Improving Greenery in the Ghanaian Built Environment Through Policy and Legislature

The world is craving for sustainability and thus implementing various measures to achieve this laudable task. For sustainable development to be achieved there is the need for a balance between environmental, economic and social development. Therefore, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encompass all three. In Ghana, most infrastructural projects such as roads and buildings are done with economic and social focused leaving out the environmental concerns. Even though there is Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in place such as the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), the country's environment with regards to greenery has setbacks. This research examines how the soft landscaping component of infrastructural development can be enhanced to improve the environment. Questionnaires in the form of Google forms were used to collect data. Stakeholders of infrastructural developments such as financiers of projects, institutions that give approvals and professionals involved in the design and execution of projects were the scopes of data collection. The research reveals that there are no clear indications of requirements of soft landscaping in the legislature and thus making it difficult for their inclusion in infrastructural development. A well-structured legislative instrument combining the Green Building Code and National Building Regulation should be adopted. Institutional capacities should also be enhanced for enforcement of this new legislature.