Urban wetland and floods: investigating housing conditions and characteristics at Sepe-Buokrom and Dichemso in Kumasi

Once referred to as the ―"Garden city" of Africa, Kumasi is gradually losing her rich environmental features including trees and water bodies. This is largely due to increase in urban population leading to high quest for urban housing and infrastructure within the Metropolis. Moreover, lack of enforcement of by-laws concerning town planning regulations has allowed not only housing development but invasion of economic activities along wetlands in Kumasi. This paper is aimed at investigating conditions of houses in wetland areas of Sepe-Buokrom and Dichemso settlements in Kumasi Metropolitan area in the Ashanti Region. These settlements were used as case studies due to its regular high impact flood during rainy season. The study employed survey with photography, questionnaires and interviews to collect empirical data from households and property owners in the study area. It was revealed from the survey that, buildings have major structural defects with rising damp clearly visible on sand-cement rendered walls due to wet ground conditions. This has led to faster deterioration of building with maintenance issues. The study also revealed poor waste management and regular flood in the neighbourhood. The paper recommends that the city authority enforces regulations governing town planning to protect water ways and nature reserves in the city for sustainable development.