Prof. George Owusu

Prof George Owusu
Professor

gowusu@ug.edu.gh

  • Urbanisation and urban planning
  • Regional development and planning
  • Small and Medium-sized urban centres
  • Decentralisation and Local Government
  • Urban/Peri-urban Land Tenure and Land Administration
  • Landfill and Waste Management
  • Urban Youth, Enterprises and Employment
  • Urban Crime and Violence

Edited Books

  1. Owusu, G., Osei, R.D. & Asante, F.A. (Eds.) (2017). Contemporary Issues in Development: A Reader. Accra: Sub-Saharah Publishers.
  1. Owusu, G., Agyei-Mensah, S., Yankson, P.W.K & Attua, E.M (Eds.) (2013). Selected Readings in Geography. Accra: University of Ghana/Woeli Publishing Services.

Chapters in Books

  1. Owusu, G. & Frimpong, L. K. (2019). Crime geography. Kobayashi, A. (ed.), International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography (In Press)
  1. Owusu, G. & Crentsil, A. O. (2019). The right to the city: An African perspective. Paris: Nanterre Univ Press (In Press).
  1. Owusu, A. Y., Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, G., Wrigley-Asante, C. & Agyekum, M. W. (2019). Opening up or closing off: Urbanisation, violent crime and the poverty penalty in Ghana’s four largest cities, In: J. E. Salahub, M. Gottsbacher, J. de Boer & M. D. Zaaroura (Eds.), Reducing Urban Violence in the Global South. London: Routledge.
  1. Owusu, G. & Yankson, P.W.K. (2017). Urbanization in Ghana: Retrospect and prospects, In: E. Aryeetey and R. Kanbur (Eds.), The Economy of Ghana Sixty Years After Independence (pp. 207-222). London: Oxford University Press
  1. Owusu, G. and Crenstil, (2017). Spatial context of development policy and practice, In G. Owusu, R.D. Osei & F. A. Asante (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Development Policy and Practice in Ghana: A Reader. Accra: University of Ghana/Sub-Saharan Publishers.
  1. Owusu, G., Osei, R.D. & Asante, F.A. (2017). Introduction: Shifting meanings of development thinking and practice, In: G. Owusu, R. D. Osei. & F. A. Asante (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Development Policy and Practice in Ghana: A Reader (In Press). Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers.
  1. Owusu, G., Yankson, P. & Osei, R. (2015). Youth entrepreneurship in Ghana: Current trends and policies. In K. Gough & T. Langevang (Eds.), Young Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 32-47). London: Routledge.
  1. Yankson, P. & Owusu, G. (2015). Opportunities and challenges of youth entrepreneurship in a low-income neighbourhood of Accra, In: K. Gough & T. Langevang (Eds.), Young Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 94-107). London: Routledge.
  1. Owusu, G. & Asante, F. A. (2014). District Assembly financing of local level development. In P. Quartey, E. B-D. Aryeetey & C. G. Ackah (Eds.), Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Inclusive Development in Ghana (pp. 113-137). Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers/ISSER.
  1. Owusu, G. & Afutu-Kotey, R. L. (2014). Natural resources and domestic resource mobilization in Ghana: The case of the gold mining industry. In P. Quartey, E. B-D Aryeetey & C. G. Ackah (Eds.), Domestic Resource Mobilisation for Inclusive Development in Ghana (pp. 338-367). Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers/ISSER.
  1. Owusu, G. & Baffoe, H. J. B. (2014). Oil and the Western Region: Implications for regional and local development. In E. Aryeetey, R. D. Osei & P. Quartey (Eds.), Managing Ghana’s Oil Boom for Structural Transformation (pp. 196-224). Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers/ISSER.
  1. Owusu, G. (2014). Housing the urban poor in Ghana’s largest metropolitan area, Accra: What is the role of the state in the era of liberalization and globalization? In C. Brun, P. Blaikie & M. Jones (Eds.), Alternative Development: Unravelling Marginalization, Voicing Change (pp. 73-85). London: Ashgates Publishing Limited.
  1. Owusu, G. (2013). Factors shaping economic integration and regional trade in West Africa. In R. Sohn & A. K. Oppong (Eds.), Regional Trade and Monetary Integration in West Africa and Europe (pp. 9-32). Bonn/Praia: Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI)/West Africa Institute (WAI).
  1. Owusu, G. (2011). Small towns and decentralized development in Ghana: A strategy for dispersed urbanization?’ In P. Bouvier, J. Bakole & D. Swinne (Eds.), Poverty in Medium and Small Cities of Developing Countries (pp. 189-207). Brussels: UN-Habitat/Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of Belgium.
  1. Owusu, G. (2006). The changing views on the role of small towns in rural and regional development in Sub-Saharan Africa. In A. Green & R. Leech (Eds.), Cities in the World, 1500-2000 (pp. 49-60). London: Maney Publishing.

