Abstract
The valuation of ecosystem services has become an integral part of smart urban planning practices. Traditionally designed to bridge ecology and economy through economic language and logic (e.g., goods and services), this conceptual framework has developed into an effective tool for interdisciplinary work. The concept of ecosystem services is used to improve the management of ecosystems for human well-being. However, gaps in how to govern ecological benefits remain. Specifically, identifying which stakeholders benefit the most from the provision of ecosystem services remains largely unaddressed. This study examines the spatial discordance between ecosystem services and the residential stakeholders who may benefit. Using a landscape approach to quantify urban ecosystem services, an area-based composite index was developed for the City of Toronto, Canada, based on the three pillars of sustainability in order to identify potentially vulnerable populations. This method combines the use of principal component analysis (PCA) and spatial multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) to combine and weight a select grouping of socioeconomic and ecological indicators. In addition, two sets of enumeration units (i.e., dissemination areas and census tracts) were evaluated to assess the potential impact of measurement scale on subsequent decision or policy outcomes. Results indicate the spatial interdependencies between ecological and socioeconomic processes in an urban setting, offering a unique framework for novel planning and policy intervention strategies. The influence of measurement scale was demonstrated, creating an opportunity to assess an appropriate policy scale by which to measure and evaluate trends over time and space. This approach seeks to provide a flexible and intuitive planning tool that can help to achieve goals relating to urban sustainability, resiliency and equity.
Highlights
The interdependencies between social equity, ecological systems and the economy have continued to be recognized by decision makers as vital elements of functional public policy formation
To address the limitation of using aggregated data, this study developed the integrated environmental-deprivation index using two different measurement scales, including dissemination areas (DAs) and census tracts (CTs), to explore the impact of scale on study outcome, as well as potential policy implications
This study aims to address spatial discordances in human–environment interactions using two urban neighbourhood levels or measurement scales
Summary
The interdependencies between social equity, ecological systems and the economy have continued to be recognized by decision makers as vital elements of functional public policy formation. Studies connecting human welfare with ecological processes are on the rise [1,2,3], with the valuation of urban ecosystems receiving increased attention by governing agencies, researchers, and policy makers [4,5] This interest is triggered by the awareness that a city’s natural systems play a significant role in moderating urban resiliency and sustainability outside of local ecological processes [6]. For the purpose of this study, a broad yet operational approach to defining ES is taken, which includes the benefits that humans derive, either directly or indirectly, from ecological functions and processes [11] In this context, these functions or processes only become services if individual (i.e., human) beneficiaries exist [12]
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