The Geography and Socio-cultural Dynamics of Housing Differentials in Winneba, Ghana

The chapter investigates the housing differentials in Winneba,focusing on the features that inform landlords/ladies or rentersto choose certain geographical areas as well as the socio-culturaldynamics that inform such choices. A number of residents andstakeholders were therefore interviewed to elicit respondents’views on the various factors which motivate people to live in theirsaid communities, challenges they face in the communities andtheir future intentions to either remain or move away from thecommunities. The study was based on the information receivedfrom respondents, including the municipal planning coordinatorand the researcher’s personal observation. The central argumentof this paper is that as some scholars and theories tend to bespecific on the issues of attributes (amenities), economics andgeographical locations, as the main determinants in housingacquisition in respect, this paper uses Winneba as a case study toargue that in Ghana, socio-cultural factors also greatly influencelocation of housing; and people’s willingness to live at certainplaces might not necessarily be linked to economic factors.This alternative explanation to the norm is common in poor(indigenous and migrant) communities used in this study.