Edited Journals (Special Issues)

  1. Katherine V. Gough, K.V., Langevang, T. and Owusu, G. (Eds.) (2013). Special Issue: Youth employment in a globalising world. International Development Planning Review, 35 (2). DOI:10.3828/idpr.2013.7
  1. Owusu, G. (Ed.) (2016). Urban crime and poverty nexus. Ghana Journal of Geography (Special Issues), 8(1).
  1. Articles in Refereed/Peer-reviewed Journals
  1. Tahiru, A., Sackey, B., Owusu, G. & Bawakyillenuo, S. (2019). Building the adaptive capacity for livelihood improvements of Sahel Savannah farmers through NGO-led adaptation. Climate Risk Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2019.100197.
  1. Wrigley-Asante, C., Frimpong, L. K., Owusu, G. & Oteng-Ababio, M. (2019). Determinants of perceived insecurity and its consequences in a low-income community in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 4, 475-495.
  1. Bagson, E., Owusu, G. & Oteng-Ababio, M. (2019). Determinant of safety and liveability in Kumasi and Tamale metropolitan areas in urban Ghana. Ghana Journal of Development Studies, 16(2), 91-112.
  1. Gough, K.V., Langevang, T., Yankson, P. & Owusu, G. (2019). Shaping geographies of informal education: A Global South perspective. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2019.1602466.
  1. Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, G. & Asafo, D. M. (2019). Following the footsteps: Urbanisation of Wa Municipality and its synergism in risk accumulation, uncertainties and complexities in urban Ghana. Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies. 11(1), 1-10.
  1. Frimpong, L. K., Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, G. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2018). Public confidence in the police: Tests of instrumental and expressive models in a developing country city. Police Practice and Research, 20(2), 139-155. DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2018.1525380.
  1. Ezzati, M., Webster, C. J., Doyle, Y. G., Rashid, S., Owusu, G. & Leung, G. M. (2018). Cities for global health. BMJ (British Medical Journal). 2018;363:k3794. http://doi: 10.1136/bmj.k3794 (Published 3 October 2018).
  1. Crentsil, A. O. & Owusu, G. (2018). Accra’s decongestion policy: Another face of urban clearance or bulldozing approach? International Development Policy|Revue internationale de politique de développement,10(20180, 213-228. http://doi.org/10.4000/poldev.2719
  1. Frimpong, L. K., Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, G. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2018). Collective efficacy and fear of crime in urban neighbourhoods in Ghana. Safer Communities: A Journal of Practice, Opinion, Policy and Research 17(3), 167-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-06-2017-0024.
  1. Quartey, P., Danquah, M., Owusu, G. & Iddrisu, A. M. (2018). Unmasking the contributing factors of entrepreneurial activities among men and women in Ghana. Journal of Economic Studies, 45(1), 114-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-08-2016-0152.
  1. Afutu-Kotey, R.L., Gough, K. & Owusu, G. (2017). Young entrepreneurs in the mobile telephony sector in Ghana: From necessities to aspirations. Journal of African Business 18(4), 476-491.
  1. Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, G., Wrigley-Asante, C. & Owusu, A.Y. (2016). Longitudinal analysis of crime trends and patterns in Ghana (1980-2010): A new perspective. African Geographical Review 35(3), 193-211.
  1. Owusu, G. (2016). Introduction: Crime and poverty nexus. Ghana Journal of Geography (Special Issue),8(1), 1–12.
  1. Owusu, G., Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, A. Y. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2016). Can poor neighbourhoods be correlated with crime? Evidence from urban Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography (Special Issues),8(1), 13-33.
  1. Wrigley-Asante. C., Owusu, G., Oteng-Ababio, M. & Owusu, A.Y. (2016). Poverty and crime: Uncovering the hidden face of sexual crimes in urban low-income communities in Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography (Special Issue), 8(1), 34-52.
  1. Owusu, G., Owusu, A. Y., Martin Oteng-Ababio, M., Wrigley-Asante, C. & Agyapong, I. (2016). An assessment of households' perceptions of private security companies and crime in urban Ghana. Crime Science 5(5). DOI: 10.1186/s40163-016-0053-x
  1. Oteng-Ababio, M., Owusu, A. Y., Owusu, G. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2016). Geographies of crime and collective efficacy in urban Ghana. Territory, Politics, Governance. DOI: 10.1080/21622671.2016.1159602
  1. Owusu, G. (2015). Decentralized development planning and fragmentation of regional development in Ghana: The case of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. Ghana Journal of Geography, 7(1), 1-24.
  1. Owusu, G., Wrigley-Asante, C., Oteng-Ababio, M. & Owusu, A. Y. (2015). Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and built-environmental manifestations in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana. Crime Prevention & Community Safety, 17(4), 270-290. DOI: 10.1057/cpcs.2015.8
  1. Gough, K.V., Langevang, T., Yankson, P., Owusu, G. & Osei, R. (2015). Bounded entrepreneurial vitality: The mixed embeddedness of female entrepreneurship. Economic Geography, 91(4), 449-473.
  1. Yankson, P.W.K. & Owusu, G. (2015). Youth entrepreneurship in auto spare parts sales and repair service in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Developing Countries Studies, 5(4), 84-97
  1. Oteng-Ababio, M., Chama, M. & Owusu, G. (2015). Intelligent enterprise: wasting, valuing and re-valuing waste electrical and electronic equipment. The Geographical Journal DOI: 10.1111/geoj/12140.
  1. Owusu, G. & Oteng-Ababio, M. (2015). Moving unruly contemporary urbanism toward sustainable urban development in Ghana by 2030. American Behavioral Scientists (ABS) 59(3), 311 –327. DOI: 10.1177/0002764214550302
  1. Agyei-Mensah, S., Owusu, G. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2015). The MDGs and urban health in Africa, International Development Planning Review (IDPR) DOI: 10.3828/idpr.2015.6, 53-60
