Social Ecology and Urban Green Spaces in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyses and explains the spatial pattern of urban green spaces based on a new approach, the application of the concept of social ecology with data collected from 3410 respondents selected across the 104 communities in Ibadan using stratified random sampling technique of projected population of Ibadan for 2015 estimated at 1,783, 367 with four sample percentages, 0.1% 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.8 % respectively. Bivariate correlation analysis of SPSS version 21 was used to determine the significant social ecology indicators at P ≤ 0.05. Results show that the spatial pattern of green spaces was clustered indicating an uneven distribution of the benefits and burdens of urban green spaces for the year 2015. There are significant relationships between green spaces occurrence and such social ecology indicators as occupation (P = 0.001), income (P = 0.002) and housing type (P = 0.002). Thus, the distribution of green spaces is a function of the various social structures in existence in the metropolis. The commonly used indicators for social ecology in the literature for geographical studies are income, race and education. This study identified two additional possible indicators: occupation, and housing type.

Keywords: social ecology, urbanization, green spaces, GIS