Description
The concept of informality has dissipated deeply into the narratives of infrastructure delivery in urban Ghana. While this concept has offered a basis for labour categorisation and forming territorial boundaries, it has also been argued to be ‘Western’ and often presents ‘blurry’ infrastructure realities in urban Ghana. This paper seeks to rethink the concept of urban ‘informality’ and offer an alternative framework that acknowledges the material interplay of the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ realities that exist in Ghana's transport infrastructure. By focusing on ‘hybrid delivery configuration’, this study emphasises how Ghana’s transport infrastructure is not simply an ‘informal’ response to gaps in formal provisions but a complex, contextually driven configuration that creatively adapts to rapid urbanisation, limited state resources and diverse socio-economic realities. This hybrid approach better reflects the fluid interactions between state and community actors, challenging conventional binaries and advocating for policy frameworks that support these adaptive, blended systems as essential components of urban transport in Ghana.
