Spatial Inequalities: Health, Poverty, and Place in Accra, Ghana (GeoJournal Library Book 110)

This book provides a fresh analysis of the demography, health and well-being of a major African city. It brings a range of disciplinary approaches to bear on the pressing topics of urban poverty, urban health inequalities and urban growth. The approach is primarily spatial and includes the integration of environmental information from satellites and other geospatial sources with social science and health survey data. The authors Ghanaians and outsiders, have worked to understand the urban dynamics in this burgeoning West African metropolis, with an emphasis on urban disparities in health and living standards. Few cities in the global South have been examined from so many different perspectives. Our analysis employs a wide range of GIScience methods, including analysis of remotely sensed imagery and spatial statistical analysis, applied to a wide range of data, including census, survey and health clinic data, all of which are supplemented by field work, including systematic social observation, focus groups, and key informant interviews. This book aims to explain and highlight the mix of methods, and the important findings that have been emerging from this research, with the goal of providing guidance and inspiration for others doing similar work in cities of other developing nations. Front Matter....Pages i-x Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction to the Accra School : An Overview of Health, Poverty, and Place in Accra....Pages 3-23 Front Matter....Pages 25-25 Defining Neighborhood Boundaries for Urban Health Research: A Case Study of Accra, Ghana....Pages 27-38 Neighborhoods of Health: Comparing Boundaries for Measuring Contextual Effects on Health in Accra, Ghana....Pages 39-56 Delineation and Classification of Urban Neighborhoods of Accra, Ghana, from Quickbird Imagery: Manual vs. Semi-automated Approaches....Pages 57-71 Methods for Texture-Based Classification of Urban Fringe Areas from Medium and High Resolution Satellite Imagery....Pages 73-86 Front Matter....Pages 87-87 Exploring Social Resilience Among Young Migrants in Old Fadama, an Accra Slum....Pages 89-107 Researching Urban Slum Health in Nima, a Slum in Accra....Pages 109-124 What If Neighbors’ Neighborhoods Differ? The Influence of Neighborhood Definitions of Health Outcomes in Accra....Pages 125-142 Living Arrangements and Fertility: A Case Study in Southern Ghana....Pages 143-157 Fertility in Context: Exploring Egocentric Neighborhoods in Accra....Pages 159-177 Front Matter....Pages 179-179 The Sachet Water Phenomenon in Accra: Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Public Health Implications for Water Security....Pages 181-190 Healthcare Access in Three Residential Neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana....Pages 191-204 Food Security in Accra....Pages 205-213 Back Matter....Pages 215-219