Mapping the diversity of regulating ecosystem services in European cities

authored by: Neele Larondelle, Dagmar Haase, Nadja Kabisch
Abstract: This paper presents the first analysis of the diversity of regulating ecosystem services (ESS)-key variables for global environmental sustainability and change in an urban era-across a globally important part of the urban world, urban Europe. We map the first pan-European pattern of regulating ecosystem services in urban core areas and their associated hinterlands and discuss data against the background of each city's land-use development history and planning culture. Upon selecting more than 300 cities, we used the Urban Atlas database and a straightforward calculation method to map three regulating ecosystem services. The main results of this study show (a) a heterogeneous distribution of regulating ecosystem services across European cities, (b) considerable provisioning differences between core cities and the hinterland, (c) a grouping of European regions according to their potential for urban ecosystem service provisioning and (d) an ecosystem services supply ranking for European cities. Considerable differences in urban ecosystem services were found among northern countries, such as Sweden and Finland, which are rich in supplying ecosystem services compared to the UK and Belgium, which, similar to Spanish and Greek cities, are characteristically low in ecosystem services provision. Our results provide the first overall picture of regulating services in urban EU-Europe and serve to inform decisions on the key aspects of future European policy and strategies involving urban nature, green spaces and health.
External Organisation(s): Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin)
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Type: Article
Journal: Global environmental change
Volume: 26
Pages: 119-129
No. of pages: 11
ISSN: 0959-3780
Publication date: 05.2014
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Global and Planetary Change, Geography, Planning and Development, Ecology, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 15 - Life on Land
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.008 (Access: Unknown)