From fragmentation to integration and back again: The politics of water infrastructure in Accra’s peripheral neighbourhoods

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics of fragmentation and integration in Accra’s water infrastructure. Inspired by figurational sociology, we analyse infrastructure as both reflective and constitutive of interdependencies between different class fractions and parts of the urban region. We draw on historical archives, the in-depth ethnographic study of one suburban neighbourhood, a survey of eight additional neighbourhoods, and statistics from Ghana’s census to investigate the mechanisms and drivers of infrastructural integration as well as fragmentation. Our analysis shows that, following Ghana’s independence, the piped water network gradually expanded to integrate different class fractions and parts of the urban region. But this process has more recently hit its limits on Accra’s peri-urban fringe, where the wealthy are disconnecting from the public piped water network and, by implication, from those who still depend on it. The progressive expansion of the pipe network thus grinds to a halt, giving way to a fragmented constellation of water infrastructures.