Socioeconomic Status and Temporal Urban Environmental Change in Accra: a Comparative Analysis of Area-based Socioeconomic and Urban Environmental Quality Conditions Between Two Time Points

John Arko-Mensah, Joseph Darko, Ezekiel Nii Noye Nortey, Juergen May, Christian G. Meyer, Julius N. Fobil

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)574-582
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Management
Volume63
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2019

Keywords

  • Accra
  • Environmental quality conditions
  • Household waste
  • Per capita generation
  • Sewage
  • Socioeconomic quintiles

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Socioeconomic Status and Temporal Urban Environmental Change in Accra: a Comparative Analysis of Area-based Socioeconomic and Urban Environmental Quality Conditions Between Two Time Points'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this