A Quantitative Review of Urban Ecosystem Service Assessments:Concepts, Models, and Implementation

Although a number of comprehensive reviewshave examined global ecosystem services (ES), few havefocused on studies that assess urban ecosystem services(UES). Given that more than half of the world’s populationlives in cities, understanding the dualism of the provisionof and need for UES is of critical importance. Which UESare the focus of research, and what types of urban land useare examined? Are models or decision support systemsused to assess the provision of UES? Are trade-offs con-sidered? Do studies of UES engage stakeholders? Toaddress these questions, we analyzed 217 papers derivedfrom an ISI Web of Knowledge search using a set ofstandardized criteria. The results indicate that most UESstudies have been undertaken in Europe, North America,and China, at city scale. Assessment methods involve bio-physical models, Geographical Information Systems, andvaluation, but few study findings have been implementedas land use policy.
QC 20161212