrate, refine and reward the performance of the employee. The performance of the Ghana Health Service in recent time has come under barrage of criticisms in terms of inefficiency in the discharge of duties causing the untimely death of relations by the general public without recourse to the deplorable working conditions under which employees put their lives on the line in ensuring that Ghanaians enjoy better health facilities, particularly on employees performance appraisals. The study thus adopted the general objective to ascertain the extent and/or adequacy of employee" appraisals within the Ghana Health Services and its impact on health delivery in the country. A sample size of sixty (60), comprising (10) senior staff and fifty (50) \junior staff of the target population (250) responded to the administered questionnaire; 16.67% of the respondents were senior staff, while the junior staff registered the remaining 83.33%;a ratio of 1:1.1 with regard to male and female distribution respectively, indicating enough evidence of gender balance in both men and women(i.e. distribution was gender fairly represented). The findings of the research indicated that the current appraisal system as a tool to provide the objective assessment of staff received a negative response with the notable 1.1 Statement of the problem………………………………………………. 3 1.2 Research Objective………………………………………………………. 4 1.3 Research Questions……………………………………………………… 4

- by fixit with
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- Ghana, Accra, University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

The priority of every government is to develop the economy of its country to raise the living standard of the citizenry. Mass transit system plays a vital role in this quest. The energy demand within the transport subsector is immense. Indeed Ghana subsidises petroleum products by GH¢45 million monthly and the government of Ghana is faced with the dilemma of whether or not this subsidy be removed as it is putting pressure on national budget. For this reason the need for energy efficiency management has become imperative. This study assessed the role of mass transit in urban transportation system and how it affects energy demand. Secondary data was used for the study. The study revealed that the use of mass transit would reduce energy demand within the transport sector due to its fuel efficiency potentials. Therefore expanding the intra-city mass transit services within Kumasi Metropolis could offer one of the most effective, efficient and feasible strategy for improving fuel efficie...

- by Emmanuel Anin
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- Business, Energy demand, Key words, Fuel efficiency

Globalization has transformed many of the transnational connections expe-rienced by the diverse constellation of residents, emigrants and immigrants attached to Kumasi. Despite its modest size, these processes have not erased its material... more

- by Gracia Clark
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- Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Urbanism, Ghana

- by George Ashiagbor and +1
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- Land Use/ Land Cover Dynamics and LULc Modeling, Kumasi, species abundance distribution

Analysis of water resources of this area was carried out in order to assessing the water quality by determining the concentrations of Cations, Anions, Heavy metals, Trace elements, PH, Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Solids and microbial loads in water samples. Ten (10) water samples were collected from the study area - samples each of rain water, two pond waters - 1 and 2, stream water, four (4) hand-dug wells, hand pump water and a motorized borehole. The results obtained were compared with WHO standards and it showed that all the cations in water samples are within the limits. The water samples at locations B, E, F, G, H, I, and J have high alkalinity and HC0-3 content. The heavy metals (Pb, Ni and Cd) and trace elements (Fe and Cu) are dominantly high in the surface waters. Microbiological substances in the water samples from the study area revealed indicator organisms higher than the WHO standard for drinking water. Samples obtained from location G, I and J recorded an absence of E...

- by Kakaba Madi
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- Water quality, Ghana, Bacteriological Analysis of Sachet Water, Water Quality
- by Vincent Agyemang
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- Kumasi