Paul Boniface Akaabre

He/him/his

PhD Candidate

He believes that property rights and tenure security are essential elements in building resilience and addressing socioeconomic inequality and insecurity in communities: if there is strong governing structure and people enjoy secure tenure and property rights, they are more likely to plan ahead and invest in resilience measures, including housing.

Besides, to realize the UN Sustainable Development Goals (1, 2, 5, 10 & 11), rights to land, housing, and tenure security in cities have to be ensured. Hence, his current research aims to strengthen land governance, tenure security and property rights in cities [of Sub-Saharan Africa] by examining the efficacy of traditional leasehold models and practices in the urban area—and how they influence housing investment and delivery [in terms of supply, quality, affordability, and the potential for redevelopment].

Modelling Leasehold of Land and Housing Investment in Cities

His scholarship is situated in Comprehensive Community Development Planning, with particular interest in property rights (land entitlement and governance) and housing production, finance and justice, as well as decolonization and (re)development of aging, unjust, and racialized communities.

Other areas of interest include reconciliation-based planning, community engagement and partnership planning, socioeconomic inequality and spatial justice, project planning and implementation management (appraisal, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation), and spatial planning (land-use planning) and climate justice.

His approach to research draws from pragmatism and transformative paradigms, and thus employs mixed-methods, including grounded theory and quasi/field experimental designs.

Courses Taught at SCARP as Teaching Assistant:

  • PLAN 211: City-Making: A Global Perspective
  • PLAN 425: Urban Planning Issues and Concepts 
  • GEOG 250 / URST 200: Cities

Courses Taught as Instructor at the Department of Planning, University for Development Studies, Ghana: 

  • PLG 101: Fundamentals of Planning
  • PLG 211: Planning and Politics
  • PLG 210: Social and Environmental Impact Assessment
  • PLG 303: Project Planning and Management
  • PLG 407: Tool and Techniques of Spatial Planning
  • PLG 111: Development Planning Foundation Workshop
  • PLG 331: District Development Planning Workshop
  • 4-Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF), The University of British Columbia (2019-2023)
  • International Tuition Award, The University of British Columbia (2019-2023)
  • Brahm Wiesman Memorial Scholarship in Community & Regional Planning, The University of British Columbia (2021-2022)
  • President's Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, The University of British Columbia (2020, 2021 & 2022)
  • R. Howard Webster Foundation Fellowship, Green College Award, The University of British Columbia (2019-2020)
  • DAAD In-Country/In-Region Doctoral Scholarship, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (2018-2019)
  • University of Auckland International Student Scholarship, University of Auckland (2016)
  • Outstanding Academic Performance: Overall Best Graduating Student, Faculty of Planning and Land Management, University for Development Studies (2013/2014 Academic Year)
Paul Boniface Akaabre
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