Literature review develops starting-point framework for cultural ecosystem services in urban landscape design

A literature review and framework-development study proposed a starting point for incorporating cultural ecosystem services into urban landscape design. The work organizes relevant procedures and indicators to help planners connect these services with design decisions, rather than presenting a framework validated through a new field trial.

The review identifies a continuing gap between theoretical discussion of urban ecosystem services and their implementation in landscape design. Cultural ecosystem services are described in the reviewed literature as non-material benefits obtained through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, leisure and aesthetic experiences.

Earlier assessments cited by the authors had found no indicators specifically addressing cultural services in urban ecosystems. A broader review of cultural ecosystem service indicators concluded that many had unclear definitions, objectives or processes for measuring the phenomena of interest.

To develop the framework, the researchers reviewed earlier theories, frameworks and applied studies, then assembled indicators from work concerning aesthetic services and related ecosystem processes. The method was adapted from research on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity.

The researchers did not calculate the assembled indicators because many source studies had specified assessment methods only implicitly or had presented them in limited form. The indicators were classified as qualitative, quantitative or financial. Qualitative indicators describe ecosystem quality and relationships between ecosystems and social or economic flows on a spatial scale. Quantitative indicators represent expected increases or decreases in ecosystem-service processes associated with a policy, while financial indicators concern the monetary value of selected services or changes in their provision under different scenarios.

The proposed framework has three stages. First, planners determine relevant goals and services, define the design scale and consider ecological, economic and socioeconomic objectives. These objectives may overlap rather than remain entirely separate, and priorities can be specified through policy plans or participation by experts and stakeholders.

Second, candidate solutions are filtered according to intervention priorities, planning and management requirements, technology, financing, environmental conditions and demographic-social needs. Third, planners use questions and indicators to analyze primary solutions and compare them across ecological, economic and socio-cultural dimensions, helping identify options for further evaluation and implementation.

Indicator selection is intended to support specified, measurable, accepted, realistic and time-specific objectives. The authors also identify reproducibility, scientific meaning, practical perception, monitoring over time and cost-effectiveness as relevant qualities. Stakeholder participation is important both in defining cultural services and in choosing indicators.

Most assembled indicators were qualitative or quantitative, while financial indicators for cultural ecosystem services were comparatively underdeveloped. Indicators for sensory dimensions beyond the visual were also limited, and biological coverage centered largely on plants and, to a lesser extent, birds. The framework is presented as a screening and structuring tool rather than a complete measurement system.

Its limitations include the absence of calculated indicator values, incomplete assessment methods in the source literature, and an unsuitability for the post-implementation stage because available indicators were spatially limited and carried uncertainty. The authors call for assessment methods proportionate to the indicators, broader coverage of human senses and landscape elements, and fuller integration of relevant factors into urban landscape design.

Subject of Research: A literature-derived framework for incorporating cultural ecosystem services into urban landscape design.

Article Title: Practical framework for cultural ecosystem service in urban landscape design

Article References: Shahali, H., & Habibi, A. (2023). Practical framework for cultural ecosystem service in urban landscape design. One Ecosystem, 8, Article e94561. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e94561

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/oneeco.8.e94561

Keywords: cultural ecosystem services, urban landscape design, literature review, environmental indicators, urban planning, landscape assessment, ecosystem services, stakeholder participation, Practical, framework, cultural, ecosystem