Globalizing City: The Urban and Economic Transformation of Accra, Ghana (review)

In this important book Richard Grant offers an approach for examining "globalizing cities"—that is, cities of developing countries that are undergoing urban and economic transformation—and situates cities such as Accra firmly within contemporary globalization processes. This book redresses the existing imbalance in scholarship on urban centers, which tends to privilege "global" (often Western) cities over "globalizing" cities (or ordinary cities in the developing world). In this way Grant incorporates Africa into global understandings of urban transformation. Highlighting the importance of primary research and fieldwork at the local level, he notes that globalizing cities often lack the detailed data base that is available to scholars and others engaging in urban research on global cities. (The appendix to the book provides a particularly valuable note on data collection.)

Though some of the effects of globalization have been examined in developing cities, we lack a systematic interrogation of the very process of globalizing. For Accra, Grant offers three historic periods in its globalization trajectory and three key movements in the globalizing process. The selection of Accra as the colonial capital of the Gold Coast in 1877 situated it firmly within imperial networks. With the end of colonial rule in 1957, Ghanaians had the opportunity to determine the political and economic direction for Ghana and thus affect the character of its capital city. The third period, from 1983, has witnessed economic restructuring from above (international and governmental), and during that time (and especially over the past decade) external influences have profoundly transformed Accra's urban space. Grant's portrayal of globalizing movements emphasizes initiatives ushered in from above, from below, and from sources in-between, with particular emphasis on the roles played by return migrants and transnationals who represent both local and international networks and strategies. One outcome is the proliferation of gated residential communities, residential properties valued in the hundreds of thousands, the visible presence of foreign companies, and other remarkable changes in a country where the per capita income is around US$400.

Chapters 2–6 examine these transformations in Accra's urban space and the economic activities that serve as the catalyst for these changes. Chapter 2, "Globalizing from Above," examines the role of foreign companies in transforming the urban economy of Accra, reviewing both the volume and the character of the corporate presence; the focus in this chapter is on Accra's external connections. However, Grant's contention that while Abidjan and Dakar were chosen as capitals for preexisting economic advantages, Accra's initial choice as a capital city was uninformed by such commercial considerations (21) is contestable. His position that Accra was the major terminal point of the colonial transport system through the 1920s also seems to gloss over the equally important role of Sekondi; it thus misses an opportunity to link Accra's growth and transformation to those of other Ghanaian cities enmeshed in the globalizing process. Post-1983 Ghana (marked by the introduction of liberalization policies under the World Bank/IMF) forms the context for Accra's emerging profile as a global city, as the Ghanaian government has sought to position the city as the "Gateway" to West Africa. In addition, this period has seen the nature of foreign investment change, with India and China overtaking the United Kingdom, the former colonial power, in investments and the number of companies operating in Ghana.

Chapter 3, "Globalizing Residential Spaces" reviews the introduction and spread of gated communities in Accra. This is a fascinating chapter, providing an analytical framework for a phenomenon that all Ghanaians and visitors to Ghana have noticed, although one wishes that the analysis had gone deeper: aside from a recognition of its foreign provenance, a coherent understanding of the phenomenon and its larger implications seems lacking. These gated communities are mostly a post-1991 phenomenon catering largely to Ghanaian transnationals and expatriates; again, they are a product of liberalization policies and globalizing...