Social values for biodiversity and carbon flow in cities

Abstract

Abstract Urban green areas contribute to climate change mitigation, support biodiversity and host a wide range of social values important for urban residents. Understanding the interplay between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow in urban green areas is vital for socially sustainable urban climate and biodiversity policy, but relationships between the three remain poorly explored. We assessed spatial and non‐spatial relationships between relational and intrinsic social values, biodiversity and carbon flow, in green areas across Helsinki, Finland, using logistic regression and spatial overlap analyses. To achieve this, we utilized pre‐existing datasets on modelled biodiversity and carbon flow, and a public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey dataset depicting over 16,000 spatially referenced social values for green areas mapped by a sample of 3237 residents of Helsinki. We found that non‐spatial relationships between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow are value‐specific and diverse in terms of strength, shape and direction. Spatial overlap between priority areas of social values and those of biodiversity and carbon flow was moderate and variable across different urban contexts. This diversity was further nuanced by the result that urban residents of different socio‐economic contexts valued green areas in different ways. Policy implications. Our findings imply that successfully leveraging urban green areas for simultaneous benefits to climate, biodiversity and social outcomes depends strongly on the surrounding social and ecological urban context. Key to maximizing synergies and balancing trade‐offs between the three are inclusive and participatory planning processes that jointly assess the social and ecological values of green areas. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.