Landscape as a Defining Identity of Abuja Urban Space

Abstract


Introduction
The landscape is a relatively ambulatory phenomenon as it is perceived as how a location grows and continuously changes [1]. It is a symbolic icon amicably designed to portray human behaviours and attitudes. In other words, any modification in the landscape projects the perception of man's interaction with his natural environment [2]. Cities are evaluated based on their physical attributes and social parameters, such as population structure and other attributes that make the city a living entity. The landscape does not necessarily suggest only plant life. It is a broader concept, including the city's physical and social structures, embracing buildings and cultural escape. These often include people living in the city, their customs, beliefs, traditions and history, as all these interact to form a city landscape identity [3]. The physical dimension of it unique, distinguishing it from its other counterparts.
Abuja is the Federal Capital of Nigeria and was created in 1976 by the Federal Government Decree to replace the then Capital City of Lagos. Abuja was established as a symbol of Nigeria's quest for unity to unite Nigerian diversified cultural groups (especially because Abuja is located in the heart of Nigeria and therefore considered culturally neutral) and as the seat for the Federal Government of Nigeria [5]. This research aims to analyze the identity of two significant parks in the city: Maitama Amusement Park and Durban Street Neighborhood Park. Abuja is significant in contextualizing the study because its purpose is to unify peoples of diverse origins and ethnicity. Thus, making it a landmark area in examining the effect of ethnic biases and landscaping on human behaviours.

Definition of Landscape
The landscape results from cultural processes, attitudes or values, and land use practices [4]. Current issues in European socio-political and public life indicate that the landscape in this region is gaining prominence among countries. The European Commission on Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 targeted improving the physical landscape quality in the suburbs and the European countryside [6].

Landscape identity
The perception of a location's landscape character to observers is experiential and constituting identity.
The landscape character of a place is thus iconic, tectonic, and visual. It manifests in artefacts, grave places, monuments, extraordinary places, or any other place that has meaning or is related to meaning [7]. Moreover, a landscape can give identity to a place, especially when no extraordinary architectural building can make the place identifiable [8]. Umpteenth numbers of up-scale buildings characterize Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, yet its landscape can be tailored towards other political, social, and physical dimensions.

Socio-Political Landscape
The national ideology that premised the birth and development of Abuja was purposefully sociopolitical. It took its niche from the fact that it will be a place where all citizens of Nigeria can call their home without fear of ethnic or cultural deprivation. In this way, the FCT's cultural, political, and social identity becomes neutral and remains welcoming and amiable to the generality of the country's citizens.
With this agenda, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) ordered the reconstruction of all heads of a national parastatal in Abuja beginning in 1999.

Symbol of National Landscape
As discussed above, Abuja is characterized by up-scale buildings built in the fashion of all architectural styles ranging from the International Style, Late Modern, Neo-Classical, and Postmodernism, amongst others. It is the intention of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to promote the persona of the FCT through these buildings, therefore, by extension, changing the functions of the buildings to national artefacts, symbolizing the material and spiritual ideologies and targeted at showcasing these attributes of Nigerians' identity to the world. Therefore, landscape behaves as a focal meaning and symbolism and provides a feeling of strong place identity among nations [9].

Zuma and Aso Rock as Landscape Identity
Abuja is naturally endowed with the Zuma and Aso rocks, which have helped to form, influence and inflect Abuja's urbanscape. Hence, these rocks have become principal figures of the Abuja landscape. Rocks have helped shape the environment and act as climate modifiers [9] because it leads to creation of other plants and plankton communities. These plant communities assist in balancing the ecosystem of the FCT. respond emotionally to the physiological parameters of the environmentthe rocks that define the outlines and boundaries of the FCT (Abuja) where they live.

Place identity
Place identity has been described as adding a place to a self-concept. Proshansky, et al. [10] posit that place identity is a potpourri of memories, conceptions, interpretations, ideas, and related feelings about specific physical settings and types of settings. The physical attribute of a place has a recognizable impact in influencing the concept of the sense of the place. It makes the place much more legible to its users, making it easily recognizable to people [11]. Methods in evaluating the identity of a place necessitate the initial comprehension of the image and behaviour of the human society inhabiting the place and how this society becomes defined through varied interests. Identity, like image, changes with time. Therefore, a place identity is a logical idea linked to the ideal image of landscape identity. This inseparable character of image and identity situates the landscape and image of a place simultaneously within similar constructs [12]. Hence, place identity includes the values and meaning expressed by the landscape. It is, therefore, not very surprising that the identity of a place is similar to its image and individual forecast of what the place should be is similar to its identity.

