It has a population of about 3 million and features an international airport called Kotoka International Airport. Accra is peaceful, has a low crime rate and friendly people. From a small fishing community at Jamestown, the capital city of Ghana has evolved into a metropolis with nationals of continental Africa and other foreigners found there.
The capital has grown from a small fishing community into a metropolis. Over the past 1– years, a lot of people have moved from the rural areas to seek better economic fortunes in the city. This urbanization, which is the process by which individuals move from low income areas to business centers, follows a worldwide phenomenon but its quite acute in Ghana where the the percentage of people living in rural areas continues to decline and the city finds a way to adjust to tis increment.
In other ways, there has also been an increase in the population of main town Accra. One good thing is, this movement into the city also helps in its growth and it is primarily the process by which cities are created and grow larger as more people start relocating to core locations to live and work.
In the recent millennia, there has been a significant shift in the distribution of humans in capital of Ghana settlement along the urban-rural gradient due to urban expansion, with a move from low density to very high. Both environments and cultures have undergone significant alteration as a result of this.
Natural environments are radically changed by urbanization, creating living areas that can support enormous populations of people. Infrastructure, industry, and housing growth are accompanied by an increasing human population.
The majority of the time, dense grey materials cover or replace the natural soil and plants. Globally, urbanized regions are becoming larger and more numerous; in 2018, the United Nations projected that 68% of people would live in urban areas by 2050 so its is not surprising that Accra already has a population of 2.5 million.
Dynamics of the capital of Ghana turning into a metropolis
In the early 1900s, as industrial cities became larger and larger, they created metropolises, which are big cities that encompass neighboring suburbs, which are areas outside of the city borders and typically have their own government. The capital of Ghana is no exception. Even while some suburbs grow into independent cities, they nevertheless maintain close ties to their “parent” city in terms of geography, economy, and culture.
There are thousands of people living in several urban areas. The so-called “flight to the suburbs” was eventually caused by the upper and middle classes. In the latter part of the 20th century, as cities were beset by economic problems, a growing number of families made the decision to relocate from their inner-city districts to the suburbs. However this number is few as many also decided to brace the storm and stay back. Affordability of a car was another factor in this migration.
When the 1970s rolled around, the majority of suburbs were essentially transformed into “bedroom communities,” whereby suburbanites commuted into the city for work and shopping before spending the evenings back in their suburb.
Although there was a drawback to commuting, most people believed that it was well worth it to avoid “urban ghettoization,” or the trend of inner cities’ declining quality of life, because suburbia typically offered nicer and larger homes, better schools, and other amenities.
Suburban areas are still expanding and evolving today. Numerous have developed into independent economic hubs. Alongside shopping centers, sports complexes, and housing subdivisions are offices, hospitals, and manufacturers.
Thus, a lot of suburbs have effectively turned into little cities—and sometimes even larger ones. In terms of demographics, suburbs typically draw “whiter” and wealthier inhabitants than cities. Suburbanites and suburbs are not all the same, though. Families from different ethnic and religious backgrounds can be found even in suburbs.
As a result of all this expansion, “urban” issues like
- Gang activity
- Traffic jams
- Pollution of the air and water
have spread to many suburbs. Some have made the decision to relocate to rural areas in order to avoid these issues. Some have made the decision to go back to their hometowns and revitalize them through building and neighborhood renovations.
Some slums have been transformed into respectable neighborhoods to live in, work in, and raise a family because of this interest in urban renewal. Suburban regions kept expanding and combining with adjacent suburbs and metropolitan areas to form the enormous urban complex known as a megalopolis. In other words, certain cities and suburbs have become so big that they eventually combine with other cities and suburbs to create a territory that is essentially continuous.
Myriad facets of the growth of Accra
Numerous academic fields, such as urban planning, geography, sociology, architecture, economics, education, statistics, and public health, are impacted by urbanization. Globalization, modernization, industrialization, marketization, institutional and administrative authority, and the sociological process of rationalization have all been strongly associated with the phenomena.
Urbanization can be viewed as a singular state or as a progressive intensification of that state across time. Thus, the rate at which the fraction of the population living in urban areas is growing or the degree of urban development in relation to the total population can be used to quantify urbanization.
With the “potential to use resources much less or more efficiently, to create more sustainable land use and economic opportunities,” urbanization poses significant social, economic, and environmental concerns that present an opportunity for sustainability.
Urbanization in the capital of Ghana can arise spontaneously or via deliberate efforts by individuals, groups, and governmental entities. Living in the capital of Ghana can have positive cultural and economic effects because it can shorten commute times and save costs for transportation while also offering better housing, safety, and educational possibilities, as well as more access to the labor market.
An urban environment that is considered favorable includes features like competition in the marketplace, diversity, density, and proximity to other places. But living in an urban environment can also lead to negative social phenomena including stress, alienation, higher living expenses, and mass marginalization. Suburbanization, which is occurring in the major developing countries’ cities, can be seen as an effort to balance these negative features of living in an urban environment.
Money, services, wealth, and opportunities are concentrated in urban areas. Many people from rural areas move to the city in an attempt to change their social standing and seek their fortune. Cities have a higher concentration of businesses that exchange capital and create jobs. Foreign exchange enters a nation through its ports and financial institutions, which are typically found in cities, regardless of the source—trade or tourist.
Conclusion
Although economic opportunities attract a lot of people to the capital of Ghana, this does not entirely account for the extremely high rates of urbanization that have recently been observed in nations like China and India. Urbanization is facilitated by rural-to-urban migration. Access to manufactured goods has historically been difficult in rural areas, where small family farms or collective farms in villages are common.
However, the general quality of life in these locations is highly subjective and may even be higher than in cities. Living on a farm has always meant that the weather might change suddenly, and during periods of drought, flood, or plague.