Urbanization creates a number of environmental issues; however, incorporating green spaces into urban development can improve the quality of life for urban residents. As a result, this study examined the barriers to incorporating green spaces into Oyo State, Nigeria’s urban development frameworks so as to contribute to the knowledge base required for the state to fully realize the opportunity of green spaces. The Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources were purposely sampled. Two departments were purposely selected based on their missions. Management’s directives led to the selection of 40 respondents. Tree planting is the highest prioritized forest management activity (38.5%), whereas green space rehabilitation (7.4%) has received little attention. Respondents (72.5%) stated that there is no defined framework for urban forestry policy, and 60.0% reported that environmental regulations and laws are ineffective. However, there was a statistically significant relationship between respondents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the environmental regulations and laws for urban forestry and the existence of an urban forestry policy framework in the state (χ2 = 24.567, p 0.000). Respondents identified governance and institutional weaknesses (42.5%) as the most significant barrier, followed by financial and economic realities (32.5%), residential and industrial development (17.5%), a lack of public awareness and government ignorance (5.0%), and environmental and resource constraints (2.5%). Potential requirements for the state’s sustainable green development identified by respondents include a legal framework (40.0%), a policy framework (27.5%), a social and political framework (15.0%), an administrative framework (12.5%), and an information framework (5.0%). To promote sustainable urban greening, the Oyo State government must design and institutionalize an exclusive urban forestry policy and regulatory framework, apart from general forestry laws and regulations to ensure targeted management and enforcement.
Fasoro et al. (Thu,) studied this question.