COS 138-1 - Ecosystem services, nature preferences, and valuation of urban green and blue spaces – an interdisciplinary approach for improved management

Abstract: Nature in cities provides essential ecosystem services and increases human health and wellbeing. Ecosystem-based management is an important approach for managing blue-green infrastructure, and understanding the value that people place on urban nature can help to improve planning and management, promote urban nature investments, and enhance ecosystem services to create more equitable, sustainable cities. Previous studies aimed to determine the value that people place on urban nature, but many were limited in that they were from the perspective of conservation rather than utilization of environmental resources and did not integrate on-site urban nature site characteristics with the ecosystem services and nature preferences of urban residents. The purpose of our interdisciplinary study was to investigate urban residents' preferences and valuation of urban nature site visits (i.e., using the Contingent Valuation Method) using publicly available geospatial data of on-site environmental features with a web-based survey of residents and their ecosystem services attitudes, nature preferences, and demographics. We developed a multiple linear regression model to determine residents' valuation of urban nature site visits and its association with these variables, using a case study of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. In addition, we compared visitor and non-visitor preferences and their desired future improvements for urban nature sites.

We found that a higher willingness to pay (WTP) to visit urban nature sites was positively associated with ecosystem services such as relaxation opportunities, lower air temperatures, and biodiversity, which have important management implications to help meet both social and environmental management goals in urban ecosystems. Overall, participants gave relatively high preference ratings for various green and blue infrastructure components of urban nature sites, but our model showed mixed results for these features in terms of their valuation, implying that some participants may not feel a monetary obligation towards paying for features which are perceived as meant to be openly accessible and free. Even so, both visitors and non-visitors indicated that improving existing urban nature sites was important (83% and 85%, respectively), followed by creating new sites (62% and 49%, respectively). In recognizing the great value that residents place on urban nature, we recommend that managers/planners work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders to integrate values for urban ecosystem services and preferences into participatory environmental decision-making. Urban ecosystem management should include improvements that incorporate aspects highly valued by residents and a range of green and blue infrastructure components to promote human and environmental health.