Brief background
Abuja became officially Federal Capital Tertiary (FCT) on December 12, 1991. Before this period, the FCT was planned to be the capital of Nigeria in a consensus decision by a panel set up by the Nigerian military Government in 1976. The panel, generally called the Aguda panel, pointed out that Abuja's paramount role symbolizes Nigeria's aspiration for unity and greatness [10,12]. This idea of the city is as fol- The city landscape is well defined by the Aso Rock from the south and Zuma Rock from the north; these two rocks represent the city's landscape identity. Justifications for the significance of these rocks lie in the fact that first, the Aso Rock is the highest in Abuja with an estimated height of 936 meters above sea level, and it is the ideal place from which the entire city and the presidential villa, which is the seat Government could be viewed. Secondly, the symbol of the Zuma Rock is extended to reinforce the unity of the Nigerian people by integrating and printing on the Nigerian currency. Generally, Abuja is typically slightly sloppy terrain and moderate climatic condition, shaping the planning and its greeneries [13,14].

Parks and open spaces in Abuja
Abuja is a city with ambient green areas and Parks.

Methodology
Dwellers' responses to the socio-economic and spatial landscapes were analyzed concerning variables addressing the usage of the park, its aesthetics, accessibility to the area, available facilities, green landscap-

Analysis and Discussion
Data was obtained by observation and questionnaire administration, as earlier stated. Analysis and discussion are as follows:

Maitama Amusement park
Mitama amusement park is considered the largest park in Nigeria and occupies a land mass of 18 hectares. It is located along Ibrahim Babangida Road in the Maitama District, Abuja. The park has many leisure facilities, including kid base activities, play areas, rides, games, a magical world, a video arcade, food service areas, roller, skating, and perimeter trains [16].

Durban Street Neighbourhood Park
The Durban Street Neighbourhood Park is located within the Wuse City Centre along the Ahmadu Bello Way (busy access) close to Maitama amusement park. It shares some similarities in size and functions with Maitama Amusement Park, although each has uniqueness in character design and organization patterns.
However, their themes in green open spaces remain the same [17].

Analysis of Durban Street Neighbourhood Park
i). This park is in a relatively quiet environment with sparse residential buildings, unlike Maitama Amusement Park. This way, it is far less effective than Maitama, as most visitors visit this park only during the weekend.
iii). The design image and identity are appealing. Moreover, the park enjoys a good road network with other parts of the city, enhancing mobility and quicker access to the park. The interior design of the part is an inappropriate fact. The spaces are incoherent and not well-linked.
(iv). The park provides large and ambient space for recreation and enhances privacy (v). Amenities provided are poor compared to Maitama Park. This may be attributable to the park's location (dissociated proximity to many residential areas), unlike Maitama Amusement Park. Following the appraisal above, Table 1 below is a concise summary of the assessments. The Table   compares the Maitama Amusement Park and the Durban Street Neighbourhood Park.

Conclusion
This study underscores the impacts of the socio-spatial and socio-economics landscape of the FCT, Abuja, on users' behaviour. It further examined the relationships between the variegated ethnicity of FCT on the socio-spatial and socio-economic landscapes. According to the report, Abuja was intentionally created as a hub of togetherness. The socio-graphic structure of Abuja is multi-ethnic and multiple in structure from an ethnic demographic perspective so that all of Nigeria's citizens can visit Abuja without worrying about ethnic fragmentation. Despite the region's residents' diverse ethnic backgrounds, this enables the area to serve as the symbol of national identity in all forms and aspects. Indeed, this served as additional background for understanding how ethnic biases affect socio-economic and physical landscapes. Accordingly, the study demonstrated that, independent of racial factors, geographical and economic landscapes alter and/or modify people's behaviours. In addition, the study's discussion of the inhabitants' self-reflective evaluations of Maitama Amusement Park and the Durban Street Neighbourhood Park shed light on the importance and significance of landscape identity.

Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing of interest.