Jennifer Hart: Rethinking Expertise in the Making of Modern Accra

Jennifer Hart, Professor, historian, author, and chair of history at Virginia Tech, joins The Century of Cities to share two decades of insight into Ghana's urban evolution. Through her work on Accra and her book Making an African City, Hart reveals how colonial legacies, economic shifts, and social resilience have shaped African cities from 1980 to today. She invites us to rethink expertise, arguing that the future of urban development lies not in imported models but in DIY urbanism, the creative, community-led practices that emerge when residents assert their right to the city. From Accra's Impact Hub to informal neighbourhood initiatives, Hart highlights how ordinary citizens are redefining what progress looks like. Her call to action is clear: it's time to put communities, not technocrats, at the center of how cities grow.