Lewis Abedi Asante

At CASBS, Lewis Abedi Asante will be working on an edited volume that examines the concept of wetland gentrification in African cities, with the aim of informing urban governance, sustainability, and inclusive urban development. Asante conceptualizes wetland gentrification as a process through which land scarcity and rising property values drive the indiscriminate conversion and degradation of urban wetlands, leading to the loss of critical ecological resources and the displacement of populations, often through heightened exposure to urban flooding. Drawing on case studies from ten African countries and fourteen cities, the book offers a robust comparative framework that captures variations in governance arrangements, urbanization pressures, land markets, and socio ecological vulnerabilities.

Asante is an associate professor in the department of estate management, Kumasi Technical University. His research explores issues of housing and land governance, urban governance and development, and environment and sustainability. His scholarship has advanced southern urban theory through novel concepts including hybrid entrepreneurial urban governance, politically induced displacement, and wetland gentrification. Asante is the lead author of the book Urban Governance and Contested Market Redevelopment in Ghana (Edinburgh University Press, 2026), which explores how urban governance, urban regeneration and urban politics intersect during market redevelopment in cities in Ghana, and Africa more broadly. Asante is the STIAS-Iso Lomso Fellow at CASBS for 2026-27.