Are these just Romantic visions of a future in Jamestown?

I spent this entire weekend in Jamestown with different groups of people visiting different houses in Jamestown. Driving into this part of Accra on the weekends is much more enjoyable, life is slower and you never fail to witness something interesting there. Just as I drove past Ussherfort, I see this guy waking up in a small shack next to the road through a slit in their wooden panels. He stretches, rubs his eyes and walks out of his room and out onto the pavement. This guy doesnt even bother to look left or right to check the upcoming traffic. As far as he is concerned…this is his space and I am in his way, not the other way round. Perhaps elsewhere in Accra or any other city in the world I would have blown my horn but here I cant help but laugh. It refreshing to see Ghanaians own their space.

Despite the run-down and dilapidated structures in Jamestown or Usshertown, people here are proud and confident in themselves. Try taking a picture without permission here and you can be guaranteed someone will hold you accountable. Here a tourist cant walk naively and with their camera objectify the people and their living conditions. Ive learnt through experience that taking time to greet and getting to know everyone you meet, regardless of their age or the way the dress, goes a long way. Upsetting one person doesnt end there because word gets round fast and people here are observant.

Part of the reason I came there this weekend was to learn about well-known Ghanaian family houses and scout the sort of properties going for sale. With a few friends, we tried to imagine how amazing working in this area would be…restoring some of these old houses into an architecture or artist studio. The possibilities of attracting designers to our community workshops, running historic tours of Old Accra and drinking morning coffee with the Atlantic as our backyard loomed over me. I spent most of Saturday contemplating this.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

But are these just Romantic visions? At the Nubuke Foundation today, Kofi Setordji reminded me kindly of the harsh reality of life in Jamestown. Having previously owned a studio there for 11 years, he recalls days when a complete stranger would nail a fishing net to his door and start sewing. Often women who had observed him cooking, would come knocking for salt and onions. While we laughed about it, I cant help but think that the idea of regenerating Jamestown in the fashion that Hoxton (and parts of EastLondon) was done through artists and designers might be a bit far-fetched and naive. When people come knocking for salt, we have much larger problems at hand…