A framework for assessing urban greenery's effects and valuing its ecosystem services.

Area of Science:

• Urban ecology
• Environmental planning
• Ecosystem services assessment

Background:

• Urban green spaces face increasing pressure from development.
• Greenery provides essential benefits to city residents.
• Existing methods for valuing urban ecosystem services are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a framework for integrated assessment and valuation of ecosystem services (ES) from urban greenery.
• To create a method applicable to routine planning processes.
• To address the complexity of multiple ES contributions from diverse urban greenery components.

Main Methods:

• Based on the ecosystem service cascade model.
• Incorporates a five-step process: indicator inventory, effectiveness rating, effect estimation, benefit calculation, and total value estimation.
• Utilizes functional traits and measurable indicators of urban greenery components (trees, shrubs, herbs, birds, bees).

Main Results:

• The framework was applied to urban green areas along an urban gradient in Gothenburg, Sweden.
• Perceived values of ecosystem services were gathered from public interviews and civil servant workshops.
• The assessment covered ecosystem services provided by various urban greenery elements.

Conclusions:

• The developed framework is systematic and transparent.
• It offers a practical method for assessing and valuing multiple ecosystem services from urban greenery.
• The framework shows potential utility for integration into existing spatial planning processes.