The fading Garden City: environmental change, public awareness and the quest for urban sustainability in Greater Kumasi

Uncontrolled urbanization and weak regulatory enforcement have contributed to the depletion of green spaces and wetlands in Ghanaian cities. The Greater Kumasi Metropolis, which used to be the “Garden City of West Africa” has been transformed into an ecologically degraded metropolis. In this research, the authors assess residents’ awareness of environmental sustainability and identify opportunities for the restoration of the Garden City Status of the Greater Kumasi Metropolis. The researchers employed a concurrent mixed-methods design, combining a survey of 183 residents across high, middle and low-income communities with interviews conducted with officials from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Physical Planning Department. Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote-sensing techniques were also used to analyze changes in natural and developed areas using Landsat imagery from 2015 to 2025. The findings reveal a decline in natural areas from 50.7 km² (21.5%) in 2015 to 34.8 km² (14.8%) in 2025, representing a 31.1% decline, alongside an 8.5% increase in built-up areas. Additionally, 70.7% of residents view the city as unsustainable, 26.8% neutral, and only 2.5% of city residents describe the city as sustainable. Also, the results indicated that majority of city residents, comprising 74.2%, are aware of environmental sustainability programs in the city. Despite this awareness, urban policy implementation is ineffective due to poor strategies, institutional fragmentation, and political interference. The findings highlight the need to strengthen monitoring and enforcement through regular site inspections, GIS-based monitoring, and appropriate sanctions for development without permits. The authors also recommend that the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, may adopt a tree-planting program with maintenance as a compulsory requirement of environmental education for students before the end of their studies.