  1. Steel, W. F., Ujoranyi, T. D. & Owusu, G. (2014). Why evictions don’t deter street traders: Case study in Accra. Ghana. Ghana Social Science Journal, 11(2), 50-73
  1. Owusu, G., Amponsah, E., Codjoe, S. N. & Afutu-Kotey, R. L. (2014). How do Ghana’s landfills affect residential property values? A case study of two sites in Accra. Urban Geography, 35(8), 1140-115.
  1. Codjoe, S.N., Owusu, G. & Virginia, B. (2013). Perception, experience, and indigenous knowledge of climate change and variability: The case of Accra, a Sub-Saharan African city. Regional Environmental Change DOI: 10.1007/s10113-013-0500-0
  1. Gough, K.V., Langevang, T. & Owusu, G. (2013). Youth employment in a globalising world: An introduction. International Development Planning Review (Special Issue), 35(2), 91-102. DOI:10.3828/idpr.2013.7
  1. Owusu, G. (2013). Coping with urban sprawl: A critical discussion of the urban containment strategy in a developing country city, Accra, Planum: The Journal of Urbanism 26(1), 1-17. http://www.planum.net/planum-magazine/cities-to-be-tamed/conference-proceedings
  1. Bloch, R. & Owusu, G. (2012). Linkages in Ghana’s gold mining industry: Challenging the enclave thesis. Resources Policy, 37(4), 434-442
  1. Owusu, G., Oteng-Ababio, M. & Afutu-Kotey, R. L. (2012). Conflicts and governance of landfills in a developing country city, Accra. Landscape and Urban Planning, 104(1), 105-113. DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.10.005
  1. Agyei-Mensah, S. & Owusu, G. (2012). Ethnic residential clusters in Nima, Accra. Urban Forum, 23(1), 133-149. DOI: 10.1007/s12132-011-9127-8.
  1. Owusu, G. (2011). The operation of traditional landholding institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of Ghana, Raymond Abdulai, Berlin: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010, 345 pp., ISBN 978383833690 Paperback. Journal of International Real Estate and Construction Studies (JIRECS), 1(2), 201-203
  1. Codjoe, N. S. & Owusu, G. (2011). Climate change/variability and food systems: Evidence from the Afram Plains, Ghana. Regional Environmental Change, 11(4), 753-765. DOI: 10.1007/s10113-011-0211-3.
  1. Owusu, G. and Agyei-Mensah, S. (2011). Comparative study of ethnic residential segregation in Ghana's two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi. Population and Environment, 32(4), 332-352.
  1. Owusu, G. and Afutu-Kotey, R. L. (2010). Poor urban communities and municipal interface in Ghana: Case study of Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. African Studies Quarterly, 12(1, Fall 2010), 1-16.      
  1. Owusu, G. (2010). Social effects of poor sanitation and waste management on poor urban communities: A neighbourhood-specific study of Sabon Zongo, Accra. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 3(2), 145-160.
  1. Agyei-Mensah, Samuel & Owusu, G. (2010). Segregated by neighbourhoods? A portrait of ethnic diversity in the neighbourhoods of the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana. Population, Space and Place 16(6), 499-516.
  1. Owusu, G. (2009). Urban growth and changing land access and rights in peri-urban areas of Ghana’s largest metropolises, Accra and Kumasi. African Population Studies, 23, 253-281.
  1. Owusu, G. (2009). Internal boundaries and district administration: A challenge to decentralization and district development in Ghana. Geografiska Annaler 91 (1), 57-71.
  1. Owusu, G. (2008). ‘Indigenes’ and migrants’ access to land in peri-urban areas of Ghana’s largest city of Accra. International Development Planning Review (IDPR), 30(2), 177-198.
  1. Owusu, G. (2008). The role of small towns in poverty reduction and regional development in Ghana. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR), 32(2), 453-472
  1. Owusu, G. (2008). Mobilising revenue for district development: The dilemma of local governments, District Assemblies, in Ghana. Afriche e Orienti (Special Issue II 2008: Decentralising Power and Resource Control in sub-Saharan Africa), 22-37.
  1. Otiso, M. K. & Owusu, G. (2008). Comparative urbanization in Ghana and Kenya in time and space. GeoJournal, 71(2/3), 143-157.
  1. Owusu, G., Agyei-Mensah, S. & Lund, R. (2008). ‘Slums of hope and slums of despair: Mobility and livelihoods in Nima, Accra. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift – Norwegian Journal of Geography, 62(3), 180-190.
  1. Awotwi, J. A. & Owusu, G. (2008). Lack of equal access to ICTs by women: An e-governance issue. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 232, 452-458. http://doi.acm.org/978-1-60558-386
  1. Owusu, G. & Lund, R. (2007). The role of market women in rural-urban linkages in Ghana: A Case study of two district capitals and their hinterlands. Legon Journal of Sociology 2(2), 37-67.
  1. Owusu, G. & Yankson, P. W. K (2007). ‘’Poverty in Ghana is basically a rural phenomenon’: Are we underestimating urban poverty. Ghana Journal of Development Studies, 4(1), 87-105.
  1. Awotwi, J. A. & Owusu, G. (2007). E-Governance in an environment with limited resources: A case study of Ghana. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 232, 345-348. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1328057.1328129
  1. Owusu, G. (2005). Small towns in Ghana: Justifications for their promotion under the decentralisation programme. African Studies Quarterly, 8, 48-69. [online] URL: http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v8/v8i2a3.htm
  1. Owusu, G. (2005). The role of district capitals in regional development: Linking small towns, rural-urban linkages and decentralisation in Ghana. International Development Planning Review, 27(1), 59-89.
  1. Owusu, G. (2004). Small towns and decentralised development in Ghana: Theory and practice. Afrika Spectrum, 39(2), 165-195.
  1. Owusu, G. & Lund, R. (2004). Markets and women’s trade: Exploring their role in district development in Ghana. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift – Norwegian Journal of Geography, 58(3), 113-124.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Technical Publications/Working Papers

