Globalizing City. The Urban and Economic Transformation of Accra, Ghana

摘要

Richard Grant's book constitutes a well-researched, well-written and well-presented masterpiece on Accra, Ghana. The book contains the state-of-the-art of research on Accra and fresh evidence drawn firstrnhand from Ghana's capital city. The book also contains a useful bibliography for those interested in urban research in Ghana generally. The main thesis of the book is that while Accra cannot be called a globalized city, it has not been peripheral to the wave of globalization. A rich body of evidence supports this conclusion, spanning from housing construction, type, and location (pp. 42-89), the location of foreign companies (pp. 18-41), the business activities of'returnees' in Accra (pp. 90-110), the 'inter-nationalisation' of activities of slum dwellers and the role of civil society (pp. 111 - 135).