PhD Defence Emmanuel Junior Adugbila | Involuntary resettlement for infrastructural development projects: redesigning an evaluation framework on impacts on the population in host communities

Involuntary resettlement for infrastructural development projects: redesigning an evaluation framework on impacts on the population in host communities

Emmanuel Junior Adugbila is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management. (Co)Promotors are prof.mr.dr.ir. J.A. Zevenbergen, prof.dr. K. Pfeffer and Dr. D. Todorovski from the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation.

The implementation of hydro-dams, was envisioned and employed by governments to promote industrialisation, agriculture and commerce. Such large infrastructural projects are means of creating wealth, and foundation for nation building. The implementation of hydro-dams comes with direct and indirect impacts on people’s livelihoods. Both people in affected resettled and host communities tend to perceive impacts with the implementation of hydro-dams on their livelihoods. However, the existing resettlement literature have not evaluated in-depth of such impacts of the host population due to involuntary resettlement for infrastructural development projects in communities for comparative analysis. This thesis sought to look into this knowledge gap in the resettlement literature by evaluating the perceived impacts (before and after) of the site implementation processes of dam-induced involuntary resettlement (DIIR) and their governance on the people in host communities. This thesis, therefore, used a mixed-method approach, using qualitative and quantitative methods to do so, using the Bui Dam in Ghana. This study presents a front on understanding the impacts of the site implementation processes of DIIR and their governance on the original people living in host communities for policy formulation. Its Findings show a partial non-alignment between resettlement and the content of resettlement frameworks.