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When home is elsewhere: housing policy challenges in the context of transit migration in Ghana and South Africa

When home is elsewhere: housing policy challenges in the context of transit migration in Ghana... International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2016 Vol. 8, No. 1, 68–82, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2015.1035723 When home is elsewhere: housing policy challenges in the context of transit migration in Ghana and South Africa Eva Dick* and Thorsten Heitkamp Faculty of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany (Received 4 March 2015; accepted 25 March 2015) In the last few years the relevance of transit migration was corroborated for many African countries. Oftentimes, it is related to urban migrants’ subsisting linkages to their areas of origin, other times by the necessity or aspiration for onward journey. Based on recent research, this article examines the conse- quences of transit migration for the urban housing market and related challenges for sustainable housing policies in Ghana and South Africa. While in Ghana governmental housing hardly considers the urban poor, in South Africa a substantial post-apartheid subsidy system explicitly targets the lowest-income population. This article argues that neither approach adequately addresses transitory housing requirements related to mobility. Whereas the informal housing market can and often has responded with pragmatic solutions, it does not provide the maximum benefit to migrants. Therefore urban governments should enhance options in this increasingly important and highly dynamic housing sector recognising and enhancing informal approaches. Keywords: transit migration; housing policy; housing subsidy scheme; urban development; Ghana; South Africa; sustainability encompassing sense than recently suggested by Introduction the strongly politicised focus on African migration Based on case studies in Ghana and South Africa directed to Europe (Marfaing 2011, p. 71f.; this article considers migration dynamics from a Collyer et al. 2012, Müller & Romankiewicz spatial perspective. It focuses on ‘transit cities’ as 2013, p. 15). places that are growing in importance due to Against this background the article examines increasing temporary migration and translocal how dynamics of temporary migration manifest in forms of life, processes that subsequently convert the housing market and what this means for sus- them into ‘targets’ and passageways of migration. tainable and pro-poor-oriented urban policies. Following Marconi (2009), we define transit cities Based on case studies in cities in Ghana and as places ‘where a multitude of networks converge South Africa we show that strongly diversified and intersect, creating a wealth of opportunities for migration processes like temporary, circular or migrants’ (p. 9). From the perspective of migrants, step-wise migration have a distinct impact on peo- transit cities can aptly be described as places ‘in ple’s housing needs. These are as yet primarily which you get by, you look for future perspectives catered for by the informal market through a vari- without excluding the possibility of an onward ety of temporary housing forms and arrangements. journey’ (Marfaing 2011,p.71 ). We thus under- Despite important limitations of these informal stand the term transit migration in a more *Corresponding author. Email: eva.dick@tu-dortmund.de © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 69 responses, we argue that ‘formal’ policy and plan- Data and methodology ning actors should recognise and build upon them The findings presented in this article form part of for adequate poverty reduction strategies for tran- the results of a pre-study about ‘Non-permanent sit migrants. migration, translocality and governance in transit Ghana and South Africa make up interesting cities’, which was conducted between May 2012 cases of comparison since they exhibit common and July 2013 in Ghana and South Africa, respec- features, but also important differences with tively. In that period both countries were visited regard to migration and housing. In terms of several times with the aim of building up research commonalities, both are politically stable and contacts with key informants. Moreover, the field economic ‘power houses’ in their respective trips were used to find indicative evidence on the regional contexts (Turok 2013). Moreover, both ground about contemporary migration patterns and historically possess strong albeit distinct migra- urban as well as housing governance in transit tion dynamics, i.e. North–South survival mobi- cities. lity and trade flows in Ghana and imposed The methodology involved interviews with rural–urban seasonal migration during apartheid representatives from Ghanaian and South in South Africa. Recently their role as centres of African universities and research institutions, regional cross-border migratory systems of per- staff members of government agencies on the sons that follow behind job opportunities has local, provincial and national levels, interna- been accentuated. Neither of the two countries tional organisations and institutions such as has developed an adequate answer to migration GIZ, UNDP, EU and national NGOs. In addi- and its impact on local housing development as tion, more than 60 short interviews were con- of yet. Regarding differences, the two countries ducted with migrants in their daily habitat, i.e. are quite opposing with respect to their policy informal settlements, townships, markets and approaches to low-income housing: While in inner city areas with a strong presence of Ghana a market-based approach predominantly migrants. The interviews were analysed by relying on private delivery geared to higher- means of a structured content analysis, in income groups hardly considers the urban poor, which key categories extracted out of the in South Africa a substantial housing subsidy research questions (predominant forms of migra- system through the post-apartheid housing sub- tion, formal and informal forms of governance, sidy scheme explicitly targets the lowest-income implications for future urban policies and plan- population. ning, etc.) were used as main categories of This article is organised as follows: The next analysis. section discusses the data and methodology underlying this article. Then it presents key con- Conceptual framework cepts of our research, which are instrumental for the understanding and analysis of the case stu- This section discusses some key factors that we dies. A subsequent section provides an outline assume influence the relevance of transit migra- of the respective housing policy context in tion for urban housing in Africa. These com- Ghana and South Africa and their degrees of prise the rising significance of temporary poverty orientation and consideration of mobi- migration processes, urban government perfor- lity. In a next step a variety of temporary hous- mance bottlenecks with respect to migration and ing forms as well as case study-based examples related housing needs, the increasingly impor- of some of them are presented. The last section tant role of informal modes of urban and hous- closes with perspectives for future sustainable ing governance and the limitations of and poor-led urban growth envisaging options territorialised spatial planning within fixed for migrants. administrative boundaries. 70 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp Growing relevance of temporary migration possibility of making use of rural–urban cost dif- processes ferentials, despite increased mobility costs. However, migrants’ linkages may also be related For a long time, migration was considered as a to perceptions of sociocultural belonging. In one-directional move from the countryside to the Ghana, among other factors, they are a conse- city. Individuals and households seeking a better quence of customary entitlements to land and life by migrating to the urban labour markets were housing of the extended family; the larger part of believed to be leaving their hometowns and vil- the urban population of all social strata does there- lages for good (Schmidt-Kallert 2009) although fore not feel at ‘home’ in the city, but rather in the literature has also acknowledged temporary their (oftentimes rural) regions of origin (Dick & labour migration coupled with urban segregation Reuschke 2012, p. 189; Landau 2012b, p. 9). in colonial Anglophone Africa and subsequently More recent studies focusing on the disaggre- apartheid-South Africa (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006; gated household level show characteristic patterns Adepoju 2006; Steinbrink 2009). In the last 20 of mobility that are linked to life cycles. They years, however, it has been recognised that migra- indicate that it is mostly young employable house- tion processes have further diversified, and that hold members, increasingly girls and women, who temporary migration has become more important move (temporarily) to the cities (Beauchemin (Deshingkar 2005; IOM 2008; Schmidt-Kallert 2011, p. 57; Tamanja 2011/2012; Floquet 2013, 2009). In many African countries seasonal or cir- p. 31). Meanwhile, small children and elderly cular migration processes between rural and urban people often stay in the rural areas (Tacoli & areas dominate with respect to permanent rural– Mabala 2010). urban migration (Lynch 2005; Collinson et al. Another form of temporary migration that has 2006; Greiner 2008; Steinbrink 2009). become more important, also in the context of a Seasonal migration in West Africa has a long growing internationalisation of migration, is step- tradition shaped by nomadic life and trade, the wise migration. Here the rural–urban migration to mining industry and cash-crop cultivation so-called ‘gateway cities’ is often a preliminary (Konseiga 2005, Adepoju 2006, Dick & Reuschke step to the (planned) cross-border migration. 2012). In South Africa, since the 1920s, circular These gateway cities tend to also be passageways labour migration was a cornerstone of the segrega- of cross-border migration and trade networks. For tory urbanisation system and, later, since 1948 of instance, Bakewell and Jónsson (2011) have iden- the apartheid legislation (Lynch 2005; Steinbrink tified the Ghanaian metropoles and market places 2009; Posel 2010, p. 129). Today’s circular migra- Kumasi and Accra as nodes of international trade tion processes in Africa are however mostly based mobility. Besides regional trade with the neigh- on the need for securing multi-locational liveli- bouring countries, transcontinental relationships hoods of poor populations in the context of urbani- with China and the Arab Emirates are becoming sation without production-based economic growth increasingly relevant for these cities (p. 5). For the (Lynch 2005; Kombe & Kreibich 2006; Greiner South African province of Gauteng, in which the 2008; Steinbrink 2009; Turok 2013), partly result- international metropolis of Johannesburg as well ing in slowing down or even counter-urbanisation as the national capital of Pretoria is located, trends (Potts 2008, 2009). Landau (2010) posits that there are increasingly The combination of ‘urban’ with ‘rural’ complex migration patterns, which are charac- sources of income and the preservation of ‘rural’ terised by an overlap of circular, permanent and social relations, networks and lifestyles can thus step-wise migration paths within the metropolitan predominantly be attributed to material constraints area: ‘For reasons of location, infrastructure, inten- of peoples and households. In economic terms, tion and experience, the province is as much a such multi-locational livelihoods offer the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 71 place of transit as destination’ (p. 8). According to ‘If we could, we would help everybody, but it is difficult because you cannot get information on Landau, aspirations for passage, profit and protec- these people because they do not have jobs and tion constitute overarching motivations for these do not necessarily intend to stay here. You can’t migratory moves (Landau 2012a, p. 229). provide them with housing. Before they can see the house they are gone again.’ (quoted in Landau et al. 2011b, p. 92) Inadequate answers of urban governments to Migration processes are thus rarely perceived as a migration poverty reduction strategy of households worth supporting ([IOM] 2008, p. 188; Inkoom 2008, The governance of migration processes in many p. 14). On the contrary, both in Ghana and in African cities often is characterised by a multitude South Africa there are no state programmes for of shortcomings. It is noted that weak urban gov- the support of (temporary) migrants – rather, urban ernments are seeking to mould public regulation development and migration are treated as separate into static and predictable forms, which do not policy areas. The reason for this lies in a ‘norma- reflect demographic dynamics. City governments tive bias towards stable populations’ (Landau et al. and administrations tend to not consider them as 2011b, p. 93) and, if at all, concerns with handling their responsibility, not least due to shortages in urban ‘entry’ or ‘insertion’ rather than transit financial resources and staff. If at all, the respon- (Yankson & Bertrand 2012). Additionally, tempor- sibility for migration is attributed to the national ary migrants rarely form part of local consultation level (Landau 2010, p. 3) that however hardly processes and arenas of participation within muni- knows the reality on the ground. In addition to cipal development planning; non-citizens are the scarcity of resources, the management of sometimes excluded by law (Yankson & Bertrand migration processes is hampered by a lack of 2012, p. 42; Landau et al. 2011a, p. 37, 2011b, information and knowledge about the relevant p. 91f.). migration dynamics and their implications in their respective urban context. In addition, urban development planning and budgeting are based on The important role of informality the registered population, which in most cases does not reflect demographic dynamics through The situation of (temporary) migrants in African informal and transient processes of urbanisation cities is aggravated by an adverse attitude or a ‘do (Landau 2010, p. 3; Zoomers et al. 2011,p. nothing approach’ (interview with metropolitan 497f). In South Africa, for instance, the large planner in Kumasi, Ghana) of urban governments time lag of the budget allocation process through towards informal settlements. Both are at odds the Local Government Equitable Share system with a pro-poor development agenda, which and lack of coordination between different levels incorporates the needs and priorities of commu- of government and administration represent major nities. In most African countries informal settle- challenges (Landau et al. 2011a, b). ments are the most manifest expression of city- Additionally, on the governmental level a pro- bound migration (Landau et al. 2011a,p. 38) and blem-oriented perspective on migration dominates. important passageways for transmigrants First and foremost, migration is seen as a burden on (Yankson & Bertrand 2012; Yankson 2012a; urban housing and labour markets, but also on public Landau 2012b, p. 15). In accordance with inter- infrastructure, utility services and image. This is even national ‘good practices’ of urban and housing more the case for temporary migration processes, development, both Ghana and South Africa have which tend to be regarded as menacing and unfor- formulated laws and initiatives of in situ informal eseeable, as aptly expressed by a statement of the settlement upgrading (GoG 2010, p. 69; Tipple local planner of a medium-sized South African town: 2011,p.132; GoSA 2015). However, their 72 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp implementation tends to be slow if occurring at serious challenges to sustainable and inclusionary all. In both countries, the eradication of informal urban governance approaches (Saunders 2010; housing structures and displacement of their inha- Harber 2011; Landau 2012b). bitants are occurring quite frequently, particularly As a consequence, in the authors’ perspective, in the case of conflicts with powerful economic urban governments and planning authorities interests (so that a ‘do nothing approach’ to resi- should acknowledge these various forms of infor- dents usually means the lesser of the two evils), mal ‘bottom-up’ contributions while at the same resulting in significant gaps between a partly pro- time addressing their limitations, and use them for gressive policy discourse and mostly repressive a critical reflection and adjustment of the territor- urban practice (Huchzermeyer 2009,p. 64f.; ialised and sectoralised planning practice. Pithouse 2009,p.9ff.; Topham 2011,p.17; Marais & Ntema 2013,p.87; Turok 2013,p.150). Limitations of territorialised planning The everyday management of temporary migration and multi-locality, e.g. in the area of Regarding migration, one of the main problems of housing, is therefore primarily based on ‘informal’ urban governments is their container-based con- support of mostly origin-based migrant networks ception of space, according to which social pro- (Inkoom 2008; Steinbrink 2009; Schmidt-Kallert cesses can be adequately analysed and addressed 2009). Although showing significant limitations, within pre-given geographic or political-adminis- these networks also possess some positive ele- trative units such as nation states, provinces, muni- ments. They tend to be unbound by urban or cipalities and districts. Although this is appealing provincial government boundaries, as well as sec- from an administrative perspective, in the view of toral borders, and therefore possess a higher flex- the multiplication of social and spatial engage- ibility than statutory institutions with respect to ments and practices transgressing fixed borders, their geographic and topical range of action. One an increasingly dynamic understanding of space may thus argue that, by catering to developmental has evolved in recent years. From this perspective, needs of people and communities ‘in transit’, they space is constituted by economic, social and cul- effectively practice multi-sited or translocal gov- tural practices and conceived of as a networked ernance, directed to both places of origin and structure (Castells 1997). destination of migration. Governments rarely Given the often multi-locational nature of peo- acknowledge, let alone incorporate, these positive ple’s livelihoods, local development and govern- elements, but tend to see these self-organisations ance processes need to be conceptualised in the of the urban poor as antagonists of formal plan- light of increasing migration-related linkages and ning expertise and control processes (Pithouse economic as well as political flows with other 2009, p. 4; Huchzermeyer 2009, p. 63). places. In contrast, a purely localised approach to Regarding limitations, ‘informal’ migrant net- development is insufficient in situations in which works tend to provide support for the socio-eco- ‘local’ opportunities and risks are to a large extent nomic and/or political needs of their own people, the result of governance networks acting through thereby leaving the situation of other vulnerable different geographic scales and sectors (Zoomers groups unabated (Choi 2011/2012, p. 7). & van Westen 2011, p. 377; Zoomers et al. 2011, Furthermore, they entail relatively low levels of p. 492). social capital transfer and possible upgrading or Municipalities themselves are progressively ‘formalisation’ options. In certain cases this sup- coming to the insight that networking on several port may be brought by using coercion and even spatial and organisational levels leads to better violence (Saunders 2010). Lastly, a fragmentation results in the steering of urban development of group-related, ‘informal’ support regimes and (e. g. Government of Ghana 2010, p. 70). For their highly differentiated norms might pose instance in South Africa, in the context of the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 73 local government reform of 2000, the number of is due to a strong contrast between the need for municipalities was considerably reduced (from mobility of people imposed by economic and 800 to 283) and municipal borders enlarged, labour market shifts in increasingly globalised among other reasons, to adjust administrative bor- African space economies (Zoomers, van Westen ders to economic realities and promote regional 2011; Turok 2013) and the immobility of housing networks. However, in the vast majority of cases provision. As the examples of South Africa and the issue of migration is not considered, and even Ghana show, this applies both for countries with in less regard is taken of the specific housing needs principle pro-poor housing policies, programmes of temporary migrants. and institutions and for countries in which these are non-existent. Housing policy context in Ghana and South Africa Housing context in Ghana This article focuses on the consequences of transit In Ghana, unlike for example in South Africa, migration for the urban housing market and sus- there is no National Housing Policy in place, tainable governance processes. Housing constitu- although a draft version has currently been pre- tes a basic condition for migrants’ access to urban pared by the Ghanaian Ministry of Water opportunity structures such as employment and Resources, Works and Housing in order to address education. Furthermore, it is a central element of the country’s housing deficit. The reasons for this individual and collective poverty alleviation in deficit are complex, but can be attributed to rapid Africa’s urbanising societies. The relevance of urban population growth accompanied by a slow urban housing provision also manifests in the housing supply and poor housing delivery fact that the larger part of the poor and mobile mechanisms (with respect to processes of land population is living in informal and often precar- transfer, availability of housing finance and con- ious housing conditions. In Ghana, about 90% of struction costs), which satisfy only a small propor- the urban housing units have emerged through tion of the demand. The result is overcrowding informal processes (Tipple 2011, p. XXII; CAHF and a growth of informal settlements: ‘Current 2012: 70f.; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795), estimates indicate that the country needs at least while in South Africa the current census 2011 100,000 housing units annually while supply is reports that 14% of all housing units were estab- estimated at 35% of the total need’ (GoG 2010, lished informally and further 8% were traditional p. 68; Ofori & Ayivor 2013, p. 255). dwellings (Stats SA 2012). For the two countries Generally, the Ghanaian affordable housing the statement can be made that ‘politically infor- supply for low-income households shows a variety mal settlements are a hot potato’ (2012 Interview of institutional and ‘practical’ problems. First, in with African Centre for Migration and Society, the last 30 years and in accordance with the inter- 2013 Interview with Johannesburg Housing national discourse, the housing market was Department) since no clear standpoint towards increasingly privatised. Since then government them has as yet been developed. institutions and state housing companies have In many African countries, national and urban hardly had a direct impact on urban housing, housing policies – if in place – are formulated except for providing incentives for private compa- without considering the needs of the mobile and nies by ‘enabling’ investment frameworks. Poorer transitory population who find themselves in a population groups are hardly reached, despite con- particularly vulnerable position. Apart from the trary statements of intent (Arku et al. 2012,p. aspects already mentioned (sedentary bias of gov- 3179). Before the start of the privatisation in the ernments, adverse attitude towards informal settle- early 1990s, public housing corporations have ments and modes of control and organisation), this offered housing primarily for civil servants (Arku 74 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp et al. 2012 p. 3180f.). The current construction (Article 26). Since that time a number of housing activities of large developers exclusively benefit policy initiatives have been introduced that have members of the urban middle and upper classes yielded large welfare state inputs in the form of (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 71; Tipple 2011,p. massive subsidised home building, mostly out- xxvi; CAHF 2012. Yearbook 2012, p. 71; Yankson sourced to private developers. 