Ecosystem Services of Ecological Infrastructure and Quality of Life: Contributions to the Analysis of the Sustainability of the Urban and Peri-urban Area of Mar del Plata, Argentina

Abstract

Existing green areas in cities generate multiple benefits on the quality of life of their inhabitants that, from a socio-ecological perspective, can be interpreted in terms of urban ecosystem services. The provision of this type of services contributes to enhance the resilience of cities, which is crucial to achieving sustainability goals. Within this framework, the main objective of this chapter is to analyze, in the first instance, some ecosystem services provided by urban green areas and their impact on quality of life, taking the city of Mar del Plata (Argentina) as a case study. In particular, and in order to contribute to the overall objective, the work aims to assess the availability of green areas and vegetation cover in the study area, and to analyze the temperature regulation ecosystem service provided by these structures, and how some of their physical attributes could relate to the provision of cultural ecosystem services, based on objective dimensions of quality of life. For that purpose, a set of environmental indicators was used, which helped exemplify some questions related to the provision of such services in the study area. This approach would help to rethink areas, incorporating both their ability to regulate natural processes, as well as issues such as equity, environmental justice and aesthetic values, in order to generate synergies that allow to increase the positive impact that these spaces have on the quality of life of people.