66
6.4 Conclusions
An equitable distribution of resources, and more specifically of ES, is one of the key
elements in the purse of equity, and sustainability. ES assessments that investigate
the distribution of ES can play an important role in addressing equity issues in urban
planning. The concept of ES represents a very useful tool since it allows understanding and quantifying how ecosystems provide services and spatially defining
the relationship between their structure, functions, and the related benefits at a suitable scale (Braat and de Groot 2012). In this chapter, we suggest that ES assessments need to capture information about the supply, access, and demand of services
in a city, in order to provide planners with useful information on the degree of equity
in the distribution of ES.
The approach described in the case study application present limitations. Firstly,
access to ES was estimated in a simplified way, reflecting the limited contributions
on this topic found in the literature. There is a need for studies that go more in depth
in unveiling, and mapping all the factors that may play a role in determining how ES
are accessed by beneficiaries. Secondly, demand was estimated by considering only
few categories of vulnerable individuals. Other socio-economic and cultural factors
(e.g., housing conditions) could be added to improve the analysis, exploring the
complexity of the demand for regulating ES in cities, and distinguishing among different groups of beneficiaries associated to different ES. Thirdly, the assessment of
supply was also based on one single indicator for each ES. Using multiple indicators could provide a better picture of different types of supply, reflecting for example different potential uses by beneficiaries.
In conclusion, the potential of applying holistic approaches to the investigation
of distribution of ES, which include biophysical, as well as socio-economic considerations, cannot be ignored. Despite using disaggregated data and complex assessments can be costly and time-consuming (Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013),
there is a need to keep on walking this path to improve the outcome of planning
processes.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and
reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original
author(s) and the source, a link is provided to the Creative Commons license and any changes
made are indicated.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the work’s Creative
Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if such material is not included in
the work’s Creative Commons license and the respective action is not permitted by statutory regulation, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to duplicate, adapt or reproduce
the material.
6 Towards Equity in the Distribution of Ecosystem Services in Cities
6.4 Conclusions
An equitable distribution of resources, and more specifically of ES, is one of the key
elements in the purse of equity, and sustainability. ES assessments that investigate
the distribution of ES can play an important role in addressing equity issues in urban
planning. The concept of ES represents a very useful tool since it allows understanding and quantifying how ecosystems provide services and spatially defining
the relationship between their structure, functions, and the related benefits at a suitable scale (Braat and de Groot 2012). In this chapter, we suggest that ES assessments need to capture information about the supply, access, and demand of services
in a city, in order to provide planners with useful information on the degree of equity
in the distribution of ES.
The approach described in the case study application present limitations. Firstly,
access to ES was estimated in a simplified way, reflecting the limited contributions
on this topic found in the literature. There is a need for studies that go more in depth
in unveiling, and mapping all the factors that may play a role in determining how ES
are accessed by beneficiaries. Secondly, demand was estimated by considering only
few categories of vulnerable individuals. Other socio-economic and cultural factors
(e.g., housing conditions) could be added to improve the analysis, exploring the
complexity of the demand for regulating ES in cities, and distinguishing among different groups of beneficiaries associated to different ES. Thirdly, the assessment of
supply was also based on one single indicator for each ES. Using multiple indicators could provide a better picture of different types of supply, reflecting for example different potential uses by beneficiaries.
In conclusion, the potential of applying holistic approaches to the investigation
of distribution of ES, which include biophysical, as well as socio-economic considerations, cannot be ignored. Despite using disaggregated data and complex assessments can be costly and time-consuming (Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013),
there is a need to keep on walking this path to improve the outcome of planning
processes.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and
reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original
author(s) and the source, a link is provided to the Creative Commons license and any changes
made are indicated.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the work’s Creative
Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if such material is not included in
the work’s Creative Commons license and the respective action is not permitted by statutory regulation, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to duplicate, adapt or reproduce
the material.
6 Towards Equity in the Distribution of Ecosystem Services in Cities