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Der Photograph Willi Huttig
(2019)
This working paper examines the concept of metabolism and its potential as a critical analytical lens to study the contemporary city from a political perspective. The paper illustrates how the metabolism concept has been used historically, both as a metaphor to describe the technological, social, political and economic dimensions of human-environment relations, and as a concrete analytical tool to quantify and better understand how flows of matter and energy shape the territorial and spatial configurations of cityscapes. Drawing on the example of the urban water metabolism of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), it is argued that contemporary approaches to metabolic analysis should be extended in two ways to increase the integrative potential of the urban water metabolism concept. On the one hand, the paper demonstrates that a political ecology approach is particularly well-suited to illuminate the contested production of urban environments and move beyond a narrow technical, managerial and state- centric focus in research on urban metabolic relations. On the other hand, the paper advocates for an approach to metabolic analysis that views the urban environment not simply as a relatively static exteriority that is produced by dynamic flows of matter, energy and information, but rather as a dynamic, nested and co-evolutionary network of complex biosocial and material relations, which in itself shapes how various metabolisms interact across scales. The paper then concludes by briefly discussing how a combination of metabolic analysis and political ecology research can inform urban water governance. In sum, the paper emphasizes the need for metabolic analysis to remain open to a plurality of different knowledge forms and perspectives, and to remain attentive to the inherently political nature of material and technological phenomena in order to allow for mutually beneficial exchanges between various scholarly communities.
The impacts of intense urbanization and associated urban land-use change along coastlines is vast and unprecedented. Several coasts of the world have been be subjected to human-induced coastal changes and it is imperative to monitor, assess and quantify them. This paper provides the state-of-the-art discourses on the changing dynamics of urban land-use driven by the forces of urbanization. Drawing on extant literature mainly from Web of Science and Google scholar, the status quo of the spatio-temporal dynamics of urbanization and urban change processes were explored with specific focus on global, Africa, Ghana and an actual case of Accra coast. Findings show whilst urbanization continues to increase exponentially, urban land also continue to change markedly. Current trends and patterns shows that changing urban dynamics exhibit are distinctly different from that of the past. Particularly, the rate, magnitude, geographic location, urban forms and functions are changing. In the specific case of Accra coast, there is general trend of urbanization moving outwards, i.e. from the core city centre towards the peripheral areas. Additionally, spatial urban pattern is dominated by urban sprawl, characterized by the cyclical process of diffusion and coalescence. The processes of urbanization are further exacerbated within coastal areas with a new and unique spatial urban form, “tourism urbanization” emerging. This new urban form is largely driven by rapid expansion of tourist infrastructure, developing at the instance of government policy to develop coastal tourism. In addition, the coastal conurbation of Accra-Tema is a powerful hub for industrial and commercial activities, which is drawing huge “humanline” to- wards the coastline. The literature illustrates that contemporary approaches and conceptualizations for urbanization and urban land-use change analysis be extended particularly from the mere focus on statistical classifications of cities in different size categories. With the urban fringe spreading outwardly, it should be kept in mind that new forms of urban settlements are emerging along with varying sizes. Considering the multiple scales, magnitude and rates involved as well as the geospatial patterns of urban change processes, experimental case studies that include coastal cities, Peri-urban fringes and interconnections with rural areas across a range of urbanization processes is essential and very urgent.
The main socio-ecological pressures in five wetlands in the Greater Accra Region were first identified and then summarized by reviewing the relevant literature. As a second step, fieldwork in the region was carried out in 2016 to further examine the pressures identified in the literature. Most research on the wetlands in Ghana was published around the year 2000. Yet, similar socio-ecological pressures persist today. Based on both, fieldwork observations and the literature review, these pressures were ranked using the IUCN pressures system analysis framework. It is suggested that further research needs to proceed with uncovering how trade-offs between ecosystem and quality of life can be defined.
In a first step, this paper analyses the emergence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as new global development framework with regard to key actors, social learning cycles, innovation platforms, fundamental policy changes and transition dynamics towards sustainability. In a second step, it traces the convolution of social, political and environmental dimensions, social power relations and governance paradigms embedded in the drafting process and final framework of the water related SDG 6. This research concludes that the SDGs induced important paradigm and policy changes in addition to rearranging existing power relations.
Stakeholder Mapping
(2019)
This report presents the results of a stakeholder mapping exercise carried out in the WaterPower project. The mapping was conducted for the following main research areas of the project: water supply, land use planning and management, wetland management and climate change adaptation/disaster risk reduction. The report gives an overview of the stakeholders that play a role in these respective areas and identifies those who have concomitant responsibilities in different sectors. It represents the first step towards further involvement of stakeholders in the WaterPower project.