2012a, p. 166, 2012b, p. 195). Well-known and in quantitative terms the most Overall, the quantitative and qualitative hous- important is the post-apartheid project-linked ing deficit is high. In numeric terms it has been housing subsidy scheme developed in the context estimated to stand in excess of one million units of the Reconstruction and Development (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178; CAHF 2012. Yearbook Programme (RDP). The subsidy scheme was con- 2012, p. 70f; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795). tinued within the Growth Employment and Housing tenancy arrangements dominate owner- Redistribution Strategy (GEAR), which replaced ship by far; however, the rental sector has been the RDP in 1996. Under this subsidy programme largely neglected after the abolition of government approximately three million residential units had rent controls in the 1980s. Owing to the growing been provided by May 2013 at no cost to its demand, the scarcity of housing land in the beneficiaries (website SouthAfrica.info, 2014, agglomeration areas (much of which is controlled website CAHF). Over time, new housing policy through customary tenure) and high construction laws and instruments were added, such as the and financing costs, rents have risen sharply Housing Act in 1997, the initiative ‘Breaking (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 83; Arku et al. New Ground: A Comprehensive plan for 2012, p. 1378; Yankson 2012b, p. 195ff). Since Developing Sustainable Human Settlements’ formal housing supply is beyond the rajority of the (BNG) in 2004 and the Social Housing Act in Ghanaian population and due to the (self- 2006. All of these initiatives are designed to facil- itate low-income households’ access to housing admittedly) weak capacity of government agencies to provide adequate housing facilities, about 90% markets. The access to affordable housing was of urban housing units emerged through informal meanwhile complicated by sharply rising prices, processes (Tipple 2011, p. XXII; CAHF, 2014,p. e.g. between the years 1997 and 2004 the average 70f; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795), ‘produced house price in South Africa more than tripled by numerous small builders and individual own- (United Nations 2012, p. 5). ers’ (Yankson 2012b, p. 166). Not least for this Despite all of these policy initiatives, their reason, e. g. in Accra, the majority of urban resi- implementation has faced important challenges. In dents live in ‘overcrowded, deteriorated and low- quantitative terms, housing demand still largely income rental accommodations without proper outstrips the supply. It is estimated that the number sanitation, roads, drainage, water supply or waste of informal settlements increased from 300 in 1994 disposal systems’ (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 83; to 2700 in 2010 and, within the same period, the Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178). housing deficit in the affordable housing segment augmented from 1.5 to 2.1 million units (Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa 2012, p. Housing context in South Africa 125). With the qualification criteria of a monthly In 1996, after the end of apartheid rule in 1994, income of no more than R3 500, approximately South Africa approved a new constitution, which 60% of South African households are eligible is considered one of the most progressive in the under the so-called RDP housing subsidy scheme, world. It comprises a ‘bill of rights’, which many of whom spend a long time on waiting lists includes, among other aspects, a qualified right (Tissington et al. 2013). Households that fall short to affordable housing requesting the state to take of the funding under the housing subsidy scheme reasonable measures within its available resources because of their higher incomes are another International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 75 problem, since hardly any housing programme is rental housing (Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 793; available for them (view Centre for Affordable Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181). Housing Finance in Africa 2012, p. 124f). In qua- For low-income migrants it is common that, litative terms, the housing approach of the first after their arrival in the city, they first stay rent- post-apartheid decade focusing on new construc- free as house sharers with already-established tion of free-standing units was even less able to family members or friends in urban migrant neigh- comprehensively solve the problem of inadequate bourhoods (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181; Yankson access to affordable housing. Key dimensions such 2012b, p. 185). In Ghana these areas are called as housing quality, location and ownership were ‘Zongos’, a term from the Hausa language, which neglected, and communities or their organisations means ‘camping place for caravans’ or a ‘lodging were hardly involved in housing design and deliv- place for travellers’ (Adjei Mensah 2010, p. 60), ery (Huchzermeyer 2009; Pithouse 2009; Marais & denoting the transit function of these areas. Ntema 2013). Against the background of these Migrants without family or origin-based networks shortcomings, in the BNG initiative in 2004 strong in these areas often share the rent of individual emphasis is placed on the participatory develop- rooms within family-owned compound houses ment of socio-spatially integrated and sustainable (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181; Ofori & Ayivor 2013, settlements (Website BNG). These principles are p. 254). Yet other migrants – mostly young, mar- however, up to this time, only hesitantly being ried men with working experience in construction accounted for in practice (Huchzermeyer 2009; – live alone or with their family for at times Pithouse 2009). extended periods as so-called caretakers in half- finished homes of the middle and upper classes, mostly in the peri-urban fringe areas of the large Ghanaian cities (Gough & Yankson 2011; Arku Transit migration and housing forms in Ghana et al. 2012, p. 3181). Finally, the housing situation and South Africa traders who stay in the city on weekdays of Since neither in Ghana nor in South Africa formal (usually during market opening) is particularly policies address transitory housing requirements precarious: they tend to sleep in their stalls or in related to migration, these are almost entirely temporarily occupied accommodations in proxi- catered for by the informal market. In this section mity to the market without any services or infra- we present a variety of informal housing arrange- structure, with serious implications for personal ments, which underline today’s transit function of and public hygiene and safety in many central urban areas. city areas (interview with market vendors in In Ghana, the Ghana Medium-Term National Techiman, November 2012). Development Policy Framework 2010–2013 testi- The described living conditions are per se fies the lack of consideration of migration transitory (see Box 1), i.e. a ‘stop over’ before dynamics for housing: It regards urban sprawl moving on to another city or neighbourhood within urban areas as ‘a result of the attractiveness within the same urban region (Gough & Yankson [of cities] to rural migrants’ (GoG 2010, p. 70; see 2011; Yankson & Bertrand 2012; Bertrand 2011). also Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178) but does not refer With respect to intra-urban moves, typical neigh- directly to temporary migration dynamics and bourhood successions (e.g. from recent to more migration-related needs or vulnerabilities in the established neighbourhoods) as well as succes- housing sector. However, these are reflected in a sions of housing forms (e.g. from ‘sharing’ to variety of informal housing practices that differ paid rental) can be identified. Thus, a certain and from those of the established low-income popula- often informal ‘housing ladder’ is in place, from tion and can be assigned only partially to the which ‘trading up’ towards formal rental or own- dualistic categories of housing ownership versus ership housing is albeit seldom possible (Landau 76 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp Box 1: Experiences of transitional housing in Ghana (Interviews 2012). Young taxi driver in Accra: He is from Kasoa, which is about one-hour drive from Accra. This is where he was born and went to school, but there are no work opportunities in Kasoa. So he came to Accra and started to work in the taxi business of somebody he knew from his hometown. He wants to become independent, owning a taxi business himself. Sees Kasoa as his home area, returns there every weekend because that is where his family house is located. In Accra he shares a room with a friend from Kasoa in order to save money. The room is in Nima, a long-established migrant settlement or Zongo. Young woman in Kumasi: She comes from the Northern Region and sells millet balls at Kumasi Central Market. She shares one room in one of the large migrant settlements with seven other women who are all from the same ethnic group and area of origin. She has come alone and been in Kumasi for four years. After their safe arrival every woman called the next woman by cellphone. They all work as head porters at the market. Usually she stays in Kumasi for three months, and then leaves for her hometown for two months, in order to rest. With the money she earns she buys clothes to get ready for marriage. Once she has accumulated enough to get married she intends to return up North. Towel vendor in Techiman: He has been coming to the market in Techiman for the last 24 years. He stays during market days (Thursday and Friday) and then travels back to Kumasi where he is based. In Techiman he sleeps at Tamale station close to the market. He talks about many problems associated with that: It is a dangerous place and unhealthy. If there was a possibility he would like to join with approx. ten people and rent a place together. But renting on his own is too expensive. In Kumasi he is renting an apartment together with his family of six. They live in Afoaso, which is a long-established neighbourhood. Two sack vendors in Techiman: They come from Mali and sell grain sacks to market vendors but also to individual buyers. They came 13 years ago, directly from Gao in Mali. They go back every three years but do not send money since they do not save sufficiently. They live in Jerusalem, a migrant Zongo, under one of the sub-chiefs. There are some Malians in this area, as well as people from many other countries and Ghanaian regions. Both of them live there with their wives and children. 