Abstract:
Cities are a key nexus of the relationship between people and
nature and are huge centers of demand for ecosystem services
and also generate extremely large environmental impacts.
Current projections of rapid expansion of urban areas present
fundamental challenges and also opportunities to design more
livable, healthy and resilient cities (e.g. adaptation to climate
change effects). We present the results of an analysis of
benefits of ecosystem services in urban areas. Empirical
analyses included estimates of monetary benefits from urban
ecosystem services based on data from 25 urban areas in the
USA, Canada, and China. Our results show that investing in
ecological infrastructure in cities, and the ecological restoration
and rehabilitation of ecosystems such as rivers, lakes, and
woodlands occurring in urban areas, may not only be
ecologically and socially desirable, but also quite often,
economically advantageous, even based on the most
traditional economic approaches.
