SpringerLink
Log in

Ecosystem Services from Space as Evaluation Metric of Human Well-Being in Deprived Urban Areas of the Majority World

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Urban Inequalities from Space

Part of the book series: Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing ((RDIP,volume 26))

  • 63 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter presents a concise synthesis of recent research efforts, emphasizing the combined use of ecosystem services and landscape metric concepts for quantifying provision, quality, and accessibility to ecosystem services as indicators of socio-ecological well-being in deprived urban areas in the Majority World. Such analyses are challenging due to the common lack of official and reliable data related to socioeconomic, demographic, ecological, and land use/land cover variables. The recommended analytical steps leverage freely available earth observation products with global coverage, requiring no proprietary software and enabling barrier-free application. Integration of readily available data sets is possible during image classification, post-processing, and ensuing spatio-ecological evaluation. The study highlights the importance of differentiating between ecosystem functions and services and separating land use from land cover to ensure accurate attributions. Additionally, incorporating spatial and temporal aspects, as well as considering beneficiaries, is essential for assessing ecosystem services. Local stakeholder and community interactions are advised to gain a comprehensive understanding of the local context. Future research should explore challenges associated with sustainable management of ecosystem service provision areas in densely populated informal settlements. This includes prioritizing specific services, develo** tailored valuation approaches, and quantifying the influences of landscape configuration and composition. Addressing discrepancies between actual and intended land use remains critical for advancing the understanding of ecosystem services in urban environments. This approach underscores the importance of leveraging remote sensing data and fostering local stakeholder engagement for effective ecosystem service management in deprived urban areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (Canada)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (Canada)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (Canada)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alberti M (2005) The effects of urban patterns on ecosystem function. Int Reg Sci Rev 28(2):168–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrew ME, Wulder MA, Nelson TA (2014) Potential contributions of remote sensing to ecosystem service assessments. Prog Phys Geogr 38(3):328–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ango TG, Börjeson L, Senbeta F, Hylander K (2014) Balancing ecosystem services and disservices: smallholder farmers’ use and management of forest and trees in an agricultural landscape in southwestern Ethiopia. Ecol Soc 19(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayanu YZ, Conrad C, Nauss T, Wegmann M, Koellner T (2012) Quantifying and map** ecosystem services supplies and demands: a review of remote sensing applications. Environ Sci Technol 46(16):8529–8541