2012a, p. 223). Many migrants live separated from affordable housing in particular via the so-called their families, who stay permanently or part of the RDP housing subsidy scheme, it is noted that, year at other locations within or outside of Ghana. similar to the situation in Ghana, this makes no In many cases, these are the regions or cities of direct reference to migration dynamics. On the origin, where the migrants have entitlements over contrary, the so-called RDP housing market is lands and shares in family houses (Gough & considered by many experts as a system of hous- Yankson 2011, p. 800). Conversely, it is particu- ing supply that does not meet the reality of larly difficult for a large proportion of mobile migrants (group interviews with African Centre populations to gain a foothold in the urban hous- for Migration and Society, Ekurhuleni Metro ing market, because ‘an insufficient length of resi- Municipality; personal communication with dence in town deprive[s them] of efficient Finmark Trust, NUSP, September and November networks and, “canons” of participation’ (Yank 2012). Temporary migrants follow job opportu- son & Bertrand 2012, p. 42). nities in short intervals, whereas so-called RDPs, In South Africa, although government institu- as ownership-based housing, implicitly earmark tions have an impact on the provision of sedentary population. Harber (2011) describes International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 77 this situation for Diepsloot, a big peri-urban post- homogeneity. But today’s reality of South Africa apartheid settlement in the north of is one of high unemployment, mobility, diversity, Johannesburg: ‘25% of the Diepsloot population increased international migration flows and new does not want to own houses. Maybe they have household patterns that are rarely based on the houses elsewhere and they are in the area tem- traditional family structure. ‘The gap between porarily and do not want to put resources into polity and reality was a chasm’ (ibid, p. 160f). their immovable assets. Diepsloot functions like a Moreover, interviews that were conducted with hotel to Johannesburg’ (Harber 2011,p.153). A senior staff members of metropolitan municipali- big constraint is that international migrants can- ties in Gauteng suggested that the ‘RDP concept not legally take advantage of the subsidy scheme. is not sustainable’ (2012 interview with ‘The minute you put houses there you will realize Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality). that many of them are not eligible for housing’ The housing supply of migrants is therefore (ibid, p. 148). In addition, as Harber puts it, the usually informal, mostly in so-called backyard so-called RDP model is based on full employ- shacks that in many cases are located on the ment, social stability, orderliness, impervious properties of so-called RDP houses and thus nation states, family households and provide their owners with a source of income, Box 2: Experiences of transitional housing in South Africa (Interviews 2012). Young guard in Diepsloot/Johannesburg: He is 22 years old and arrived two months back in Diepsloot from Limpopo province. He works at the Civil Service Centre and speaks excellent English. He lives in a rented room in Section 2, paying 300 Rand/month. His intention is to stay there for a few years, although he mentions that Diepsloot is very dangerous at night. Vendor at cash store in Freedom Square/Bloemfontein: He is 32 years old and arrived from the Eastern Cape in 2010. He came with his father and lives in his father’s self-constructed house 20 minutes’ walking distance away. He goes home 3–4 times a year because he believes that life is better in the Eastern Cape. 28-year-old shepherd from Lesotho: He sells sheep and cattle to locals for funeral services, and lives in a shack in phase 3 of Freedom Square, Bloemfontein, where he does not pay rent. He arrived 10 years back, because there were no jobs in Lesotho. In general terms he thinks that life is better in South Africa. He is job hunting because he does not want to be a shepherd all his life. In Freedom Square he lives with his father, whereas his mother stays back home in Lesotho. Group of six young male adults, Freedom Square/Bloemfontein: All of them are unemployed but they are raising racing dogs and selling diamonds from Lesotho. Two of them live in RDP houses, the rest in shacks. They came from the neighbouring towns Bellefontain and Botshabelo, one was living on a farm before and the other three were born in Freedom Square. They describe their current living conditions as ok, but they also mention that they don’t have a choice. Two Somali vendors in Jerusalem/Ekurhuleni: In 1998 they moved to Rustenberg and Pretoria without knowing anybody. Then they moved to an informal settlement near Jerusalem. Living conditions are very hard, especially because of xenophobic attacks. Recently seven shops had to close down. Their option was ‘to move out or die’. Both Somali vendors pay 800 Rand/month but have to sleep in the shop, because it is not safe outside. They feel that they do not have any perspective, ‘nobody helps’. In our field study follow-up six months later, they were not to be found, presumably having moved on. 78 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp often the only one. However, there are large formation in the form of detached homes informal settlements in the peri-urban area of (Marais & Ntema 2013, p. 86). In the opinion big cities that perform the function of ‘reception of South African migration researchers this is a areas’ in which newly arrived migrants can build form of housing that is hardly suitable to meet their own shack, although without being con- the residential needs of a newly urbanised popu- nected to technical infrastructure and services lation. In addition, the absence of a ‘housing or sometimes provided with basic services like ladder’ (staggered and widely available housing chemical toilets (view Box 2). offer) is noted that would allow tenants to acquire The field studies we conducted in South real estate if they wish to (Landau 2012a,p. African informal settlements indicate a high 222f; Rust 2007, p. 8). level of intra-regional and short-distance mobi- lity of migrants. After their first, usually very Conclusions and perspectives precarious, dwelling they try to improve this situation by moving to more consolidated This article focuses on the increasing impor- areas of informal settlements that are better tance of transit migration and on its implica- equipped with infrastructure. Family, ethnic or tions for urban governance in the field of national affiliations are also crucial for the housing using the examples of Ghana and choice of residential location of migrants. South Africa. It is based on insights drawn Thus, in downtown Johannesburg there are from the review of literature as well as primary blocks of flats predominantly inhabited by peo- data collection and analysis in selected cities of ple from Somalia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, just the two countries. as there are for instance majority-Zulu areas in The objective of the article was to point out informal settlements or townships like concrete housing-related manifestations of transit Alexandra in Johannesburg (2012 interviews in migration and their implications for sustainable Alexandra). housing and urban development. Thus typical It is recognised by the state that the problem of housing and tenure forms of transitory population housing supply for the migrant population is get- groups were presented for both Ghana and South ting little public attention. Apart from the supply- Africa. While in both countries the informal hous- side approaches to housing provision (see, e.g., the ing market offers an entry point and instances of a so-called RDP subsidy system), only few concepts housing ladder to poor migrants, it alone does not are currently being developed or supported, which provide the maximum benefit to migrants. Rather could offer a demand-driven response to the spe- transitory population groups tend to be in a parti- cific needs of temporary migrants. One is the cularly vulnerable housing position, examples are Community Rental Units (CRU) programme that street traders exposed to insecure and unhealthy intends to ‘facilitate provision of affordable rental urban environments or backyard shack renters tenure for those earning below R3.500, including without access to basic services. It is further argued informal renters, not able to access formal private that the lack of integration of mobility dynamics in rental and social housing market[s]’ (Pienaar local and notably housing development policies 2010, p. 5, website BNG). constitutes a chief reason for the vulnerability of The problem of the housing supply of transit migrants in the two countries. This is even migrant population is a complex one, both poli- more the case given the highly territorialised nature tically and on the ground. Some solutions already of urban policies, which is at odds with the mobility constitute everyday practice, like renting space in and survival strategies of many poor urbanites. RDP houses, but as yet are officially discouraged In both countries, complexities in this field are and thus ‘informal’. The focus of public housing high and there are no easy solutions to a highly supply still remains on housing property politicised housing sector endowed with limited International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 79 institutional and financial capacities. In this sense, it different governmental and administrative levels must be stated that apart from migration-related pro- are weak in this regard. Diversifying housing blems, housing policies in the two countries can be options and articulating informal and formal criticised on other fronts as well. However, differen- mechanisms are pertinent in both countries. tiated migration dynamics do call for fundamental Examples are providing access to basic services to housing policy adjustments if future pro-poor and backyard shack renters and enhancing the capacity sustainable urban growth were to be attained. These to run low-income rental housing as a tenure form adjustments involve matters of recognition, more adapted to the needs of mobile populations. approaches for policy action and new forms of coop- Regarding new forms of cooperation and repre- eration and representation. sentation in South Africa and in Ghana, migrants and In terms of recognition, it is necessary that hous- their organisations need to be better integrated in ing and urban researchers as well as policymakers local development and planning forums, not least acknowledge the important ‘transit’ function of by means of an improved articulation between ‘infor- cities, as well as the poverty-alleviation relevance mal’ and formal governance. And lastly, in order to of the underlying forms of mobility. Having said tackle limitations of territorialised planning, there is a this, it is clear that economically vibrant, well-con- need to stretch housing development and planning nected employment centres show more transit func- beyond municipal borders, to take into account – tions than others, since temporary migration many times short-distance or intra-metropolitan – dynamics are mainly driven by the availability of economic ‘functional spaces’ and thereby better pro- job opportunities. In contrast to the notion of transit, vide for mobility-related trajectories and networks. to date, urban and housing-related research and poli- cies have been more biased towards urban ‘entry’ and ‘insertion’ (Yankson & Bertrand 2012). The Disclosure statement transit function tends to be spatially concentrated in No potential conflict of interest was reported by the informal zones or neighbourhoods such as migrant authors. ‘Zongos’, inner-city transitional areas and slum set- tlements, which typically act as gateways in the Funding context of intra-urban or translocal mobility. It is The research was supported by the Mercator Research largely in these areas that transit housing practices Center Ruhr, Germany (grant number An-2012-0026). of migrants tend to converge. In terms of approaches for policy action, it was shown that while South Africa and Ghana pursue Notes starkly different strategies with respect to regulat- 1. Translated from the German original. ing and providing low-income housing – state ver- 2. Until the end of 2012 this allocation process was sus market-led – both prove equally inadequate for based on population figures of the 2001 Census. mobile populations. A key prerequisite for integrat- 3. The Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies 2010–2016 recognises ing migration into housing and local development informalisation to be ‘a spontaneous and creative in both countries is thus an improved understanding response to the formal economy’s incapacity to of migration dynamics, their causes and spatial satisfy basic needs’ (State of Ghana 2010, p. 19). patterns. While in Ghana limited data exists about 4. Still today the post-apartheid-project-linked housing inter- and intra-regional migration dynamics, in subsidy scheme is commonly referred to as ‘RDP housing’ (Website DHS). This article will refer to it South Africa much data is available. However, in as ‘so-called RDP housing’. both countries there is a lack of integration of 5. At the time of writing this document is equivalent demographic dynamics and (temporary) mobility to approx. USD 320. for local and national housing development; further 6. 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Int Dev 20Backyard%20Rentals_Steve%20Topham.pdf Plann Rev. 33:491–499. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Taylor & Francis

