Mpasatia - A Town in Ghana; Tales of Architecture and Planning

This book is the outcome of the work of sixteen Scandinavian students in architecture, landscape architecture and geography, who came to the small traditional town of Mpasatia, Ghana to investigate a range of urban architectural and planning issues. The study is linked to a Ghanaian-Danish research project funded by Danida and focusing on district and urban planning in the context of democratisation and community participation. The project placed more emphasis on ethnographic methods and analysis, than it did on developing designed projects. The outcome is thirteen essays on urbanism in contemporary Africa. The final product grows out of a close interaction between the students and the community, including local leaders and other stakeholders and involved a learning process for all participants. The students’ perceptions of the situation, as well as their proposals to solve the identified problems, have apparently been very helpful for the community of Mpasatia.

The introductory chapter consists of a diary documenting the programme and the journey, and highlighting the most important issues for the study as a whole and the problems the group had to face. This first section also includes a profile of Mpasatia, and a short summary of the students’ work, which is then described in detail in the following thirteen chapters. The case studies, presented and illustrated with pictures, maps and sketches, vary in terms of topic and scale, but nearly all of them combine development, planning and architectural perspectives. A few of the issues covered include the classic courtyard house, migration, urban furniture, planning and commercial space, public space, the meaning and significance of trees and (piped) water.