The prevalence of urban poverty and its spatial manifestations have been thoroughly discussed in the academic literature. This paper contributes to that ongoing discussion, by unpacking that geographies of poverty in Kumasi, a rapidly growing African city. It analyses the spatial patterns and changing concentrations of poverty over the last five years. Using multiple methods, including document reviews, a survey of 379 respondents and agency interviews, the research shows a gradually expanding spatial enclaves of poverty in the city. The results involving aggregates ranking of income and cost of living, rankings of housing units, the presence of firms, access to social services and incidences of out-migration were mapped using ArcGIS 10.3 software. Administrative demarcations in the city often reflects spatial distribution of poverty, with increased concentration of wealthy residents in only one of the nine sub-metropolitan areas. The study found that educational attainment and socio-economic status were critical factors influencing the distribution of poverty. This calls for pro-poor interventions from the city authorities not only to address issues in housing, socio-economic infrastructure and employment opportunities but also to monitor spatial changes in the distribution and spatial concentrations of poverty to curtail socially segregated urban landscapes.

在学术文献中已经充分讨论了城市贫困的普遍性及其空间表现。本文通过对迅速发展的非洲城市库马西的贫困地区进行分析，为正在进行的讨论做出了贡献。它分析了过去五年中贫困的空间格局和不断变化的集中度。该研究使用多种方法，包括文件审查，对379位受访者的调查和机构访谈，表明该城市的贫困空间在逐步扩大。使用ArcGIS 10.3软件可以对结果进行汇总，包括收入和生活成本的总排名，住房单元的排名，公司的存在，获得社会服务的机会以及外来移民的发生率。城市中的行政区划通常反映了贫困的空间分布，富裕居民的集中度仅增加到了9个大都市区之一。研究发现，受教育程度和社会经济地位是影响贫困分布的关键因素。这要求城市当局采取扶贫干预措施，不仅要解决住房，社会经济基础设施和就业机会方面的问题，还要监测贫困的分布和空间集中的空间变化，以减少社会隔离的城市景观。