Planning and Management of Accessible Urban Green Infrastructure in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: From Urban Park Perspectiv
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Date
2021-06
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Addis ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopia, like most developing countries has becoming increasingly urbanizing. Urban green infrastructure
(UGI) are important settings for improving the quality of urban life. However, with the continuation of
urbanization, providing UGI in the major cities of the country became difficult. Development of accessible
UGI remains a major challenge of the capital city Addis Ababa as well. Many studies have been conducted
on the factors that contributed to the inaccessibility and undersupply of UGI in cities of developed
countries. Contrary to this, similar studies in rapidly urbanizing cities of Africa like Addis Ababa are scant.
The aim of this study is to fill this gap, by examining the status, accessibility and constraints of UGI in
general and urban parks (UPs) in particular in rapidly urbanizing city Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A variety of socio-spatial data were collected from different sources and analyzed by using various
analytical techniques. First, the study mapped and calculated the status of UGI from 2003 to 2016 based
on the land use data of the city in ArcGIS. Then, the study analyzed the spatial accessibility of recreational
parks based on proximity, per capita green indicators and park quality parameters by using the land use
maps, road network, gridded population data, and park audit data. Apart from looking at the spatial
perspectives of UPs access, the study also addressed the social perspectives of UPs access based on park
users and household survey. The study employed structured questionnaire to collect data from 399 sample
park visitors (189) and households (210) surrounding the parks. Besides, descriptive statistics, cross tabulation, chi-square test and multivariate regression were used to analyze the association between the
variables. Finally, the study examined the constraints behind the current states of UGI based on the result
of the study, document review, expert interview and field observation.
The land use land cover change analysis result disclosed that the land use of UGI from 2003 to 2016 is
decreased by 22.4 percent. The land use of unban agriculture significantly declined (by 86.1 percent)
followed by the land use of urban forest (by 15.3 percent). In addition, the spatial accessibility indicators
showed that the city residents do not have enough recreational parks. The city’s park per capita was very
small (0.37m2
) compared to Ethiopian UGI standards (15m2
) and the large portion of the city’s population
(above 90 percent) has no access to existing parks within the minimum walking distance thresholds. The
results indicated that there is high demand of recreational parks in the city. Thus, to satisfy the current
demand the city administration should provide 6718.1ha of UPs. Apart from the spatial analysis, the social
survey analysis of the study has also revealed important findings about access and the use pattern of UPs.
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The result indicated that the socio-demographic variables such as age, income, occupation, and physical
factors such as distance, traveled time to the park, and mode of transport were important predictors (p<
0.05), and the limiting factors for accessing UPs in the study area. Lack of different programs in the parks
and personal constraints such as lack of time, interest and awareness about the available UPs were the
other constraints that affect park utilization. The city parks are poor in terms of park quality parameters
such as the availability of facility, maintenance, cleanness and safety or security of the parks.
In general, the study revealed that UGI is degrading, and inaccessible to the majority of city residents and
different groups of the community in terms of size, proximity, time, transportation, and overall quality. The
study identified a number of constraints behind the current state of UGI in general UPs in particular in
Addis Ababa. Some of the major constraints include; the expansion of built up area (formal or informal
housing, and infrastructure expansion), population and housing density, lack of policy and regulations at
national and municipal level, lack of proper planning, insufficient operation of existing urban planning
regulations or laws, lack of priority and attention for UGI development, and organizational or management
problems.
Finally, the overall results obtained through the combination of the socio-spatial analysis were used to
develop the planning and management strategies to maintain and provide accessible UGI in the city and
beyond. First, there is a need to properly plan, strictly adhere to the development plan, and implement UGI
network at city scale so as to reduce the encroachment and the fragmentation of UGI in the city. Second,
improving UPs accessibility by enhancing the availability and quality of UPs as well as the transportation
service so as to address the recreational need of the city residents. Third, consideration of the need and
preference of different groups of the community during UPs planning and development, and raising the
awareness of the community about the importance of UPs have also paramount importance for UPs
development. Fourth, formulating a sound UGI policy at a national and municipal level; revisiting the
planning system including the quantitative and qualitative standard of UPs; and improving park
management system have also a paramount importance to achieve the current demand of UPs in Addis
Ababa city. Finally, I hope that this study serves as a benchmark for policy and planning to ensure
accessible and adequate UGI in rapidly urbanizing city of Addis Ababa and beyond.
Description
Keywords
Addis Ababa,, Park accessibility, Park proximity,, Park utilization, Urban green infrastructure, Urban parks