URBAN DESIGN International (2007) 12, 101–114. doi:10.1057/palgrave.udi.9000191
The global and the local: urban change in Cape Coast from pre-colonial times to the present
Samuel Agyei-Mensah1 and Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf1
1Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, P.O.BOX 59, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Correspondence: Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Tel: 23321500394; Fax: 23321500310; E-mail: samensah@ug.edu.gh
Abstract
This paper seeks to examine how global forces interact with the local ones to shape the urban landscape of Cape Coast, Ghana. Three distinct periods are examined: the pre-colonial and colonial periods; the post-independence period; and the contemporary period. The findings of this study show that in each of these periods, Cape Coast was subjected to local and global forces, giving a distinctive image to the urban landscape. This was reflected in changes in the urban morphology, architecture and economic as well as social outcomes. The paper also demonstrates how some of these urban forms have mutated in response to changing socioeconomic, political and cultural circumstances.
Keywords:
Cape Coast, Ghana, global and local, urban landscape, urban architecture
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