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bagstad KJ, Johnson GW, Voigt B, Villa F (2013) Spatial dynamics of ecosystem service flows: a comprehensive approach to quantifying actual services. Ecosyst Serv 4:117–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker F, Smith GR, Marsden SJ, Cavan G (2021) Map** regulating ecosystem service deprivation in urban areas: a transferable high-spatial resolution uncertainty aware approach. Ecol Indic 121:107058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baró F, Haase D, Gómez-Baggethun E, Frantzeskaki N (2015) Mismatches between ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas: a quantitative assessment in five European cities. Ecol Indic 55:146–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barthel S, Folke C, Colding J (2010) Social–ecological memory in urban gardens – retaining the capacity for management of ecosystem services. Glob Environ Chang 20(2):255–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belaire JA, Westphal LM, Whelan CJ, Minor ES (2015) Urban residents’ perceptions of birds in the neighborhood: biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services, and disservices. Condor 117(2):192–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bezák P, Lyytimäki J (2011) Complexity of urban ecosystem services in the context of global change. Ekológia (Bratislava) 30(1):22–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bixler RD, Floyd MF (1997) Nature is scary, disgusting, and uncomfortable. Environ Behav 29(4):443–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco J, Dendoncker N, Barnaud C, Sirami C (2019) Ecosystem disservices matter: towards their systematic integration within ecosystem service research and policy. Ecosyst Serv 36:100913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolund P, Hunhammar S (1999) Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecological 29(2):293–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd J, Banzhaf S (2007) What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units. Ecol Econ 63(2–3):616–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breiman L (2001) Random forests. Mach Learn 45:5–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgin AJ, Lazar JG, Groffman PM, Gold AJ, Kellogg DQ (2013) Balancing nitrogen retention ecosystem services and greenhouse gas disservices at the landscape scale. Ecol Eng 56:26–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkhard B, Kroll F, Nedkov S, Müller F (2012) Map** ecosystem service supply, demand and budgets. Ecol Indic 21:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chee YE (2004) An ecological perspective on the valuation of ecosystem services. Biol Conserv 120(4):549–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiesura A (2004) The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landsc Urban Plan 68(1):129–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbane C, Lang S, Pipkins K, Alleaume S, Deshayes M, Millán VEG et al (2015) Remote sensing for map** natural habitats and their conservation status–new opportunities and challenges. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 37:7–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortes C, Vapnik V (1995) Support-vector networks. Mach Learn 20:273–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, Folke C (1997) Valuing ecosystem services with efficiency, fairness and sustainability as goals. Nat Serv Soc Depend Nat Ecosyst:49–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, d'Arge R, de Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B et al (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387(6630):253–260.7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, d’Arge R, de Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B et al (1998) The value of ecosystem services: putting the issues in perspective. Ecol Econ 25(1):67–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, de Groot R, Sutton P, Van der Ploeg S, Anderson SJ, Kubiszewski I et al (2014) Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Glob Environ Chang 26:152–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daily GC (1997) Introduction: what are ecosystem services. Nat Serv Soc Depend Nat Ecosyst 1(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson MD (2013) On the relation between ecosystem services, intrinsic value, existence value and economic valuation. Ecol Econ 95:171–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Araujo Barbosa CC, Atkinson PM, Dearing JA (2015) Remote sensing of ecosystem services: a systematic review. Ecol Indic 52:430–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Groot RS, Wilson MA, Boumans RM (2002) A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecol Econ 41(3):393–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Groot R, Brander L, Van Der Ploeg S, Costanza R, Bernard F, Braat L et al (2012) Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units. Ecosyst Serv 1(1):50–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Toro I, Ribbons RR, Pelini SL (2012) The little things that run the world revisited: a review of ant-mediated ecosystem services and disservices (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol News 17:133–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Derkzen ML, Nagendra H, Van Teeffelen AJ, Purushotham A, Verburg PH (2017) Shifts in ecosystem services in deprived urban areas: understanding people’s responses and consequences for well-being. Ecol Soc 22(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbs C, Kendal D, Nitschke CR (2014) Multiple ecosystem services and disservices of the urban forest establishing their connections with landscape structure and sociodemographics. Ecol Indic 43:44–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du Toit MJ, Cilliers SS, Dallimer M, Goddard M, Guenat S, Cornelius SF (2018) Urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services in sub-Saharan Africa. Landsc Urban Plan 180:249–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn RR (2010) Global map** of ecosystem disservices: the unspoken reality that nature sometimes kills us. Biotropica 42(5):555–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich PR, Mooney HA (1983) Extinction, substitution, and ecosystem services. Bioscience 33(4):248–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escobedo FJ, Kroeger T, Wagner JE (2011) Urban forests and pollution mitigation: analyzing ecosystem services and disservices. Environ Pollut 159(8–9):2078–2087

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Faeth SH, Bang C, Saari S (2011) Urban biodiversity: patterns and mechanisms. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1223(1):69–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng X, Fu B, Yang X, Lü Y (2010) Remote sensing of ecosystem services: an opportunity for spatially explicit assessment. Chin Geogr Sci 20:522–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Godron M (1986) Landscape ecology. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie TW, Foody GM, Rocchini D, Giorgi AP, Saatchi S (2008) Measuring and modelling biodiversity from space. Prog Phys Geogr 32(2):203–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Baggethun E, de Groot R, Lomas PL, Montes C (2010) The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: from early notions to markets and payment schemes. Ecol Econ 69(6):1209–1218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould W (2000) Remote sensing of vegetation, plant species richness, and regional biodiversity hotspots. Ecol Appl 10(6):1861–1870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray CL, Lewis OT (2014) Do riparian forest fragments provide ecosystem services or disservices in surrounding oil palm plantations? Basic Appl Ecol 15(8):693–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Ban Y (2013) Remote sensing of bidecadal urbanization and its impact on ecosystem service in the Yangtze River Delta. In: Proceedings of the dragon 2 final results dragon 3 kick-off symposium, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Ban Y (2014) Urban growth and environmental impacts in **g-**-Ji, the Yangtze, River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 30:42–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Ban Y (2016) Map** and monitoring urban ecosystem services using multitemporal high-resolution satellite data. IEEE J Sel Top Appl Earth Observ Remote Sens 10(2):669–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Ban Y (2017) Sentinel-1A SAR and sentinel-2A MSI data fusion for urban ecosystem service map**. Remote Sens Appl Soc Environ 8:41–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Ban Y (2018) Urban land cover and ecosystem service changes based on Sentinel-2A MSI and Landsat TM data. IEEE J Sel Top Appl Earth Observ Remote Sens 11(2):485–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Jacob A, Ban Y (2014) Urban ecosystems map** from spaceborne high-resolution optical data. ESA SP Vol. 724. ISBN: 978-929092-288-9, id.146

