The fate of urban green spaces: Assessment of the ownership, availability and conditions of parks in Accra, Ghana

Globally, the loss of green spaces threatens the sustainability of many cities. Among other factors, complex land ownership and management regime reportedly disrupt land administration and development; but with incon-clusive empirical evidence on how this influences the conditions, availability and development of parks. This study, using Accra, thus employs document analysis, 16 key informant interviews and observation of majaor parks to: (i) explore the spatial location of parks and the relationship between their ownership and conditions, (ii) examine the factors which have influenced the decline in park size and conditions, and (iii) examine the institutional response to improving upon park planning, availability and conditions. The findings show distributive injustice of parks as most of them are located in high-and middle-income neighborhoods. There is also evidence of decreasing available park land per 1000 population between 1991 and 2022. Parks managed by private institutions were found to be in very good state compared to those managed by state institutions. The existing dualistic and complex land tenure regime have largely led to the decline in park availability and con-ditions. Other reported factors were rapid urbanization, land litigation, low priority to park development and planning, laxity in the enforcement of regulations, and political interference. The study makes recommendations to improve upon existing practices and generally enhance park creation, availability and conditions.