When home is elsewhere: housing policy challenges in the context of transit migration in Ghana and South Africa

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International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2016 Vol. 8, No. 1, 68–82, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2015.1035723 When home is elsewhere: housing policy challenges in the context of transit migration in Ghana and South Africa Eva Dick* and Thorsten Heitkamp Faculty of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany (Received 4 March 2015; accepted 25 March 2015) In the last few years the relevance of transit migration was corroborated for many African countries. Oftentimes, it is related to urban migrants’ subsisting linkages to their areas of origin, other times by the necessity or aspiration for onward journey. Based on recent research, this article examines the conse- quences of transit migration for the urban housing market and related challenges for sustainable housing policies in Ghana and South Africa. While in Ghana governmental housing hardly considers the urban poor, in South Africa a substantial post-apartheid subsidy system explicitly targets the lowest-income population. This article argues that neither approach adequately addresses transitory housing requirements related to mobility. Whereas the informal housing market can and often has responded with pragmatic solutions, it does not provide the maximum benefit to migrants. Therefore urban governments should enhance options in this increasingly important and highly dynamic housing sector recognising and enhancing informal approaches. Keywords: transit migration; housing policy; housing subsidy scheme; urban development; Ghana; South Africa; sustainability encompassing sense than recently suggested by Introduction the strongly politicised focus on African migration Based on case studies in Ghana and South Africa directed to Europe (Marfaing 2011, p. 71f.; this article considers migration dynamics from a Collyer et al. 2012, Müller & Romankiewicz spatial perspective. It focuses on ‘transit cities’ as 2013, p. 15). places that are growing in importance due to Against this background the article examines increasing temporary migration and translocal how dynamics of temporary migration manifest in forms of life, processes that subsequently convert the housing market and what this means for sus- them into ‘targets’ and passageways of migration. tainable and pro-poor-oriented urban policies. Following Marconi (2009), we define transit cities Based on case studies in cities in Ghana and as places ‘where a multitude of networks converge South Africa we show that strongly diversified and intersect, creating a wealth of opportunities for migration processes like temporary, circular or migrants’ (p. 9). From the perspective of migrants, step-wise migration have a distinct impact on peo- transit cities can aptly be described as places ‘in ple’s housing needs. These are as yet primarily which you get by, you look for future perspectives catered for by the informal market through a vari- without excluding the possibility of an onward ety of temporary housing forms and arrangements. journey’ (Marfaing 2011,p.71 ). We thus under- Despite important limitations of these informal stand the term transit migration in a more *Corresponding author. Email: eva.dick@tu-dortmund.de © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 69 responses, we argue that ‘formal’ policy and plan- Data and methodology ning actors should recognise and build upon them The findings presented in this article form part of for adequate poverty reduction strategies for tran- the results of a pre-study about ‘Non-permanent sit migrants. migration, translocality and governance in transit Ghana and South Africa make up interesting cities’, which was conducted between May 2012 cases of comparison since they exhibit common and July 2013 in Ghana and South Africa, respec- features, but also important differences with tively. In that period both countries were visited regard to migration and housing. In terms of several times with the aim of building up research commonalities, both are politically stable and contacts with key informants. Moreover, the field economic ‘power houses’ in their respective trips were used to find indicative evidence on the regional contexts (Turok 2013). Moreover, both ground about contemporary migration patterns and historically possess strong albeit distinct migra- urban as well as housing governance in transit tion dynamics, i.e. North–South survival mobi- cities. lity and trade flows in Ghana and imposed The methodology involved interviews with rural–urban seasonal migration during apartheid representatives from Ghanaian and South in South Africa. Recently their role as centres of African universities and research institutions, regional cross-border migratory systems of per- staff members of government agencies on the sons that follow behind job opportunities has local, provincial and national levels, interna- been accentuated. Neither of the two countries tional organisations and institutions such as has developed an adequate answer to migration GIZ, UNDP, EU and national NGOs. In addi- and its impact on local housing development as tion, more than 60 short interviews were con- of yet. Regarding differences, the two countries ducted with migrants in their daily habitat, i.e. are quite opposing with respect to their policy informal settlements, townships, markets and approaches to low-income housing: While in inner city areas with a strong presence of Ghana a market-based approach predominantly migrants. The interviews were analysed by relying on private delivery geared to higher- means of a structured content analysis, in income groups hardly considers the urban poor, which key categories extracted out of the in South Africa a substantial housing subsidy research questions (predominant forms of migra- system through the post-apartheid housing sub- tion, formal and informal forms of governance, sidy scheme explicitly targets the lowest-income implications for future urban policies and plan- population. ning, etc.) were used as main categories of This article is organised as follows: The next analysis. section discusses the data and methodology underlying this article. Then it presents key con- Conceptual framework cepts of our research, which are instrumental for the understanding and analysis of the case stu- This section discusses some key factors that we dies. A subsequent section provides an outline assume influence the relevance of transit migra- of the respective housing policy context in tion for urban housing in Africa. These com- Ghana and South Africa and their degrees of prise the rising significance of temporary poverty orientation and consideration of mobi- migration processes, urban government perfor- lity. In a next step a variety of temporary hous- mance bottlenecks with respect to migration and ing forms as well as case study-based examples related housing needs, the increasingly impor- of some of them are presented. The last section tant role of informal modes of urban and hous- closes with perspectives for future sustainable ing governance and the limitations of and poor-led urban growth envisaging options territorialised spatial planning within fixed for migrants. administrative boundaries. 70 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp Growing relevance of temporary migration possibility of making use of rural–urban cost dif- processes ferentials, despite increased mobility costs. However, migrants’ linkages may also be related For a long time, migration was considered as a to perceptions of sociocultural belonging. In one-directional move from the countryside to the Ghana, among other factors, they are a conse- city. Individuals and households seeking a better quence of customary entitlements to land and life by migrating to the urban labour markets were housing of the extended family; the larger part of believed to be leaving their hometowns and vil- the urban population of all social strata does there- lages for good (Schmidt-Kallert 2009) although fore not feel at ‘home’ in the city, but rather in the literature has also acknowledged temporary their (oftentimes rural) regions of origin (Dick & labour migration coupled with urban segregation Reuschke 2012, p. 189; Landau 2012b, p. 9). in colonial Anglophone Africa and subsequently More recent studies focusing on the disaggre- apartheid-South Africa (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006; gated household level show characteristic patterns Adepoju 2006; Steinbrink 2009). In the last 20 of mobility that are linked to life cycles. They years, however, it has been recognised that migra- indicate that it is mostly young employable house- tion processes have further diversified, and that hold members, increasingly girls and women, who temporary migration has become more important move (temporarily) to the cities (Beauchemin (Deshingkar 2005; IOM 2008; Schmidt-Kallert 2011, p. 57; Tamanja 2011/2012; Floquet 2013, 2009). In many African countries seasonal or cir- p. 31). Meanwhile, small children and elderly cular migration processes between rural and urban people often stay in the rural areas (Tacoli & areas dominate with respect to permanent rural– Mabala 2010). urban migration (Lynch 2005; Collinson et al. Another form of temporary migration that has 2006; Greiner 2008; Steinbrink 2009). become more important, also in the context of a Seasonal migration in West Africa has a long growing internationalisation of migration, is step- tradition shaped by nomadic life and trade, the wise migration. Here the rural–urban migration to mining industry and cash-crop cultivation so-called ‘gateway cities’ is often a preliminary (Konseiga 2005, Adepoju 2006, Dick & Reuschke step to the (planned) cross-border migration. 2012). In South Africa, since the 1920s, circular These gateway cities tend to also be passageways labour migration was a cornerstone of the segrega- of cross-border migration and trade networks. For tory urbanisation system and, later, since 1948 of instance, Bakewell and Jónsson (2011) have iden- the apartheid legislation (Lynch 2005; Steinbrink tified the Ghanaian metropoles and market places 2009; Posel 2010, p. 129). Today’s circular migra- Kumasi and Accra as nodes of international trade tion processes in Africa are however mostly based mobility. Besides regional trade with the neigh- on the need for securing multi-locational liveli- bouring countries, transcontinental relationships hoods of poor populations in the context of urbani- with China and the Arab Emirates are becoming sation without production-based economic growth increasingly relevant for these cities (p. 5). For the (Lynch 2005; Kombe & Kreibich 2006; Greiner South African province of Gauteng, in which the 2008; Steinbrink 2009; Turok 2013), partly result- international metropolis of Johannesburg as well ing in slowing down or even counter-urbanisation as the national capital of Pretoria is located, trends (Potts 2008, 2009). Landau (2010) posits that there are increasingly The combination of ‘urban’ with ‘rural’ complex migration patterns, which are charac- sources of income and the preservation of ‘rural’ terised by an overlap of circular, permanent and social relations, networks and lifestyles can thus step-wise migration paths within the metropolitan predominantly be attributed to material constraints area: ‘For reasons of location, infrastructure, inten- of peoples and households. In economic terms, tion and experience, the province is as much a such multi-locational livelihoods offer the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 71 place of transit as destination’ (p. 8). According to ‘If we could, we would help everybody, but it is difficult because you cannot get information on Landau, aspirations for passage, profit and protec- these people because they do not have jobs and tion constitute overarching motivations for these do not necessarily intend to stay here. You can’t migratory moves (Landau 2012a, p. 229). provide them with housing. Before they can see the house they are gone again.’ (quoted in Landau et al. 2011b, p. 92) Inadequate answers of urban governments to Migration processes are thus rarely perceived as a migration poverty reduction strategy of households worth supporting ([IOM] 2008, p. 188; Inkoom 2008, The governance of migration processes in many p. 14). On the contrary, both in Ghana and in African cities often is characterised by a multitude South Africa there are no state programmes for of shortcomings. It is noted that weak urban gov- the support of (temporary) migrants – rather, urban ernments are seeking to mould public regulation development and migration are treated as separate into static and predictable forms, which do not policy areas. The reason for this lies in a ‘norma- reflect demographic dynamics. City governments tive bias towards stable populations’ (Landau et al. and administrations tend to not consider them as 2011b, p. 93) and, if at all, concerns with handling their responsibility, not least due to shortages in urban ‘entry’ or ‘insertion’ rather than transit financial resources and staff. If at all, the respon- (Yankson & Bertrand 2012). Additionally, tempor- sibility for migration is attributed to the national ary migrants rarely form part of local consultation level (Landau 2010, p. 3) that however hardly processes and arenas of participation within muni- knows the reality on the ground. In addition to cipal development planning; non-citizens are the scarcity of resources, the management of sometimes excluded by law (Yankson & Bertrand migration processes is hampered by a lack of 2012, p. 42; Landau et al. 2011a, p. 37, 2011b, information and knowledge about the relevant p. 91f.). migration dynamics and their implications in their respective urban context. In addition, urban development planning and budgeting are based on The important role of informality the registered population, which in most cases does not reflect demographic dynamics through The situation of (temporary) migrants in African informal and transient processes of urbanisation cities is aggravated by an adverse attitude or a ‘do (Landau 2010, p. 3; Zoomers et al. 2011,p. nothing approach’ (interview with metropolitan 497f). In South Africa, for instance, the large planner in Kumasi, Ghana) of urban governments time lag of the budget allocation process through towards informal settlements. Both are at odds the Local Government Equitable Share system with a pro-poor development agenda, which and lack of coordination between different levels incorporates the needs and priorities of commu- of government and administration represent major nities. In most African countries informal settle- challenges (Landau et al. 2011a, b). ments are the most manifest expression of city- Additionally, on the governmental level a pro- bound migration (Landau et al. 2011a,p. 38) and blem-oriented perspective on migration dominates. important passageways for transmigrants First and foremost, migration is seen as a burden on (Yankson & Bertrand 2012; Yankson 2012a; urban housing and labour markets, but also on public Landau 2012b, p. 15). In accordance with inter- infrastructure, utility services and image. This is even national ‘good practices’ of urban and housing more the case for temporary migration processes, development, both Ghana and South Africa have which tend to be regarded as menacing and unfor- formulated laws and initiatives of in situ informal eseeable, as aptly expressed by a statement of the settlement upgrading (GoG 2010, p. 69; Tipple local planner of a medium-sized South African town: 2011,p.132; GoSA 2015). However, their 72 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp implementation tends to be slow if occurring at serious challenges to sustainable and inclusionary all. In both countries, the eradication of informal urban governance approaches (Saunders 2010; housing structures and displacement of their inha- Harber 2011; Landau 2012b). bitants are occurring quite frequently, particularly As a consequence, in the authors’ perspective, in the case of conflicts with powerful economic urban governments and planning authorities interests (so that a ‘do nothing approach’ to resi- should acknowledge these various forms of infor- dents usually means the lesser of the two evils), mal ‘bottom-up’ contributions while at the same resulting in significant gaps between a partly pro- time addressing their limitations, and use them for gressive policy discourse and mostly repressive a critical reflection and adjustment of the territor- urban practice (Huchzermeyer 2009,p. 64f.; ialised and sectoralised planning practice. Pithouse 2009,p.9ff.; Topham 2011,p.17; Marais & Ntema 2013,p.87; Turok 2013,p.150). Limitations of territorialised planning The everyday management of temporary migration and multi-locality, e.g. in the area of Regarding migration, one of the main problems of housing, is therefore primarily based on ‘informal’ urban governments is their container-based con- support of mostly origin-based migrant networks ception of space, according to which social pro- (Inkoom 2008; Steinbrink 2009; Schmidt-Kallert cesses can be adequately analysed and addressed 2009). Although showing significant limitations, within pre-given geographic or political-adminis- these networks also possess some positive ele- trative units such as nation states, provinces, muni- ments. They tend to be unbound by urban or cipalities and districts. Although this is appealing provincial government boundaries, as well as sec- from an administrative perspective, in the view of toral borders, and therefore possess a higher flex- the multiplication of social and spatial engage- ibility than statutory institutions with respect to ments and practices transgressing fixed borders, their geographic and topical range of action. One an increasingly dynamic understanding of space may thus argue that, by catering to developmental has evolved in recent years. From this perspective, needs of people and communities ‘in transit’, they space is constituted by economic, social and cul- effectively practice multi-sited or translocal gov- tural practices and conceived of as a networked ernance, directed to both places of origin and structure (Castells 1997). destination of migration. Governments rarely Given the often multi-locational nature of peo- acknowledge, let alone incorporate, these positive ple’s livelihoods, local development and govern- elements, but tend to see these self-organisations ance processes need to be conceptualised in the of the urban poor as antagonists of formal plan- light of increasing migration-related linkages and ning expertise and control processes (Pithouse economic as well as political flows with other 2009, p. 4; Huchzermeyer 2009, p. 63). places. In contrast, a purely localised approach to Regarding limitations, ‘informal’ migrant net- development is insufficient in situations in which works tend to provide support for the socio-eco- ‘local’ opportunities and risks are to a large extent nomic and/or political needs of their own people, the result of governance networks acting through thereby leaving the situation of other vulnerable different geographic scales and sectors (Zoomers groups unabated (Choi 2011/2012, p. 7). & van Westen 2011, p. 377; Zoomers et al. 2011, Furthermore, they entail relatively low levels of p. 492). social capital transfer and possible upgrading or Municipalities themselves are progressively ‘formalisation’ options. In certain cases this sup- coming to the insight that networking on several port may be brought by using coercion and even spatial and organisational levels leads to better violence (Saunders 2010). Lastly, a fragmentation results in the steering of urban development of group-related, ‘informal’ support regimes and (e. g. Government of Ghana 2010, p. 70). For their highly differentiated norms might pose instance in South Africa, in the context of the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 73 local government reform of 2000, the number of is due to a strong contrast between the need for municipalities was considerably reduced (from mobility of people imposed by economic and 800 to 283) and municipal borders enlarged, labour market shifts in increasingly globalised among other reasons, to adjust administrative bor- African space economies (Zoomers, van Westen ders to economic realities and promote regional 2011; Turok 2013) and the immobility of housing networks. However, in the vast majority of cases provision. As the examples of South Africa and the issue of migration is not considered, and even Ghana show, this applies both for countries with in less regard is taken of the specific housing needs principle pro-poor housing policies, programmes of temporary migrants. and institutions and for countries in which these are non-existent. Housing policy context in Ghana and South Africa Housing context in Ghana This article focuses on the consequences of transit In Ghana, unlike for example in South Africa, migration for the urban housing market and sus- there is no National Housing Policy in place, tainable governance processes. Housing constitu- although a draft version has currently been pre- tes a basic condition for migrants’ access to urban pared by the Ghanaian Ministry of Water opportunity structures such as employment and Resources, Works and Housing in order to address education. Furthermore, it is a central element of the country’s housing deficit. The reasons for this individual and collective poverty alleviation in deficit are complex, but can be attributed to rapid Africa’s urbanising societies. The relevance of urban population growth accompanied by a slow urban housing provision also manifests in the housing supply and poor housing delivery fact that the larger part of the poor and mobile mechanisms (with respect to processes of land population is living in informal and often precar- transfer, availability of housing finance and con- ious housing conditions. In Ghana, about 90% of struction costs), which satisfy only a small propor- the urban housing units have emerged through tion of the demand. The result is overcrowding informal processes (Tipple 2011, p. XXII; CAHF and a growth of informal settlements: ‘Current 2012: 70f.; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795), estimates indicate that the country needs at least while in South Africa the current census 2011 100,000 housing units annually while supply is reports that 14% of all housing units were estab- estimated at 35% of the total need’ (GoG 2010, lished informally and further 8% were traditional p. 68; Ofori & Ayivor 2013, p. 255). dwellings (Stats SA 2012). For the two countries Generally, the Ghanaian affordable housing the statement can be made that ‘politically infor- supply for low-income households shows a variety mal settlements are a hot potato’ (2012 Interview of institutional and ‘practical’ problems. First, in with African Centre for Migration and Society, the last 30 years and in accordance with the inter- 2013 Interview with Johannesburg Housing national discourse, the housing market was Department) since no clear standpoint towards increasingly privatised. Since then government them has as yet been developed. institutions and state housing companies have In many African countries, national and urban hardly had a direct impact on urban housing, housing policies – if in place – are formulated except for providing incentives for private compa- without considering the needs of the mobile and nies by ‘enabling’ investment frameworks. Poorer transitory population who find themselves in a population groups are hardly reached, despite con- particularly vulnerable position. Apart from the trary statements of intent (Arku et al. 2012,p. aspects already mentioned (sedentary bias of gov- 3179). Before the start of the privatisation in the ernments, adverse attitude towards informal settle- early 1990s, public housing corporations have ments and modes of control and organisation), this offered housing primarily for civil servants (Arku 74 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp et al. 2012 p. 3180f.). The current construction (Article 26). Since that time a number of housing activities of large developers exclusively benefit policy initiatives have been introduced that have members of the urban middle and upper classes yielded large welfare state inputs in the form of (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 71; Tipple 2011,p. massive subsidised home building, mostly out- xxvi; CAHF 2012. Yearbook 2012, p. 71; Yankson sourced to private developers. 