Citation
Abdulrahman, Lamia Karim
(2014)
Perceptions towards rooftop gardens as alternative to open green spaces among residents in Sulaymaniyah City, Kurdistan.
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
Rapid urban development has caused shortage of open green spaces in
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. This has created many problems to city residents and visitors
such as lack of recreational spaces, formation of urban heat island and loss of tourism
revenues. Creating new green spaces is not quite favourable due to the high cost of
land in the city. Creating green areas on rooftops such as a rooftop garden is a
potential alternative that requires investigation. This study aims to discover the views
of public officials and residents of Sulaymaniye regarding developing rooftop
gardens as a viable alternative to increase green open spaces in the city. This research
surveyed 60 public city officials (architects, engineers, city planners and city
administrators) on their awareness of rooftop gardens and their potential in
increasing green open spaces. This was followed by a visual preference survey of
391 residents of Sulaymaniyah. Respondents were asked about their preferences for
different forms (Formal, Informal, Naturalistic and Productive) of rooftop gardens as
well as their willingness to support the development of rooftop gardens. Finally, indepth
interviews were done with 21 city officials to examine their views of rooftop
gardens as a means to increase green outdoor spaces in the city. Results indicated
that the majority of Sulaymaniyah public officials were aware of developing rooftop
gardens as a strategy to overcome the lack of green outdoor spaces in Sulaymaniyah.
In addition, city residents indicated that they preferred roof gardens as a strategy to
overcome diminishing green open spaces in the city, and that they would support the
initiative. Furthermore, the Informal Rooftop Garden type was the most preferred
while the Productive Rooftop Garden type was the least preferred among the
residents. The findings of this study may contribute to the discovering of solutions to
the problem. This information is useful to the city planners and administrators as
their knowledge on what the residents prefer for their rooftop gardens and the
residents’ willingness to support the effort will help them to make future plans or
decisions in solving the problem.
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