Paul B Akaabre

Paul is a Graduate Student Ambassador and PhD. Candidate in the School of Community and Regional Planning. He holds B.Sc. Planning and M.Phil. Planning degrees from Ghana, with specialization in Development Planning. Prior to his UBC journey, he was an instructor at the Department of Planning of the University for Development Studies and a scholar of the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)—established by the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) in cooperation with the World Bank, African Union, Germany (DAAD, BMZ & GIZ) and other partners to strengthen land governance and policies in Africa. His scholarship is situated in Comprehensive Community Development Planning, with a focus on land use planning and property rights, as well as decolonization and (re)development of aging, unjust, and racialized communities. Other areas of interest include reconciliation-based planning, socioeconomic inequality and spatial justice—fair and equitable distribution in space of socially and economically valued resources and opportunities, including housing, livelihood, and food security—and project planning and implementation management (appraisal, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation). He believes that property rights and tenure security are essential elements in building resilience and addressing socioeconomic insecurity and inequality in communities— i.e., if the governing structure is potent and people enjoy secure tenure and property rights, they are more likely to plan ahead and invest in resilience measures. Besides, to realize the UN Sustainable Development Goals, rights to land, housing, and tenure security in cities have to be ensured. Hence, his doctoral dissertation employs interviews and field experimental design to investigate the efficacy of traditional leasehold practices in Ghana and how they influence housing investment in terms of supply, quality, affordability and the potential for redevelopment.