TRANSPORT AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY: CASE EVIDENCE FROM ACCRA, GHANA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1996

Subject Area

place - urban, ridership - old people, ridership - young people

Keywords

Youths, Urban transportation, Teenagers, Senior citizens, Poverty, Poor people, Older people, Old people, Low income groups, Low income families, Intracity transportation, Elderly persons, Aged, Adolescents, Accra (Ghana)

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of the urban poor adapting to their own poverty and to unreliable public transport services by task sharing among extended family units. It draws on material from interviews conducted in two low-income communities in Accra, Ghana. In typically large households, the practice of fostering children, hiring domestic servants and doorstep petty trading by elderly women are three notable strategies for relieving middle-aged adults from transport stress and under-provision, and enabling them to be wage earners. As resources, rather than responsibilities, children fetch and carry, and attend school in shifts. From a transport activity or survival network approach, these elements can be viewed as key strategies in the organization of travel and transport.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Journal of Transport Geography home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09666923

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