Urban governance and its implications for the micro-geographies of market trading in Ghana: a case of the Kotokuraba Market Project in Cape Coast

This article scrutinizes the consequences that arise when current modes of urban governance fail to consider the micro-geographies of market trading during urban regeneration and relocation processes. It argues that the marketplace possesses significant and complex spatial dimensions that are fundamental to the sustenance and capital accumulation of traders. Findings from an empirical scrutiny of the regeneration of market infrastructure in Cape Coast reveal that the unwillingness of municipal authorities to consider the spatial dimensions of market trading during a period of temporary relocation caused negative consequences for traders, who experienced loss of customers, loss of capital, low savings, inability to meet family responsibilities and deterioration in health, among others. In response, the traders devised several coping strategies to survive these experiences. Due to the intimate relationship between state and non-state actors in urban governance, the municipal authority in Cape Coast not only suffered a sharp decline in its revenue generation but also could not recoup the funds invested in the development of the temporary markets. This study calls for inclusive urban governance in market development projects in order to preserve the spatial characteristics of market trading during relocation.