    Google Scholar 

  • Haas J, Furberg D, Ban Y (2015) Satellite monitoring of urbanization and environmental impacts – a comparison of Stockholm and Shanghai. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 38:138–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Haines-Young R, Potschin M (2012) Common international classification of ecosystem services (CICES, version 4.1). Eur Environ Agency 33:107

    Google Scholar 

  • Haines-Young R, Potschin M, Kienast F (2012) Indicators of ecosystem service potential at European scales: map** marginal changes and trade-offs. Ecol Indic 21:39–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haralick RM, Shanmugam K, Dinstein IH (1973) Textural features for image classification. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern 6:610–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heal GM (2000) Nature and the marketplace: capturing the value of ecosystem services. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Helfenstein J, Kienast F (2014) Ecosystem service state and trends at the regional to national level: a rapid assessment. Ecol Indic 36:11–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horning N, Robinson JA, Sterling EJ, Spector S, Turner W (2010) Remote sensing for ecology and conservation: a handbook of techniques. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kauth RJ, Thomas GS (1976) The tasselled cap – a graphic description of the spectral-temporal development of agricultural crops as seen by Landsat. In: LARS symposia, p 159

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar M, Kumar P (2008) Valuation of the ecosystem services: a psycho-cultural perspective. Ecol Econ 64(4):808–819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laterra P, Orúe ME, Booman GC (2012) Spatial complexity and ecosystem services in rural landscapes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 154:56–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauf S, Haase D, Kleinschmit B (2014) Linkages between ecosystem services provisioning, urban growth and shrinkage – a modeling approach assessing ecosystem service trade-offs. Ecol Indic 42:73–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limburg KE, Luzadis VA, Ramsey M, Schulz KL, Mayer CM (2010) The good, the bad, and the algae: perceiving ecosystem services and disservices generated by zebra and quagga mussels. J Great Lakes Res 36(1):86–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyytimäki J, Sipilä M (2009) Hop** on one leg – the challenge of ecosystem disservices for urban green management. Urban For Urban Green 8(4):309–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyytimäki J, Petersen LK, Normander B, Bezák P (2008) Nature as a nuisance? Ecosystem services and disservices to urban lifestyle. Environ Sci 5(3):161–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maes J, Paracchini ML, Zulian G, Dunbar MB, Alkemade R (2012) Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe. Biol Conserv 155:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín-López B, Iniesta-Arandia I, García-Llorente M, Palomo I, Casado-Arzuaga I, Amo DGD et al (2012) Uncovering ecosystem service bundles through social preferences. PLoS One 7(6):e38970

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley DJ (2006) Selling out on nature. Nature 443(7107):27–28

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal K, Marks BJ (1995) FRAGSTATS: spatial pattern analysis program for quantifying landscape structure, vol. 351. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2008) Effects of urbanization on species richness: a review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosyst 11:161–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, M. E. A (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being, vol 5. Island Press, Washington, DC, p 563

    Google Scholar 

  • Mugiraneza T, Haas J, Ban Y (2017) Spatiotemporal analysis of urban land cover changes in Kigali, Rwanda using multitemporal Landsat data and landscape metrics. Int Arch Photogramm Remote Sens Spat Inf Sci 42

    Google Scholar 

  • Mugiraneza T, Ban Y, Haas J (2019) Urban land cover dynamics and their impact on ecosystem services in Kigali, Rwanda using multi-temporal Landsat data. Remote Sens Appl Soc Environ 13:234–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Mugiraneza T, Hafner S, Haas J, Ban Y (2022) Monitoring urbanization and environmental impact in Kigali, Rwanda using Sentinel-2 MSI data and ecosystem service bundles. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 109:102775

