Green Infrastructure Planning Practices in Adama Town [The case of Migira Pond area]

Abstract

Green infrastructures (GI) are eco-friendly structures of urban areas which can deliver multiple benefits from the valuable urban space it occupies, compared with single purpose of engineering infrastructure. However inhabitants resided in Town of Adama in general and Migira Pond area in particular have not been benefited from the integration of economic (urban agriculture as GI), social (health and aesthetic) and environmental (resilience to climate change) as components that a livable urban center should provide to its population. These is due to inadequate environmental friendly urban design and planning that considers green infrastructure (GI). The overall research objective is therefore to assess the existing condition and to design green infrastructure for Migira Pond area in Adama Town. The research is believed to contribute to broaden knowledge base of various stakeholders on green infrastructure so that urban development plan and design should integrate all ecosystem services proportionally to that of grey infrastructure. The study focused on a participatory approach where various actors and stakeholders were involved at different stage of this research. The researcher employed both qualitative (focus group discussion, key informant interview, case study) and quantitative research methods. The study employed random sampling methods to select individuals which can provide necessary information on the units of study with sample size of 48 respondents for fill survey questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that due to inadequate emphasis given to design and planning across the Town, informal settlements that mushroomed messed up the land use plan elsewhere in the site covered by this study too. The level of community awareness on protecting green spaces has been found very low and hence they used to dump solid wastes, and Migira Pond at large scale is converted to grey and black water due to failed sanitation system, weak waste management, and poor protection methods. Green and blue infrastructures are nature given resources that need to be protected, developed, and managed by all stakeholders to make urban environments more resilient, sustainable, livable and equitable. Findings of the study will add information on how the main principles of green infrastructure have been incorporated in current planning practices in Adama Town. Moreover, the findings will inform policy makers in their decision making process on how to consider green infrastructure planning principles to protect urban spaces. The future, Green infrastructure may hold new opportunities, for example, in terms of new technologies to improve its delivery, streamline its management and monitoring, and facilitate community involvement. What is clear is that green infrastructure will need to be a flexible and dynamic resource that is capable of adapting to the changing demographic land use system and landscape of Migira pond area as well as Adama Town of the future.