Greening the centre of the world: What can we learn from commoners' organisations?

What happens when a community's desire for recreational and educational spaces clashes with the relentless march of commercial development? This question drew me to Tema, Ghana, for my PhD field research from April to June 2024.

by Samuel Agyekum

A city at the centre of the world - and of urban commodification

Tema, located at 5° 40' 0.0012'' N and 0° 0' 0.0000'' E, holds the unique accolade: the city of people living closest to the absolute centre of the world. Its singularly central location, at the turn of globalisation and neoliberalism, is truly representative of the urban. Tema is a centre of metabolic flows of capital (investment and disinvestment), resources and labour due to its function as the primary port harbour and industrial city of Ghana. As a classic site of urban commodification, now facilitated through private property, Tema does not escape the possibility of social and environmental costs. It is also home to socio-ecological processes to stem/address these. This is why my ongoing PhD fieldwork conducted within the CommonPaths project in Ghana, investigated Tema in order to understand how urban green commons organisations can contribute to decommodification and a post-growth society.

Tema and her urban green battles

Tema, initially planned according to modernist principles, segregated the indigenous settler population into a distinct area. Despite this, it serves as an example of a city built on strong urban green principles, including public open spaces and parks. The strategic orientation of Tema as an industrial and harbour city, designed to attract private investments, has precipitated conflicting uses for space and significant social and environmental challenges. One notable consequence I observed is the fast-diminishing rate of all the hitherto lush greenspaces within the metropolitan region. Greening is losing some of the battles for city space, to capital. Some of the people who live at the centre of the world told me that one of their prevailing concerns is the relationship between ‘green space poverty’ and social tensions. They ask whether it is possible for green space to be protected by and for the public.

Analysing the contradictions of economic growth and strong environmental sustainability, and the emerging local resistance from residents against the capitalist production of urban space, is at the centre of/guides my research. By examining the case of Zonta Tema Children's Park, and the commoners’ organisation, Concerned Citizens of Tema, my goal is to shed light on the institutional innovations, as well as the strategic role of urban green commons in mitigating socio-ecological ills to forge a sustainable, equitable urban environments.

What might the commons show us?

On a 6.2-acre public land in Tema Community 5, one finds/I find evidence of attempts to subordinate the community’s recreational and educational interests to a private ‘commercial recreational centre’. There is some nuance to this public vs private story: the governmental municipality’s quest to address the housing deficit and boost economic opportunities for Tema’s residents has played a significant role in attracting these same private interests.

This finds expression through efforts to flatten the Park that hosts the only public library and recreational area in all of Tema, in order to make way for a new spatial development. The ambitious plan purports to reconcile public accessibility of recreational centre, with revenue-generating casinos and rental accommodations. Further revelations show that a vital concern: how economisation of the space could be detrimental to available land for green seemed to have been ‘thrown under bus’ even with the possibility of entry fees being levied for public access.

Opposing the strong forces of capital

From observations and interactions with the commoners coupled with triangulated sources, it was glaring how the paperwork for leasing the park for commercial recreational centre was advanced without serious consideration of mitigating the concerns raised by the commoners. Despite the purported benefits of the project, the Concerned Citizens of Tema assumed an ambivalent posture towards it, citing the educational, social, and cultural disadvantages as reasons for their resistance. They explained to me that they recognised that mere physical expressions of displeasure would not be sufficient to oppose the strong forces of capital. So, the commons adapted their strategies by resorting to selective rule activation, press conferences through traditional and new media outlets, and engaged in constant monitoring of the park site with the help of a networked resident association.

The commoners have not yet achieved their goal, which is to stop the development. Yet, they may have demonstrated important lessons about capital and environmental challenges. The municipality has, in turn, spoken with the media, with the commoners, and with the broader public, assuring that project – to restore the park to a cleaner, safer, and more child-friendly state after several years of neglect - will not move forward in secrecy.
The commoners have evidenced their capacity to influence decision-making process, thereby rendering it more transparent and making actors accountable to the public.

To which extent can the commons adapt to external pressure?

The image above depicts one of the physical manifestations of the work of the community’s actions; influencing state actors to be more committed to preserving green by mounting signages which asserts the intention not to lease the land for the commercial development. As a student of the Ghanaian social movement landscape, one may wonder how far this resistance can go.
This question brings into focus the political, economic, and social factors which might trigger a reorganisation of the commons and their strategies if they would be resilient. The extent to which the commons can adapt to these external pressures awaits results from my ongoing investigation. Moreso, historicising such a case is vital component of my research. Such an approach helps to understand how a place whose indigenous character was substituted for a ‘new’ dominated by pillars of industrialisation and ‘modernisation’ came to embrace this form of collective social and cultural identity that sought for social and environmental cause.

Taken together, it appears the work of the commons in Tema could be a model for how urban green spaces can be maintained and even increase the provision. But also on a broader level on how we can forge a sustainably-just urban futures amidst the pressures of economic growth.

Stay tuned for more!