The contribution of attitudinal factors to the morphology of urban vegetation in cities
has received very scanty attention. Most researchers in the developing countries
including Nigeria focus on urbanisation, without paying significant attention to
attitudinal factors. However, a lot of socioeconomic adjustments take place in cities in
these countries, which result in the depletion of urban vegetation. The necessity to
determine the contribution of attitudinal factors to the reduction in Akure urban
vegetation has called for this study. The study analysed the contribution of attitudinal
factors to the reduction of urban vegetation in the city. Previous studies on the city’s
land use and land cover changes seemed to ascribe the city’s falling greenery to
urbanisation only, without considering the contribution of attitudinal factors to the
process. The paper posits that the indicators of attitudinal factors need to be properly
understood in order to design appropriate policies to curb the phenomenon. Data
were sourced through self-administered questionnaire from 317 participants. The data
were analysed with SPSS Version 20 for the descriptive analysis, and Structural
Equation Modelling (SEM), for the determination of the dominant factors. The KaiserMeyer-Olkin
measure of sampling adequacy showed that the research instrument was
internally consistent. Confirmatory factor analysis also achieved satisfactory goodness
of fit indices. It was revealed that eight dominant attitudinal factors contributed to the
reduction of urban vegetation in the city. These include misuse of road setback (0.72),
not enough enlightenment or publicity (0.72), and failure of town planning authorities
to enforce urban tree planting (0.72.) This shows that attitudinal factors contributed
significantly to the depletion of urban vegetation in the city. The necessity for mass
education and enlightenment towards behaviour change and pro-environmental
behaviour, is stressed.