Search

The unlimited outward and uncontrolled expansion of cities which connotes urban sprawl has been a major urban development issue over the years in the Global North and South due to concerns raised by many, especially academics and urban planners. Within the context of the Global South, the impact of urban sprawl remains contested in the conventional literature. While some research outputs contend that sprawl largely leads to livelihood loss particularly in the conversion of agriculture lands into residential and commercial developments, other schools of thought argues that sprawl leads to livelihood diversification in peri-urban communities and this could potentially enhance the incomes of households. Therefore, relying on the survey of 173 households and 4 institutional interviews, this study sought to clarify this contested issue in literature by assessing the effects of urban sprawl on livelihoods of settler communities in the Ga West and Juaben Municipalities in Ghana. The result of the study suggests a significant land cover change and diversification of livelihood activities from farm-based activities to other non-farm-based activities. This study therefore concludes that incidences of sprawl have both positive effects (livelihood diversification) and negative effects (adverse environmental effects). The present study recommends that urban development policies focus on effective ways of integrating these non-farm-based activities into urban growth policies whilst making significant efforts to halt the rate at which environmental resources are being lost to urban expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that rates of urbanization are rising globally, the need to maintain and enhance urban biodiversity has become important. This study examines the relative influence of different land-use types as well as environmental resources (trees, flowering trees, fruiting trees, shrubs, telecommunication mast, pylons, electric poles, buildings) on bird diversity indicators in a rapidly developing urban settlement in Ghana. Remote sensing was used to estimate the extent of conversion of natural habitats into urban settlements. Using point count surveys, bird species were recorded and compared in randomly selected plots of four land-use types of farmlands, remnant forest, residential and commercial areas. We further evaluated the relative influence of habitat resources on bird diversity indicators. We found a significant expansion of built-up areas into natural habitats in the study area. Also, there has been a significant increase in sparse vegetation coupled with a drop in the area covered by dense vegetation over the last three decades. Avifauna diversity indicators differ significantly across the four land-use types with urban farmlands being the most species diverse, followed by urban remnant forests, then residential and finally commercial areas. Our findings suggest that avian species diversity indicators decreased significantly with increasing land-use intensity and revealed that the study area still possesses significant conservation potentials for urban birds and by extension biological diversity as long as vegetation fragments are maintained within a sustained urban expansion framework. We propose increasing the quantity and complexity of the vegetation cover in residential areas by supporting citizens to establish private yards to increase the city's green network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses land use trajectories in savannah woodlands in the Central-West Region, Burkina Faso and the Upper East Region in northern Ghana by use of satellite images and historical archives. Observed trends differ in terms of spatial location and correlation with population pressure from normally accepted characterizations. Colonial forestry policies are proposed as key determinants of present-day land use patterns. However, these reinforced pre-colonial land use patterns inasmuch as land gazetted as forest reserves were tracts affected by vectors of human and livestock disease. It is suggested that the transformation of wooded agricultural landscapes in the Sudano-Sahelian region is the outcome of historically and culturally embedded interactions between complex social, economic and ecological processes which operate at widely varying scales and which change over time; the implications hereof for modelling of global environmental issues is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]