Urban green spaces in growing oil cities

The case of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID12714480
AuthorsCollins Adjei Mensah (0000-0001-5371-6940, Collins Adjei Mensah is Lecturer in Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana; Katherine V. Gough is Professor of Human Geography at Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU; David Simon is Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX and Director, Mistra Urban Futures, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, corresponding author), Katherine V Gough (0000-0002-9638-9879, Collins Adjei Mensah is Lecturer in Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana; Katherine V. Gough is Professor of Human Geography at Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU; David Simon is Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX and Director, Mistra Urban Futures, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, corresponding author), David Simon (0000-0002-3164-4138, Collins Adjei Mensah is Lecturer in Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana; Katherine V. Gough is Professor of Human Geography at Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU; David Simon is Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX and Director, Mistra Urban Futures, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume40
Issue4
Pages371-395
Publication date2018-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Development Planning Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1474-6743 • E-ISSN: 1478-3401
PublisherLiverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3828/idpr.2018.16
OpenAlexW2808311749
LanguageEN
Citations received11

Crude oil is often argued to be a natural resource that holds the prospect of accelerated economic development, although the results are mixed. This paper explores how the discovery of crude oil is impacting on urban development, focusing in particular on urban green spaces in Sekondi-Takoradi, a growing oil city in Ghana. Representatives from institutions associated with the management of green spaces, opinion leaders, farmers and residents of the city were interviewed to discover how the provision and use of green spaces has changed overtime. High population growth and increasing housing market pressures, in part driven by expectations of an oil-driven boom, are resulting in encroachment, rezoning, and low priority accorded to green spaces, including farmlands, wetlands, forests, parks and gardens. To address this situation, the article recommends strong public-private collaboration on green space initiatives, prioritisation of green space development agendas, intensive educational campaigns on such spaces, and a strong institutional base to enhance the enforcement of development controls and implementation of green space projects

Business · Economic growth · Economics · Enforcement · Environmental planning · Geography · Natural resource · Political science · African Botany and Ecology Studies · Urban and Rural Development Challenges

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