Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria

Urban activities and activity areas usually wish to have good neighbours that are complimentary to their sustainable functionality. Unfortunately however, open spaces, particularly in form of right of ways (ROW) are not lucky enough to have good neighbours where urban governance is poorly conceived...

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Main Authors: Bello , Ashiru, Abdulghafar, Maszura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Zes Rokman Resources 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/1/Relook%20at%20the%20silent%20victim.pdf
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author Bello , Ashiru
Abdulghafar, Maszura
author_facet Bello , Ashiru
Abdulghafar, Maszura
author_sort Bello , Ashiru
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Urban activities and activity areas usually wish to have good neighbours that are complimentary to their sustainable functionality. Unfortunately however, open spaces, particularly in form of right of ways (ROW) are not lucky enough to have good neighbours where urban governance is poorly conceived and pursued. Linking sustainability in urban planning and design with participatory urban governance, this paper examined the challenges of participatory city planning and management as well as open-space loss to urban development (which according to UN Habitat contributes 50% of global greenhouse emissions). It is an extension of an earlier study which focused on the spill-over effects of right of way encroachments through construction of mosques on different categories of urban roads in Sokoto metropolis, North West Nigeria. The earlier study focused on the trend of such encroachments from 2005 to 2010. This study first categorized the different urban road hierarchies in the city and examined the occurrence of the phenomenon as well as observed and potential implications on adjacent uses, using cross-sections, interviews and time series images. Between 2011 and 2015, the study revealed that the phenomenon of ROW encroachment is sustained and there is a 15.6m increase in the amount of urban road right of way that is lost at the point of encroachment at the Sultan Abubakar road and 7m at the third location that is Sakaba road as compared to the 2005-2010 observations. Furthermore, in addition to the weakness of urban management institutions, low level of inclusiveness has been observed from the community regarding the use of road right of ways and consequences of its encroachment which is reflected in the residents’ readiness to encroach should an opportunity becomes available. Poor participation particularly in plans implementation is therefore evident. Similarly, as a by-product of the socio cultural and economic context, this phenomenon (although may require a radical development control approach to correct) can be mitigated through adoption of proper participatory techniques in urban planning and development.
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spelling upm-537702018-01-16T09:55:25Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/ Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria Bello , Ashiru Abdulghafar, Maszura Urban activities and activity areas usually wish to have good neighbours that are complimentary to their sustainable functionality. Unfortunately however, open spaces, particularly in form of right of ways (ROW) are not lucky enough to have good neighbours where urban governance is poorly conceived and pursued. Linking sustainability in urban planning and design with participatory urban governance, this paper examined the challenges of participatory city planning and management as well as open-space loss to urban development (which according to UN Habitat contributes 50% of global greenhouse emissions). It is an extension of an earlier study which focused on the spill-over effects of right of way encroachments through construction of mosques on different categories of urban roads in Sokoto metropolis, North West Nigeria. The earlier study focused on the trend of such encroachments from 2005 to 2010. This study first categorized the different urban road hierarchies in the city and examined the occurrence of the phenomenon as well as observed and potential implications on adjacent uses, using cross-sections, interviews and time series images. Between 2011 and 2015, the study revealed that the phenomenon of ROW encroachment is sustained and there is a 15.6m increase in the amount of urban road right of way that is lost at the point of encroachment at the Sultan Abubakar road and 7m at the third location that is Sakaba road as compared to the 2005-2010 observations. Furthermore, in addition to the weakness of urban management institutions, low level of inclusiveness has been observed from the community regarding the use of road right of ways and consequences of its encroachment which is reflected in the residents’ readiness to encroach should an opportunity becomes available. Poor participation particularly in plans implementation is therefore evident. Similarly, as a by-product of the socio cultural and economic context, this phenomenon (although may require a radical development control approach to correct) can be mitigated through adoption of proper participatory techniques in urban planning and development. Zes Rokman Resources 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/1/Relook%20at%20the%20silent%20victim.pdf Bello , Ashiru and Abdulghafar, Maszura (2016) Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria. Journal of Built Environment, Technology and Engineering, 1. pp. 160-171. ISSN 0128-1003 http://www.jbete.com/issue/journal-of-built-environment-technology-and-engineering-vol-1-sept-2016/
spellingShingle Bello , Ashiru
Abdulghafar, Maszura
Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title_full Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title_fullStr Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title_short Relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in Sokoto, Nigeria
title_sort relook at the silent victim: examining open space loss due to right of way encroachment in sokoto, nigeria
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53770/1/Relook%20at%20the%20silent%20victim.pdf