A STUDY OF DESIGN MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR RECREATIONAL PARKS IN OSOGBO, OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Recreational parks that reflect the needs of the community have become increasingly important in urban Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, as rapid urbanization intensifies pressure on the city's green spaces. Although urban green spaces are known to benefit community health and well-being, design and management guidance tailored to the Nigerian context remains scarce - a gap that is especially pronounced for secondary cities such as Osogbo, which, despite serving as the administrative capital of Osun State and housing an estimated population of over 580,000, have received far less empirical attention than Nigeria's primary metropolitan centres such as Lagos. This study develops design management guidelines for recreational parks in Osogbo and determines the value-related factors that shape park users' expectations. A quantitative approach was used to gather data from 368 park users across three parks in the Osogbo metropolitan area. A questionnaire informed by the Value Mapping Tool (VMT) - a stakeholder-oriented technique for identifying uncaptured value in a system - and the relevant literature was developed across four pre-determined domains: physical design of parks (14 items), services and facilities (8 items), park governance and community engagement (12 items), and environmental sustainability (21 items), for a 55-item structured instrument. These domains were confirmed through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), using Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotation; sampling adequacy was good-to-excellent across all four domains (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin values of 0.844, 0.815, 0.767, and 0.726, respectively), and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant in every case (p < .001). The analysis produced the GREENSCAPES Guideline, comprising eleven thematic principles: Green Infrastructure, Recreation Zones, Engagement and Community, Environmental Stewardship, Navigation and Accessibility, Safety and Security, Cleanliness and Hygiene, Amenities and Facilities, Participation and Programming, Ecological Scape, and Smart Management. All eleven principles recorded high mean expectation scores (4.46–4.59 on a 0–5 scale). The developed guidelines are intended to guide park design and management in ways that respond to the expected values of urban residents in Osogbo. The results justify the need for ecologically responsive, adequately maintained, and inclusive recreational park infrastructure, and provide a basis for improving urban sustainability, community well-being, and spatial justice in Nigerian secondary cities.