Town Planning, Housing, and the Politics of Sanitation and Public Health in the Gold Coast (Colonial Ghana), c. 1880 – 1950.

This article examines the relationship between British colonial town planning, housing regulations, and public health policies in the Gold Coast from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Colonial officials, influenced by European epidemiological theories linking disease to overcrowding and poor housing, imposed British-style sanitary layouts, building techniques, and materials on Gold Coast communities, aiming to improve health and assert colonial control. Despite efforts including demolition of "ruinous" houses, introduction of building permits, and the 1925 Town Planning Ordinance, these measures faced resistance from local populations, economic constraints, and administrative challenges, resulting in persistent overcrowding and unsanitary conditions by 1950. The study highlights how colonial planning served both public health objectives and the extension of British cultural hegemony, while also acknowledging the resilience of indigenous spatial practices and the limited success of colonial sanitary reforms.