Paul Boniface Akaabre

Paul holds a Ph.D. in Planning from the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at the University of British Columbia. His PhD work employed interviews and field experiments to investigate how traditional leasehold tenure function and influence the flow of investment to housing improvement and [re]development in Ghana as well as how leaseholders’ rights in such systems might be strengthened. He is interested in comprehensive community development planning with a particular focus on housing development and financing models as well as decolonization and redevelopment of aging, unjust, and racialized communities. Other areas of interest include property rights and institutional studies, socioeconomic and spatial justice (fair and equitable distribution in space of socially and economically valued resources and opportunities), impacts of climate change and migration on cities, indigenous and reconciliation-based planning, community engagement and partnership, and project planning and implementation management (appraisals, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation), among other areas. He has published on a range of topics – housing taxation, leasehold practices, rental housing search processes, gendered land tenure systems, and climate change – and has employed varied methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) across Ghana and Canada.