Land banking, land price and Ghana’s informal land markets: A relational complexity approach

• Published in: Land use policy Vol. 141; p. 107133
• Main Authors: Sasu, Alexander, Javed, Arshad, Imran, Muhammad, Squires, Graham
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Ghana; Informal land market; Land banking; Land prices; Relational complexity; Ghana; Land prices; Informal land market; Land banking; Relational complexity
• ISSN: 0264-8377; 1873-5754
• DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107133

Land banking practices have received little attention on how such practices shape informal land markets in developing countries. Drawing on a relational complexity framework, this study explores the land banking experience in Ghana’s informal land markets. This research conducted semi-structured interviews with over thirty participants from four communities within the Ghanaian informal land market. The analysis revealed that developers are banking large tracts of land as capital investments through land dispositions. The absence of development on these banked lands has created a situation where developers are gradually influencing land prices. The analysis also shows that developers have created complex ongoing relationships with customary land managers. This coalition relationship has shaped land prices through the displacement of state-mediated statutory powers for land exchanges. The study recommends revisiting of stakeholder discussions on the enforcement and monitoring of the processes required under the Ghanaian Lands Commission guidelines for large-scale land transactions. •We explored land banking and the price of land from an informal land market context.•Results revealed land banking praxes were associated with rising land prices•Reasons behind price trends were distinctive in terms of market actor relationships.•Suitable recommendations were suggested.