Green Spaces Planning in Lafia Town, Nasarawa State, Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward

Green space constitutes one of the major components of green infrastructure in city planning. The case of depletion of natural vegetation due to challenges posed by urbanization in Lafia town is alarming. Land allocation priorities to green spaces are completely neglected. This paper sought to give a wider discussion on the challenges of green spaces planning in Lafia town and way forward. Among the challenges uncovered are rapid expansion/urbanization, inadequate operational planning regulations guideline, lack of documented urban master plan, lack of political will on the side of those in authority, socio-economic status of the citizens resulting in the destruction of natural vegetation to source for alternative energy and lack of awareness and priority to green space planning. The paper adopted a systematic review method. OLI data obtained were used to calculate Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Three Landsat images were all acquired including remote sensing datasets of the year 2002, 2012 and 2022. They were interpreted and quantified based on high resolution Google Earth images based on the map of present land use. The study further proposed a strategic base map and way forward on green spaces planning in Lafia town. Also, the paper has given useful recommendations on land management and plant cover, town planning and green open spaces planning to address the challenges. Conclusively, policy makers, urban planners, local authority and local community should treat green spaces planning with utmost priority to preserve the natural vegetation that will enhance better health and create beautiful environment in Lafia town.