Abstract
This chapter focuses on the agents of social change of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, in the twentieth century. To satisfy the objectives of the paper, it depended on qualitative research and secondly sources. The main objective was to find out the main agents of socio-political change of Accra, before attainment of Ghana’s independence in 1957. The research is important because it highlights some internal factors contributing to change in Accra and calls for a holistic study of the various agents of social change in colonial Accra. It finds that Accra was, until the first decade of the twentieth century, a small coastal town, with water, health, sanitary, and infrastructure challenges. Changes gradually occurred, causing the town to expand beyond its traditional boundaries. Accra became a major city, had a teeming population by 1957, and acquired its own governmental, industrial, and commercial establishments. Improvements occurred also in living conditions and in social services. This chapter attempts a holistic study of the factors contributing to Accra’s transformation from a village with significant environmental and socio-political challenges to a fast-developing city, with modern facilities and institutions in the twentieth century.
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Adum-Kyeremeh, K. (2023). Agents of Social Change in Twentieth-Century Accra, Ghana. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87624-1_389-1
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