Mapping the provision of cultural ecosystem services in large cities: the case of The Andean piedmont in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Large cities are both centers of demand for cultural ecosystem services (CES) and a source of environmental impacts. Assessing CES yields information to reduce the vulnerability of these services to such environmental impacts as well as to strengthen them in order to improve human well-being in cities. The Andean piedmont of Santiago is a natural mountainous area adjacent to the largest city in Chile and a source of CES, which are threatened as a result of the urbanization and weak territorial management instruments. A model was constructed to represent the provision of CES in the piedmont. The model integrated participatory techniques and geographic information analyses, making it possible to quantify and map the CES provision, which was represented by ecosystem attributes. CES are provided according to the weight that different stakeholders assign to these attributes. Attributes were characterized and then represented in space, resulting in a spatially explicit index constructed as the weighted sum of the previously established attributes. Our results show that the most relevant variables for the visitors when they come to enjoy the CES of the piedmont are accessibility and scenic beauty. In general terms, this means that the highest CES provision level is concentrated in the mid-altitude zone of the piedmont (away from the city but still accessible). We conclude that the piedmont areas close to large cities are relevant in terms of provision of CES and their protection is a priority to maintain the flow of CES towards the inhabitants of these cities.