  1. Osei-Akoto, I., Bawakyillenuo, S., Owusu, G. & Agbelie, I. (2019). Seasonal employment and poverty reduction: An impact evaluation of labour-intensive public works in Ghana. ISSER Technical Publication No. 93. Accra: ISSER.
  1. Awumbila, M., Owusu, G. & Teye, J.K. (2014). Can rural-urban migration contribute to poverty reduction?       Evidence from Ghana. MOP Working Paper 13 (April 2014). University of Sussex. [migratingoutofpoverty.dfid.gov.uk]
  1. Domfe, G., Osei-Akoto, I., Amuakwa-Mensah, F. & Owusu, G. (2013). Labour market analysis and business process outsourcing in Ghana: Poverty reduction through information and digital employment initiative. Research Report No. 2. University of Kwazulu-Natal/ISSER/Rockefeller Foundation.
  1. Bloch, R. & Owusu, G. (2011). Linkages in Ghana’s gold mining industry: Challenging the enclave thesis. MMCP Discussion Paper 1 (March 2011), University of Cape Town/Open University, UK.
  1. Aryeetey, E., Owusu, G. & Mensah, E. J. (2009). An analysis of poverty and regional inequalities in Ghana. GDN Working Paper Series 27. Washington/New Dehli: GDN.
  1. Owusu, G. & Agyei, J. (2008). Changes in land access, rights and livelihoods in peri-urban Ghana: The case of Accra, Kumasi and Tamale Metropolis. ISSER Technical Publication No. 83. Accra: ISSER.