2012a, p. 166, 2012b, p. 195). Well-known and in quantitative terms the most Overall, the quantitative and qualitative hous- important is the post-apartheid project-linked ing deficit is high. In numeric terms it has been housing subsidy scheme developed in the context estimated to stand in excess of one million units of the Reconstruction and Development (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178; CAHF 2012. Yearbook Programme (RDP). The subsidy scheme was con- 2012, p. 70f; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795). tinued within the Growth Employment and Housing tenancy arrangements dominate owner- Redistribution Strategy (GEAR), which replaced ship by far; however, the rental sector has been the RDP in 1996. Under this subsidy programme largely neglected after the abolition of government approximately three million residential units had rent controls in the 1980s. Owing to the growing been provided by May 2013 at no cost to its demand, the scarcity of housing land in the beneficiaries (website SouthAfrica.info, 2014, agglomeration areas (much of which is controlled website CAHF). Over time, new housing policy through customary tenure) and high construction laws and instruments were added, such as the and financing costs, rents have risen sharply Housing Act in 1997, the initiative ‘Breaking (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 83; Arku et al. New Ground: A Comprehensive plan for 2012, p. 1378; Yankson 2012b, p. 195ff). Since Developing Sustainable Human Settlements’ formal housing supply is beyond the rajority of the (BNG) in 2004 and the Social Housing Act in Ghanaian population and due to the (self- 2006. All of these initiatives are designed to facil- itate low-income households’ access to housing admittedly) weak capacity of government agencies to provide adequate housing facilities, about 90% markets. The access to affordable housing was of urban housing units emerged through informal meanwhile complicated by sharply rising prices, processes (Tipple 2011, p. XXII; CAHF, 2014,p. e.g. between the years 1997 and 2004 the average 70f; Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 795), ‘produced house price in South Africa more than tripled by numerous small builders and individual own- (United Nations 2012, p. 5). ers’ (Yankson 2012b, p. 166). Not least for this Despite all of these policy initiatives, their reason, e. g. in Accra, the majority of urban resi- implementation has faced important challenges. In dents live in ‘overcrowded, deteriorated and low- quantitative terms, housing demand still largely income rental accommodations without proper outstrips the supply. It is estimated that the number sanitation, roads, drainage, water supply or waste of informal settlements increased from 300 in 1994 disposal systems’ (Afrane & Asamoah 2011, p. 83; to 2700 in 2010 and, within the same period, the Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178). housing deficit in the affordable housing segment augmented from 1.5 to 2.1 million units (Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa 2012, p. Housing context in South Africa 125). With the qualification criteria of a monthly In 1996, after the end of apartheid rule in 1994, income of no more than R3 500, approximately South Africa approved a new constitution, which 60% of South African households are eligible is considered one of the most progressive in the under the so-called RDP housing subsidy scheme, world. It comprises a ‘bill of rights’, which many of whom spend a long time on waiting lists includes, among other aspects, a qualified right (Tissington et al. 2013). Households that fall short to affordable housing requesting the state to take of the funding under the housing subsidy scheme reasonable measures within its available resources because of their higher incomes are another International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 75 problem, since hardly any housing programme is rental housing (Gough & Yankson 2011, p. 793; available for them (view Centre for Affordable Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181). Housing Finance in Africa 2012, p. 124f). In qua- For low-income migrants it is common that, litative terms, the housing approach of the first after their arrival in the city, they first stay rent- post-apartheid decade focusing on new construc- free as house sharers with already-established tion of free-standing units was even less able to family members or friends in urban migrant neigh- comprehensively solve the problem of inadequate bourhoods (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181; Yankson access to affordable housing. Key dimensions such 2012b, p. 185). In Ghana these areas are called as housing quality, location and ownership were ‘Zongos’, a term from the Hausa language, which neglected, and communities or their organisations means ‘camping place for caravans’ or a ‘lodging were hardly involved in housing design and deliv- place for travellers’ (Adjei Mensah 2010, p. 60), ery (Huchzermeyer 2009; Pithouse 2009; Marais & denoting the transit function of these areas. Ntema 2013). Against the background of these Migrants without family or origin-based networks shortcomings, in the BNG initiative in 2004 strong in these areas often share the rent of individual emphasis is placed on the participatory develop- rooms within family-owned compound houses ment of socio-spatially integrated and sustainable (Arku et al. 2012, p. 3181; Ofori & Ayivor 2013, settlements (Website BNG). These principles are p. 254). Yet other migrants – mostly young, mar- however, up to this time, only hesitantly being ried men with working experience in construction accounted for in practice (Huchzermeyer 2009; – live alone or with their family for at times Pithouse 2009). extended periods as so-called caretakers in half- finished homes of the middle and upper classes, mostly in the peri-urban fringe areas of the large Ghanaian cities (Gough & Yankson 2011; Arku Transit migration and housing forms in Ghana et al. 2012, p. 3181). Finally, the housing situation and South Africa traders who stay in the city on weekdays of Since neither in Ghana nor in South Africa formal (usually during market opening) is particularly policies address transitory housing requirements precarious: they tend to sleep in their stalls or in related to migration, these are almost entirely temporarily occupied accommodations in proxi- catered for by the informal market. In this section mity to the market without any services or infra- we present a variety of informal housing arrange- structure, with serious implications for personal ments, which underline today’s transit function of and public hygiene and safety in many central urban areas. city areas (interview with market vendors in In Ghana, the Ghana Medium-Term National Techiman, November 2012). Development Policy Framework 2010–2013 testi- The described living conditions are per se fies the lack of consideration of migration transitory (see Box 1), i.e. a ‘stop over’ before dynamics for housing: It regards urban sprawl moving on to another city or neighbourhood within urban areas as ‘a result of the attractiveness within the same urban region (Gough & Yankson [of cities] to rural migrants’ (GoG 2010, p. 70; see 2011; Yankson & Bertrand 2012; Bertrand 2011). also Arku et al. 2012, p. 3178) but does not refer With respect to intra-urban moves, typical neigh- directly to temporary migration dynamics and bourhood successions (e.g. from recent to more migration-related needs or vulnerabilities in the established neighbourhoods) as well as succes- housing sector. However, these are reflected in a sions of housing forms (e.g. from ‘sharing’ to variety of informal housing practices that differ paid rental) can be identified. Thus, a certain and from those of the established low-income popula- often informal ‘housing ladder’ is in place, from tion and can be assigned only partially to the which ‘trading up’ towards formal rental or own- dualistic categories of housing ownership versus ership housing is albeit seldom possible (Landau 76 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp Box 1: Experiences of transitional housing in Ghana (Interviews 2012). Young taxi driver in Accra: He is from Kasoa, which is about one-hour drive from Accra. This is where he was born and went to school, but there are no work opportunities in Kasoa. So he came to Accra and started to work in the taxi business of somebody he knew from his hometown. He wants to become independent, owning a taxi business himself. Sees Kasoa as his home area, returns there every weekend because that is where his family house is located. In Accra he shares a room with a friend from Kasoa in order to save money. The room is in Nima, a long-established migrant settlement or Zongo. Young woman in Kumasi: She comes from the Northern Region and sells millet balls at Kumasi Central Market. She shares one room in one of the large migrant settlements with seven other women who are all from the same ethnic group and area of origin. She has come alone and been in Kumasi for four years. After their safe arrival every woman called the next woman by cellphone. They all work as head porters at the market. Usually she stays in Kumasi for three months, and then leaves for her hometown for two months, in order to rest. With the money she earns she buys clothes to get ready for marriage. Once she has accumulated enough to get married she intends to return up North. Towel vendor in Techiman: He has been coming to the market in Techiman for the last 24 years. He stays during market days (Thursday and Friday) and then travels back to Kumasi where he is based. In Techiman he sleeps at Tamale station close to the market. He talks about many problems associated with that: It is a dangerous place and unhealthy. If there was a possibility he would like to join with approx. ten people and rent a place together. But renting on his own is too expensive. In Kumasi he is renting an apartment together with his family of six. They live in Afoaso, which is a long-established neighbourhood. Two sack vendors in Techiman: They come from Mali and sell grain sacks to market vendors but also to individual buyers. They came 13 years ago, directly from Gao in Mali. They go back every three years but do not send money since they do not save sufficiently. They live in Jerusalem, a migrant Zongo, under one of the sub-chiefs. There are some Malians in this area, as well as people from many other countries and Ghanaian regions. Both of them live there with their wives and children. 