Reforming Housing Management and the Market in Ghana: The Role of Education

Abstract

Recent studies about housing in Ghana have shown the inadequacies of the private sector-led approach to providing affordable housing. These studies provide the basis for considering alternatives, particularly social housing. This raises two important questions, namely: (a) how to switch from a private to a social housing regime and (b) how to maintain the social housing stock if it is established. This article is concerned primarily with the latter question. It focuses on the nature of education and training and education programs for housing managers, points out an overemphasis on what is termed a "managerialist" framework in what is taught, discusses the negative effects of this approach on housing provision and the housing market in general, and recommends additional areas for consideration in the context of systemic reform.