Building collapse: Pathologies in cities in Ghana A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Festival Godwin Boateng MSc, Roskilde University, Denmark BA (Hons) KNUST, Ghana School of Global Urban and Social Studies College of Design and Social Context RMIT University November 2019 i Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis/project is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Festival Godwin Boateng 12th November, 2019 ii Acknowledgements Most students begin their thesis’ acknowledgements with their advisors. Well, for me, because of Jollof (Google what it is), I begin with my landlord and his wife: Dr & Mrs Awaworyi Churchill. I am thankful to them for all the Jollof/support. I had most of my moments of analytical epiphany at midnights – i.e. the times I used to wake up to chase some of the wonderful Jollof they always prepared. Nothing inspires writing and thinking than Jollof. Especially, the ‘charred under’. Just so we are clear: Nigerians, I do not mean una (your) Jollof ooo! Now to my advisors: Dr Binoy Kampmark, Dr Russell Solomon and Dr Robin Cameron, I cannot thank you enough. Thank you very much for all the support. You have been great friends. In addition to my supervisors, I enjoyed mentoring and support from Prof Jan Hayes of the School of Property, Construction and Project Management of the RMIT University and Emeritus Professor Gary Wickham of Murdoch University. I am also thankful to my two examiners–Associate Professor Franklin Obeng- Odoom of the Development Studies and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, the second is anonymous –for their helpful feedback. Not to hang the inevitable flaws retained in the work on their necks. But without them, the work would have been even more imperfect than it is. A very big thank you to Associate Prof Laura Horn and Prof Lindsay Whitfield – both of Roskilde, University Denmark – for introducing me to political economy. A big shout out to these two buddies: Renee and Alex. And to the Ghanaian Community in Melbourne – particularly the Football Team: Thanks a lot for the chance for me to show why our country does not win trophies anymore. As you all used to say, given my football-sense; rare capacity to defend upfront and lethality in front goal, Ghana is poorer that I may never play for the senior national team: the Black Stars. To Edem and Samuelson: I could not have been the excellent striker everyone wanted in their team without your ‘assists’ and ‘against’, respectively. Many thanks to RMIT University for sponsoring my research. I am also thankful to all the institutions who sponsored my travels around the world to attend conferences and similar events, nay, to travel and eat different types of amazing food and make some wonderful friends across the globe. It should have really hit your budget. I know this because I recently bought air tickets with my own money –it felt exactly like pulling out nasal hairs: Eye-wateringly troubling. A big shout out to all the study participants. I am thankful to the Ackoms and Mr Courage Ahiati, my brother from another mother, and all the people who supported me in diverse ways during fieldwork. I am grateful to my family for their rich support. But as for you ‘Asomasi’ (you know yourself), I am still annoyed that you made me travel all the way to Navrongo for ‘nothing’–and you know the ‘nothing’ I am talking about! iii Dedication To the memory of my father: David Yaw Boateng And to my mum, Chritiana Adomako Boateng. I still remember distinctly how you were frowning your face at me when I unilaterally decided to drop out of senior high school. You wanted me to go to school. Well, here you are: a PhD. If I do not make a lot of MONEY with it, it’s on YOU. iv Table of contents Contents Declaration ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ iv Table of contents .............................................................................................................................. v List of tables and figures .............................................................................................................. viii List of tables ................................................................................................................................ viii List of figures............................................................................................................................... viii Preface ............................................................................................................................................. ix Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 2 Background to the study ................................................................................................................. 5 Initial assumptions about potential causes .................................................................................. 15 Research questions ....................................................................................................................... 17 Preview of methods and findings ................................................................................................. 17 Empirical data refute initial causal assumptions ..................................................................... 18 The political economists’ methodology of accident research ................................................... 19 The factors behind the collapse of buildings in Ghanaian cities .............................................. 21 Snapshot of study contributions to knowledge on topic and practice .......................................... 24 Plan of thesis ................................................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................... 32 Causes of building collapse in the developing world: What does the literature say? ................. 33 Technical competence of building practitioners ....................................................................... 33 Qualification of practitioners and building collapse: Summary of key highlights ................... 36 Building materials and incidents of building collapse in developing countries ....................... 38 Building materials and building collapse in developing countries: Summary of key highlights ....................................................................................................................................................... 45 Enforcement of safe building and construction regulations ..................................................... 46 Chapter two: Conclusion. ................................................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER THREE:...................................................................................................................... 55 Pathology of urban processes ...................................................................................................... 55 The population growth and social pathology thesis: A brief overview ........................................ 56 Synthesis of competing claims and application to study .............................................................. 59 Conceptual foundation: Urbanization and the urban context ...................................................... 62 Theorizing building collapse in cities: Lessons from the urban pathology literature ...................... 63 The pressures of accelerated urban building needs and building collapse in urban settings...... 67 (a) Suboptimal constructions engendered by urban building need pressures ........................... 67 (b) Suboptimal building use practices influenced by urban political economy pressures ........ 73 The pressures of accelerated urban building needs: Summary of key highlights ........................ 75 Deficient construction governance and urban management ........................................................ 75 v Chapter Three: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER FOUR.......................................................................................................................... 82 Approaches to safety in the construction sector: A general overview ......................................... 82 The construction safety approach ............................................................................................