2012a, p. 223). Many migrants live separated from affordable housing in particular via the so-called their families, who stay permanently or part of the RDP housing subsidy scheme, it is noted that, year at other locations within or outside of Ghana. similar to the situation in Ghana, this makes no In many cases, these are the regions or cities of direct reference to migration dynamics. On the origin, where the migrants have entitlements over contrary, the so-called RDP housing market is lands and shares in family houses (Gough & considered by many experts as a system of hous- Yankson 2011, p. 800). Conversely, it is particu- ing supply that does not meet the reality of larly difficult for a large proportion of mobile migrants (group interviews with African Centre populations to gain a foothold in the urban hous- for Migration and Society, Ekurhuleni Metro ing market, because ‘an insufficient length of resi- Municipality; personal communication with dence in town deprive[s them] of efficient Finmark Trust, NUSP, September and November networks and, “canons” of participation’ (Yank 2012). Temporary migrants follow job opportu- son & Bertrand 2012, p. 42). nities in short intervals, whereas so-called RDPs, In South Africa, although government institu- as ownership-based housing, implicitly earmark tions have an impact on the provision of sedentary population. Harber (2011) describes International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 77 this situation for Diepsloot, a big peri-urban post- homogeneity. But today’s reality of South Africa apartheid settlement in the north of is one of high unemployment, mobility, diversity, Johannesburg: ‘25% of the Diepsloot population increased international migration flows and new does not want to own houses. Maybe they have household patterns that are rarely based on the houses elsewhere and they are in the area tem- traditional family structure. ‘The gap between porarily and do not want to put resources into polity and reality was a chasm’ (ibid, p. 160f). their immovable assets. Diepsloot functions like a Moreover, interviews that were conducted with hotel to Johannesburg’ (Harber 2011,p.153). A senior staff members of metropolitan municipali- big constraint is that international migrants can- ties in Gauteng suggested that the ‘RDP concept not legally take advantage of the subsidy scheme. is not sustainable’ (2012 interview with ‘The minute you put houses there you will realize Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality). that many of them are not eligible for housing’ The housing supply of migrants is therefore (ibid, p. 148). In addition, as Harber puts it, the usually informal, mostly in so-called backyard so-called RDP model is based on full employ- shacks that in many cases are located on the ment, social stability, orderliness, impervious properties of so-called RDP houses and thus nation states, family households and provide their owners with a source of income, Box 2: Experiences of transitional housing in South Africa (Interviews 2012). Young guard in Diepsloot/Johannesburg: He is 22 years old and arrived two months back in Diepsloot from Limpopo province. He works at the Civil Service Centre and speaks excellent English. He lives in a rented room in Section 2, paying 300 Rand/month. His intention is to stay there for a few years, although he mentions that Diepsloot is very dangerous at night. Vendor at cash store in Freedom Square/Bloemfontein: He is 32 years old and arrived from the Eastern Cape in 2010. He came with his father and lives in his father’s self-constructed house 20 minutes’ walking distance away. He goes home 3–4 times a year because he believes that life is better in the Eastern Cape. 28-year-old shepherd from Lesotho: He sells sheep and cattle to locals for funeral services, and lives in a shack in phase 3 of Freedom Square, Bloemfontein, where he does not pay rent. He arrived 10 years back, because there were no jobs in Lesotho. In general terms he thinks that life is better in South Africa. He is job hunting because he does not want to be a shepherd all his life. In Freedom Square he lives with his father, whereas his mother stays back home in Lesotho. Group of six young male adults, Freedom Square/Bloemfontein: All of them are unemployed but they are raising racing dogs and selling diamonds from Lesotho. Two of them live in RDP houses, the rest in shacks. They came from the neighbouring towns Bellefontain and Botshabelo, one was living on a farm before and the other three were born in Freedom Square. They describe their current living conditions as ok, but they also mention that they don’t have a choice. Two Somali vendors in Jerusalem/Ekurhuleni: In 1998 they moved to Rustenberg and Pretoria without knowing anybody. Then they moved to an informal settlement near Jerusalem. Living conditions are very hard, especially because of xenophobic attacks. Recently seven shops had to close down. Their option was ‘to move out or die’. Both Somali vendors pay 800 Rand/month but have to sleep in the shop, because it is not safe outside. They feel that they do not have any perspective, ‘nobody helps’. In our field study follow-up six months later, they were not to be found, presumably having moved on. 78 E. Dick and T. Heitkamp often the only one. However, there are large formation in the form of detached homes informal settlements in the peri-urban area of (Marais & Ntema 2013, p. 86). In the opinion big cities that perform the function of ‘reception of South African migration researchers this is a areas’ in which newly arrived migrants can build form of housing that is hardly suitable to meet their own shack, although without being con- the residential needs of a newly urbanised popu- nected to technical infrastructure and services lation. In addition, the absence of a ‘housing or sometimes provided with basic services like ladder’ (staggered and widely available housing chemical toilets (view Box 2). offer) is noted that would allow tenants to acquire The field studies we conducted in South real estate if they wish to (Landau 2012a,p. African informal settlements indicate a high 222f; Rust 2007, p. 8). level of intra-regional and short-distance mobi- lity of migrants. After their first, usually very Conclusions and perspectives precarious, dwelling they try to improve this situation by moving to more consolidated This article focuses on the increasing impor- areas of informal settlements that are better tance of transit migration and on its implica- equipped with infrastructure. Family, ethnic or tions for urban governance in the field of national affiliations are also crucial for the housing using the examples of Ghana and choice of residential location of migrants. South Africa. It is based on insights drawn Thus, in downtown Johannesburg there are from the review of literature as well as primary blocks of flats predominantly inhabited by peo- data collection and analysis in selected cities of ple from Somalia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, just the two countries. as there are for instance majority-Zulu areas in The objective of the article was to point out informal settlements or townships like concrete housing-related manifestations of transit Alexandra in Johannesburg (2012 interviews in migration and their implications for sustainable Alexandra). housing and urban development. Thus typical It is recognised by the state that the problem of housing and tenure forms of transitory population housing supply for the migrant population is get- groups were presented for both Ghana and South ting little public attention. Apart from the supply- Africa. While in both countries the informal hous- side approaches to housing provision (see, e.g., the ing market offers an entry point and instances of a so-called RDP subsidy system), only few concepts housing ladder to poor migrants, it alone does not are currently being developed or supported, which provide the maximum benefit to migrants. Rather could offer a demand-driven response to the spe- transitory population groups tend to be in a parti- cific needs of temporary migrants. One is the cularly vulnerable housing position, examples are Community Rental Units (CRU) programme that street traders exposed to insecure and unhealthy intends to ‘facilitate provision of affordable rental urban environments or backyard shack renters tenure for those earning below R3.500, including without access to basic services. It is further argued informal renters, not able to access formal private that the lack of integration of mobility dynamics in rental and social housing market[s]’ (Pienaar local and notably housing development policies 2010, p. 5, website BNG). constitutes a chief reason for the vulnerability of The problem of the housing supply of transit migrants in the two countries. This is even migrant population is a complex one, both poli- more the case given the highly territorialised nature tically and on the ground. Some solutions already of urban policies, which is at odds with the mobility constitute everyday practice, like renting space in and survival strategies of many poor urbanites. RDP houses, but as yet are officially discouraged In both countries, complexities in this field are and thus ‘informal’. The focus of public housing high and there are no easy solutions to a highly supply still remains on housing property politicised housing sector endowed with limited International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 79 institutional and financial capacities. In this sense, it different governmental and administrative levels must be stated that apart from migration-related pro- are weak in this regard. Diversifying housing blems, housing policies in the two countries can be options and articulating informal and formal criticised on other fronts as well. However, differen- mechanisms are pertinent in both countries. tiated migration dynamics do call for fundamental Examples are providing access to basic services to housing policy adjustments if future pro-poor and backyard shack renters and enhancing the capacity sustainable urban growth were to be attained. These to run low-income rental housing as a tenure form adjustments involve matters of recognition, more adapted to the needs of mobile populations. approaches for policy action and new forms of coop- Regarding new forms of cooperation and repre- eration and representation. sentation in South Africa and in Ghana, migrants and In terms of recognition, it is necessary that hous- their organisations need to be better integrated in ing and urban researchers as well as policymakers local development and planning forums, not least acknowledge the important ‘transit’ function of by means of an improved articulation between ‘infor- cities, as well as the poverty-alleviation relevance mal’ and formal governance. And lastly, in order to of the underlying forms of mobility. Having said tackle limitations of territorialised planning, there is a this, it is clear that economically vibrant, well-con- need to stretch housing development and planning nected employment centres show more transit func- beyond municipal borders, to take into account – tions than others, since temporary migration many times short-distance or intra-metropolitan – dynamics are mainly driven by the availability of economic ‘functional spaces’ and thereby better pro- job opportunities. In contrast to the notion of transit, vide for mobility-related trajectories and networks. to date, urban and housing-related research and poli- cies have been more biased towards urban ‘entry’ and ‘insertion’ (Yankson & Bertrand 2012). The Disclosure statement transit function tends to be spatially concentrated in No potential conflict of interest was reported by the informal zones or neighbourhoods such as migrant authors. ‘Zongos’, inner-city transitional areas and slum set- tlements, which typically act as gateways in the Funding context of intra-urban or translocal mobility. It is The research was supported by the Mercator Research largely in these areas that transit housing practices Center Ruhr, Germany (grant number An-2012-0026). of migrants tend to converge. In terms of approaches for policy action, it was shown that while South Africa and Ghana pursue Notes starkly different strategies with respect to regulat- 1. Translated from the German original. ing and providing low-income housing – state ver- 2. Until the end of 2012 this allocation process was sus market-led – both prove equally inadequate for based on population figures of the 2001 Census. mobile populations. A key prerequisite for integrat- 3. The Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies 2010–2016 recognises ing migration into housing and local development informalisation to be ‘a spontaneous and creative in both countries is thus an improved understanding response to the formal economy’s incapacity to of migration dynamics, their causes and spatial satisfy basic needs’ (State of Ghana 2010, p. 19). patterns. While in Ghana limited data exists about 4. Still today the post-apartheid-project-linked housing inter- and intra-regional migration dynamics, in subsidy scheme is commonly referred to as ‘RDP housing’ (Website DHS). This article will refer to it South Africa much data is available. However, in as ‘so-called RDP housing’. both countries there is a lack of integration of 5. At the time of writing this document is equivalent demographic dynamics and (temporary) mobility to approx. USD 320. for local and national housing development; further 6. 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Journal

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 2, 2016

Keywords: transit migration; housing policy; housing subsidy scheme; urban development; Ghana; South Africa; sustainability

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