RECREATION AND SHOPPING COMPLEX, ABUJA ARCHITECTURAL RESPONSE TO URBAN RECREATIONAL NEEDS

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Environmental Design

ABSTRACT
Abuja, a metropolitan area and the nations Federal Capital Territory, is a focus of life were about 3,000,000 people meet there major needs, desires and ambition. In many aspects people within Abuja probably enjoy belter living conditions in terms of good hygiene, better schools, housing and basic amenities, but one can still notice the immense emotional poverty and privation. Even when it could be argued that there is less direct hardship, there arc obviously higher incidences of depression, more mental illness, more violence, more delinquency and more drug-taking. Under the prevailing circumstances of national and global economic recession, unemployment and underemployment, retrenchment and other extra challenging rigors which the individual faces, such as the inordinate resolve to achieve success in business and achieving greater carrier goal added to the insecurities inherent in these pursuits, effort should be made to retain a sound mind in a sound body. Recreation has been defined as any leisure activity which is pursued for its own sake, or what happens to a person as a result of a recreation experience. The relationship of urban recreation to open space is based on a biological need to retain some association with the natural environment in an urban setting and a psychological need for contrast and change in special surroundings and activities that most indoor environment do not provide. When these needs are linked with the routine indoor jobs of most people and the sterile or stressful outdoor environments of many cities, they generate strong desires for escape to a more relaxing environment, especially those with a natural character. The prospect of urban recreation has become an end in itself for the urban dweller, it provides the time and means for human development in a technological, work-oriented society. How we solve this problems may influence our culture and society, because leisure can be the blessing or curse of an urban society.