Urban regeneration and politically-induced displacement in a secondary African city: A case of the Kotokuraba Market Project, Cape Coast, Ghana

This article presents the concept of politically-induced displacement (PID) as a new theoretical construct for analyzing displacement processes during regeneration of urban infrastructure in Africa. PID is a particular form of state-led displacement that entails the dispossession of supporters of opposition political parties in favour of individuals who are affiliated with ruling political parties. PID does not only draw on the familiar concepts of state-led displacement and clientelism, but also conceptualizes the two as nuanced characteristics of urban development in Africa. Through an empirical scrutiny of the regeneration of market infrastructure in Cape Coast, we contend that PID is a function of urban regeneration, because it facilitates the exit and entry of political actors into newly-developed urban infrastructure. The study demonstrates that clientelism and, hence, PID is as pervasive in urban development of secondary cities in Africa, as it is in capital cities. It concludes with a discussion of the theoretical rationale for the process-oriented concept of PID. We also highlight the implication of PID for the micro-geographies of market trading as well as urban and marketplace governance in Ghana and Africa.