A Research On The Impacts Of Urbanization On The Standard Of Living Of The Urban Population In Ghana

Urbanization affects the standard of living of the urban population in diverse ways; these can be viewed from economic, political, social, cultural and the environmental perspective. There is increasing competition for facilities and social amenities in the urban centres as the urban population continues to increase each passing day. This unhealthy pressure is believed to be triggered by the negative effects urbanization puts on the urban population. Generally, living standards in the urban areas are high and with the increasing rate of rural-urban migration, life in the cities has become extremely expensive to afford.This research work studied the implications of urbanization on the standard of living on the urban population with case study of Madina in Accra. Over the last three decades, Ghana's urban population has more than tripled, rising from 4 million to nearly 14 million people, and outpacing rural population growth. The country is moving steadily and uniformly all regions have experienced this growth toward cities. In fact, Ghana's urban population growth has been faster in its smaller cities than its larger ones with over 50% of the country's population being urbanized. Can this increasing pool of urban residents secure good jobs, access affordable housing, clean water and public transport? This justifies the need to study this topic carefully and critically. The study looks at the increasing rural-urban migration affects the standard of living of the people living in the urban areas, with specific reference to Madina in the capital of Ghana Accra.Besides, the causes, the consequences and impacts of urbanization in Ghana were also examined. Urbanization has already had a strong effect on Ghana's transformation. Since 1984,annual GDP has grown rapidly, averaging 5.7 percent but has since reduced to 4% in the last quarter of 2016 and currently at 4.1%. This is no coincidence, no country in the industrial age has achieved significant economic growth without urbanization, and globally, there exist a strong correlation between per capita income and urbanization.