Jacek Wolski

Abstract

The concept of ecosystem services can contribute to improving the quality of life in cities, but it has to be operationalized before being implemented in spatial planning. The study aim is to present methodological solutions to assess and map urban ecosystem services on a nationwide scale, including methods for constructing and characterizing indicators. The selected examples cover all three sections from the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES): provisioning, regulating and cultural, as well as the three most frequently assessed aspects of services: potential, use and unmet demand. Sample indicators were calculated for all 20 functional urban areas (FUAs) with the metropolitan status in Poland, i.e. with population >250,000: as a whole and broken down into city core and commuting zone.

In the first example, the subject of the measurement was the potential of metropolitan areas for food production, and the proposed indicator was the share of land intended for agricultural production, both plant and animal. It was assumed that land intended for agricultural production is all agricultural land, which, according to the definition of the Central Statistical Office, consists of: arable land, gardens, permanent crops, including orchards, meadows and pastures, and other agricultural land. The area of agricultural land in total and per capita is considered as one of the most important indicators of food security. Statistical data from the Central Statistical Office, aggregated to the level of communes (local administrative units – LAU), was used in the calculations. Indicator values ranged from 41.8% (FUA Katowice) to 75.7% (FUA Lublin) for the entire metropolitan areas. For the FUA cores values ranged from 16.2% (Bydgoszcz) to 66.8% (Łódź). As for the FUA commuting zones, the lowest value was recorded in the vicinity of Olsztyn (44.1%), and the highest around Lublin (77.6%). Differences between the cores (on average 32.8%) and commuting zones (on average 60.2%) were statistically significant.

In the second example, the subject of the measurement was the use of trees to clean the air from anthropogenic particulate matter (PM) in metropolitan areas, and the indicator of using this service was the number of trees per person. PM contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. It was assumed that the more people there are in a given area, the greater is the production of particulate matter of anthropogenic origin, and therefore more trees are needed to reduce the concentration of these pollutants in the air. We used the Tree Cover Density layer from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, map of individual trees for Warsaw obtained from the city hall and commune-level population data from the Central Statistical Office in the calculations. Indicator values ranged from 21 (FUA Radom) to 157 (FUA Olsztyn) for entire metropolitan areas. For FUA cores, the values ranged from 3 (for Rzeszów) to 11.5 (for Bielsko-Biała). As for the FUA commuting zone, the lowest number of trees per person was recorded in the vicinity of Katowice (48), and by far the highest around Olsztyn (440). The number of trees per person is definitely lower in the cores compared to the rest of the FUA, on average by as much as 123 trees per person.

In the third example, the subject of the measurement was the unmet demand for nature-based recreation in metropolitan areas, and the indicator was the share of residential area located more than 300 m from areas >2 ha dedicated to nature-based recreation (urban green spaces, outdoor sports and recreational facilities, forests, grasslands, and waters). Indicator values ranged from 6% to 42% in 20 selected cities (FUA cores). The lowest values (6-8%), reflecting the lowest level of unmet demand, were recorded in Olsztyn, Toruń, Szczecin, and the highest (42%) in Częstochowa and Rzeszów. Outside of FUA cores, levels of unmet demand for nature-based recreation in larger green spaces (> 2 ha) were higher (18-55%). However, the commuting zone is dominated by single-family housing with small-scale private greenery, and this is where local residents usually practice nature-based recreation, so the level of overall unmet demand for nature-based recreation is most probably not that high there.

The indicators described in this article were used primarily to present the research procedure, but the obtained results provide the basis for at least a general characteristics of Polish FUAs and their comparison with each other, as well as with other European FUAs. Significant differences in the values of indicators show that nationwide mapping and assessment of urban ecosystem services can be of great value when comparing urban centers and the quality of life of their inhabitants, as well as when drawing up urban development strategies.

The presented methodological solutions are scalable and can also be applied to supra-national, including pan-European studies. Furthermore, with the adoption of smaller mapping units and less aggregated source data, the presented approach can also be used for finer scale analyses, e.g. at the city or neighborhood scale

Keywords: ecosystem services, urban ecosystems, functional urban areas, assessing and mapping, indicators, Poland

Andrzej Affek [a.affek@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Anna Kowalska [aniak@twarda.pan.pl], Department of Geoecology Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
Edyta Regulska [eregulska@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. S. Leszczyckiego PAN
Jerzy Solon [j.solon@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Bożena Degórska [bodego@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. S. Leszczyckiego PAN
Jacek Wolski [j.wolski@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN
Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Citation

APA: Affek, A., Kowalska, A., Regulska, E., Solon, J., Degórska, B., Wolski, J., & Degórski, M. (2023). Mapowanie i ocena usług ekosystemów miejskich w skali ogólnopolskiej. Przegląd Geograficzny, 95(2), 163-186. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2023.2.3
MLA: Affek, Andrzej, et al. "Mapowanie i ocena usług ekosystemów miejskich w skali ogólnopolskiej". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 95, no. 2, 2023, pp. 163-186. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2023.2.3
Chicago: Affek, Andrzej, Kowalska, Anna, Regulska, Edyta, Solon, Jerzy, Degórska, Bożena, Wolski, Jacek, and Degórski, Marek. "Mapowanie i ocena usług ekosystemów miejskich w skali ogólnopolskiej". Przegląd Geograficzny 95, no. 2 (2023): 163-186. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2023.2.3
Harvard: Affek, A., Kowalska, A., Regulska, E., Solon, J., Degórska, B., Wolski, J., & Degórski, M. 2023. "Mapowanie i ocena usług ekosystemów miejskich w skali ogólnopolskiej". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 95, no. 2, pp. 163-186. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2023.2.3