Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)

Collins Adjei Mensah

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)

Collins Adjei Mensah

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 3, Issue 1)

Received: 3 January 2014 Published: 30 January 2014

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Abstract

Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. This has created a knowledge gap of limited attention to other critical factors that deplete urban green spaces in diverse ways. Using Kumasi city (Ghana) which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces as a study area, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring other key factors aside urbanization that are responsible for the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper relied on a case study research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. In all, 30 in-depth interviews, 10 focus group discussions and numerous personal observations were carried out. It was observed that apart from urbanization, laxity in the enforcement of development controls, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, uncooperative attitudes of the general public, poor culture of maintenance and lack of coordination among the allied bodies on green spaces play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper therefore concludes that for a city to have a preserved and sustainable urban green space, a broader public policy or city development plans that take into consideration the factors highlighted by the paper in addition to urbanization is essential.

Published in	American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
Page(s)	1-9
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Urban, Green Spaces, Destruction, Factors, Kumasi, Ghana

References

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Collins Adjei Mensah. (2014). Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). American Journal of Environmental Protection, 3(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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Collins Adjei Mensah. Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2014, 3(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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AMA Style

Collins Adjei Mensah. Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). Am J Environ Prot. 2014;3(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11,
  author = {Collins Adjei Mensah},
  title = {Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)},
  journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
  volume = {3},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20140301.11},
  abstract = {Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. This has created a knowledge gap of limited attention to other critical factors that deplete urban green spaces in diverse ways. Using Kumasi city (Ghana) which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces as a study area, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring other key factors aside urbanization that are responsible for the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper relied on a case study research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. In all, 30 in-depth interviews, 10 focus group discussions and numerous personal observations were carried out. It was observed that apart from urbanization, laxity in the enforcement of development controls, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, uncooperative attitudes of the general public, poor culture of maintenance and lack of coordination among the allied bodies on green spaces play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper therefore concludes that for a city to have a preserved and sustainable urban green space, a broader public policy or city development plans that take into consideration the factors highlighted by the paper in addition to urbanization is essential.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)
AU  - Collins Adjei Mensah
Y1  - 2014/01/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
SP  - 1
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5699
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
AB  - Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. This has created a knowledge gap of limited attention to other critical factors that deplete urban green spaces in diverse ways. Using Kumasi city (Ghana) which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces as a study area, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring other key factors aside urbanization that are responsible for the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper relied on a case study research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. In all, 30 in-depth interviews, 10 focus group discussions and numerous personal observations were carried out. It was observed that apart from urbanization, laxity in the enforcement of development controls, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, uncooperative attitudes of the general public, poor culture of maintenance and lack of coordination among the allied bodies on green spaces play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper therefore concludes that for a city to have a preserved and sustainable urban green space, a broader public policy or city development plans that take into consideration the factors highlighted by the paper in addition to urbanization is essential.
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Collins Adjei Mensah

Department of Geography & Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Ghana

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Collins Adjei Mensah. (2014). Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). American Journal of Environmental Protection, 3(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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ACS Style

Collins Adjei Mensah. Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2014, 3(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

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AMA Style

Collins Adjei Mensah. Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana). Am J Environ Prot. 2014;3(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11,
  author = {Collins Adjei Mensah},
  title = {Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)},
  journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
  volume = {3},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20140301.11},
  abstract = {Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. This has created a knowledge gap of limited attention to other critical factors that deplete urban green spaces in diverse ways. Using Kumasi city (Ghana) which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces as a study area, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring other key factors aside urbanization that are responsible for the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper relied on a case study research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. In all, 30 in-depth interviews, 10 focus group discussions and numerous personal observations were carried out. It was observed that apart from urbanization, laxity in the enforcement of development controls, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, uncooperative attitudes of the general public, poor culture of maintenance and lack of coordination among the allied bodies on green spaces play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper therefore concludes that for a city to have a preserved and sustainable urban green space, a broader public policy or city development plans that take into consideration the factors highlighted by the paper in addition to urbanization is essential.},
 year = {2014}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Destruction of Urban Green Spaces: A Problem Beyond Urbanization in Kumasi City (Ghana)
AU  - Collins Adjei Mensah
Y1  - 2014/01/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5699
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.11
AB  - Urbanization remains a single predominant factor that is continuously linked to the destruction of urban green spaces. This has created a knowledge gap of limited attention to other critical factors that deplete urban green spaces in diverse ways. Using Kumasi city (Ghana) which is suffering from rapid deterioration of its green spaces as a study area, this paper sought to fill this gap by exploring other key factors aside urbanization that are responsible for the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper relied on a case study research approach and triangulated data collection techniques such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and retrieval of archival data. In all, 30 in-depth interviews, 10 focus group discussions and numerous personal observations were carried out. It was observed that apart from urbanization, laxity in the enforcement of development controls, problem of ownership of green space lands, low priority to green spaces, uncooperative attitudes of the general public, poor culture of maintenance and lack of coordination among the allied bodies on green spaces play a critical role in the destruction of urban green spaces. The paper therefore concludes that for a city to have a preserved and sustainable urban green space, a broader public policy or city development plans that take into consideration the factors highlighted by the paper in addition to urbanization is essential.
VL  - 3
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download