TY - JOUR
T1 - Socioeconomic Status and Temporal Urban Environmental Change in Accra
T2 - a Comparative Analysis of Area-based Socioeconomic and Urban Environmental Quality Conditions Between Two Time Points
AU - Arko-Mensah, John
AU - Darko, Joseph
AU - Nortey, Ezekiel Nii Noye
AU - May, Juergen
AU - Meyer, Christian G.
AU - Fobil, Julius N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - The influence of area-based socioeconomic (SE) conditions on environmental quality conditions has recently been reported showing the precise spatial relationship between area-based SE conditions and neighborhood environmental quality in an urban area in a low-income setting. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of understanding of the nature of the relationship on a temporal scale. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic temporal relationship between area-based SE conditions and urban environmental quality conditions over a decadal period in Accra, Ghana. The results showed that there were differences in environmental quality across the SE quintiles in space (with regard to per capita waste generation (p < 0.012), waste collection/clearing (p < 0.01), and waste deposition (p < 0.001) and that the urban environmental quality conditions had changed dramatically over the decade for most of the environmental variables (p < 0.001). Despite the enormous urban development initiatives, some of the environmental quality indicators (e.g., proportion of households without flush toilet/Water Closet, connection to central sewer p < 0.001) appeared to have worsened in the high class quintile, suggesting that a high proportion of households were without acceptable sanitation facilities. The study concludes that urban development in low-income countries will need to follow strictly international best practice by observing standardized building codes and guidelines, if progress should be made in meeting the Millennium Development Goals targets.
AB - The influence of area-based socioeconomic (SE) conditions on environmental quality conditions has recently been reported showing the precise spatial relationship between area-based SE conditions and neighborhood environmental quality in an urban area in a low-income setting. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of understanding of the nature of the relationship on a temporal scale. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic temporal relationship between area-based SE conditions and urban environmental quality conditions over a decadal period in Accra, Ghana. The results showed that there were differences in environmental quality across the SE quintiles in space (with regard to per capita waste generation (p < 0.012), waste collection/clearing (p < 0.01), and waste deposition (p < 0.001) and that the urban environmental quality conditions had changed dramatically over the decade for most of the environmental variables (p < 0.001). Despite the enormous urban development initiatives, some of the environmental quality indicators (e.g., proportion of households without flush toilet/Water Closet, connection to central sewer p < 0.001) appeared to have worsened in the high class quintile, suggesting that a high proportion of households were without acceptable sanitation facilities. The study concludes that urban development in low-income countries will need to follow strictly international best practice by observing standardized building codes and guidelines, if progress should be made in meeting the Millennium Development Goals targets.
KW - Accra
KW - Environmental quality conditions
KW - Household waste
KW - Per capita generation
KW - Sewage
KW - Socioeconomic quintiles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065725488&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00267-019-01150-1
DO - 10.1007/s00267-019-01150-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 30790032
AN - SCOPUS:85065725488
SN - 0364-152X
VL - 63
SP - 574
EP - 582
JO - Environmental Management
JF - Environmental Management
IS - 5
ER -