Non-economic ecosystem services assessment of urban land in the New York City social-ecological system

Background/Question/Methods

Ecosystems in cities have been widely discussed as providing critical ecosystem services to urban residents (Troy et al. 2007; McPhearson 2011). However, research has primarily focused on economic valuation of either biophysical or social benefits of urban green space and has rarely investigated ecosystem services from the perspective of non-economic value and has overlooked many urban spaces of important potential combined social-ecological value. Additionally, though the spatial and functional heterogeneity of urban systems has been well noted (Jacobs 1961; Pickett et al. 2007), the interaction of various kinds of social-ecological heterogeneity in urban systems is a major open question (Pickett et al. 2008). We report here the first multi-criteria, non-economic ecosystem service assessment of urban land areas in New York City (NYC). Our goal is to understand the combined social-ecological value of complex urban patches. The research involves linking social, biological, and infrastructural heterogeneity in a spatially explicit conceptual framework to investigate patterns of social-ecological value across urban land cover and land use. We examined all relevant, publically available, spatially referenced data to assess the current ecosystem services provided by vacant land in the city. Assessment methods included calculating a broad range of ecological values and social values and needs.

Results/Conclusions

Results include a social-ecological matrix approach to urban ecosystem services assessment where high/low social value and high/low ecological value are generated for each vacant patch. A social-ecological value map demonstrates how our methodological approach can illuminate areas of high and low value in the urban landscape. Results indicate that urban land is indeed highly heterogeneous, particular with respect to social need for, and spatial variation in, ecological services. We will present the theoretical framework and summary results in the context of ways to improve the resilience of the NYC social-ecological system through use of urban social-ecological value mapping.