    Google Scholar 

  • Nawrath M, Elsey H, Dallimer M (2022) Why cultural ecosystem services matter most: exploring the pathways linking greenspaces and mental health in a low-income country. Sci Total Environ 806:150551

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce DW, Pretty JN (1993) Economic values and the natural world. Earthscan

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettorelli N, Schulte to Bühne, H, Tulloch A, Dubois G, Macinnis-Ng C, Queirós AM et al (2018) Satellite remote sensing of ecosystem functions: opportunities, challenges and way forward. Remote Sens Ecol Conserv 4(2):71–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudsepp-Hearne C, Peterson GD, Bennett EM (2010) Ecosystem service bundles for analyzing tradeoffs in diverse landscapes. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107(11):5242–5247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez JP, Beard TD Jr, Bennett EM, Cumming GS, Cork SJ, Agard J et al (2006) Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services. Ecol Soc 11(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sander HA, Zhao C (2015) Urban green and blue: who values what and where? Land Use Policy 42:194–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders DA, Hobbs RJ, Margules CR (1991) Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: a review. Conserv Biol 5(1):18–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schröter M, Barton DN, Remme RP, Hein L (2014) Accounting for capacity and flow of ecosystem services: a conceptual model and a case study for Telemark, Norway. Ecol Indic 36:539–551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan DF, Fuller RA, Bush R, Lin BB, Gaston KJ (2015) The health benefits of urban nature: how much do we need? Bioscience 65(5):476–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spangenberg JH, Settele J (2010) Precisely incorrect? Monetising the value of ecosystem services. Ecol Complex 7(3):327–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain HM, Boughton EH, Bohlen PJ, Lollis LOG (2013) Trade-offs among ecosystem services and disservices on a Florida ranch. Rangelands 35(5):75–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Syrbe RU, Walz U (2012) Spatial indicators for the assessment of ecosystem services: providing, benefiting and connecting areas and landscape metrics. Ecol Indic 21:80–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teeb RO (2010) Mainstreaming the economics of nature. TEEB Geneva, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner MG, Donato DC, Romme WH (2013) Consequences of spatial heterogeneity for ecosystem services in changing forest landscapes: priorities for future research. Landsc Ecol 28:1081–1097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner KG, Odgaard MV, Bøcher PK, Dalgaard T, Svenning JC (2014) Bundling ecosystem services in Denmark: trade-offs and synergies in a cultural landscape. Landsc Urban Plan 125:89–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban DLRV, o’Neill R, Shugart H (1987) Landscape ecology: a hierarchical perspective can help scientists understand spatial patterns. Bioscience 37:119–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Döhren P, Haase D (2015) Ecosystem disservices research: a review of the state of the art with a focus on cities. Ecol Indic 52:490–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace KJ (2007) Classification of ecosystem services: problems and solutions. Biol Conserv 139(3–4):235–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waters J (2013) The role of ecosystem services and adaptive capacity in the resilience of poor urban areas. Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia

    Google Scholar 

  • Westman WE (1977) How much are nature’s services worth? Measuring the social benefits of ecosystem functioning is both controversial and illuminating. Science 197(4307):960–964

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wielgoss A, Tscharntke T, Rumede A, Fiala B, Seidel H, Shahabuddin S, Clough Y (2014) Interaction complexity matters: disentangling services and disservices of ant communities driving yield in tropical agroecosystems. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 281(1775):20132144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang G, Ge Y, Xue H, Yang W, Shi Y, Peng C et al (2015) Using ecosystem service bundles to detect trade-offs and synergies across urban–rural complexes. Landsc Urban Plan 136:110–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Ricketts TH, Kremen C, Carney K, Swinton SM (2007) Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture. Ecol Econ 64(2):253–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geomatics, Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Jan Haas

Authors
  1. Jan Haas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Haas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Monika Kuffer

  2. Geomatics, Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Stefanos Georganos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Haas, J. (2024). Ecosystem Services from Space as Evaluation Metric of Human Well-Being in Deprived Urban Areas of the Majority World. In: Kuffer, M., Georganos, S. (eds) Urban Inequalities from Space. Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49183-2_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation