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Perception Of Urban Beautification Program
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.4BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Urban areas are the engines of economic growth as well as location for complex network of activities essential to basin human function of living and working (Mattingly, 1995). The lure of employment and the perception of improved quality of life in the cities are major socio-economic pull factors (Harris & Todaro, 1970; World Bank, 2007).
The huge increase in urban population amounts to a crisis of unprecedented magnitude in urban shelter provision, space for commerce and industry, quality health care and a conducive environment. Every year, the world’s urban population is increasing by about 70million, equivalent to seven new megacities. These people need to be provided with shelter, employment and urban services. People deserve the right to enjoy a living space that is clean and maintained making it easy to agree that the clean-up of urban areas is essential to building a lasting community. The way an area looks has an impact on who moves there, how long they stay, and ultimately decides the future of that neighbourhood. Picking up trash, maintaining the landscape, and the demolition of abandoned buildings could inspire residents to work together to rebuild their community. For neighbourhoods that have lost their appeal as destinations of choice, a community clean up may be what is needed in order to revitalize the area. (September 5, 2013 by Malcolm Johnson).
Urban beautification starts by identifying the cosmetic changes that can be made in a specific neighborhood then working with the residents to make community improvements. Organizing specific days for residents to pick up trash or to engage in some sort of area refurbishment is crucial to creating a better place to live. Furthermore, public officials share part of this responsibility as well, and should make policy initiatives to improve the regions they represent. By putting in place programs to repair streets, sidewalks, and demolish abandoned buildings, policy makers can contribute to rebuilding a community. In order to make sure an area that has been rehabbed remains in the best condition, lawmakers also have a duty to enforce ordinances that will ensure the maintenance and cleanliness of a neighborhood.
In addition to gaining a nicer living space, beautification may cause residents to have an increased sense of pride in where they live. While there is no quick fix to the many problems that are present in urban areas, a person who lives in a clean environment may be more optimistic about the future. Living in a place that is constantly improving might just inspire individuals to do the same within themselves. The Neighborhood Beautification Program was designed to engage communities to beautify underutilized spaces in each of the City’s wards. This program complements the City's increased efforts to clean and revitalize overlooked City owned spaces.
Urban areas in the developing world are under constant pressure of a growing population. Cities, metropolis and mega cities are now emerging as centers of domestic and international investments in an era of economic reforms, liberalization and globalization. This has created opportunities for technologists and planning professionals to guide and develop the process of planned development and monument. One of the main objectives of town planning is creation a conducive environment that is functional, efficient and visually satisfying for living, working, recreation and worship. However, many of today’s urban structures were never planned, for instance, Ibadan city, was built at a time when planning awareness was substantially different from today.
According to Agbola (1987:89), Ibadan as a city was either not planned successfully or not planned at all. A large part of the city seems to be unplanned and dominated by the trading activities. Those who engaged in trading activities occupy an open spaces or shops along major roads in other to display their goods. Sometimes they cover front of a residential building along the road to shops while some other cases, the traders display goods very close to the road setbacks. For those who occupy open spaces, container, umbrellas serves as their shops in which they display their goods. In other words, standard for physical development in Oyo state are easily flouted and usually “there is no approval for change of use of open sites for utilities and services†(Agbola 2009).
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