Technological features of cultural ecosystem services assessment
Authors: Korohoda Nataliia , Kupach Tetiana 
Published: September 2024

The benefits that city residents receive from green spaces related to maintaining their health are a group of cultural ecosystem services (CES). To avoid subjectivity in the assessment of CES, there is a methodology based on determining the effectiveness of green spaces in providing them. Currently, there is no technological scheme for assessing the CES available to urban planners. Accordingly, the purpose of the paper is to highlight the technological features of the CES assessment. Methodologically, the work consists in creating a geodatabase (DB) on the state of green spaces and anthropogenic pressure on them. All the calculation indicators proposed in the methodology should be included in the database as attributes, and their calculation should be performed as working scenarios documented in the form of automated calculation models, etc. The technology is based on QGIS/SAGA spatial analysis tools (QGIS version 3.32.1-Lima), which contains the necessary basic geoprocessing algorithms and modules for calculating the CES.

The technology for estimating CES is presented in the Model_CES. The functioning of the Model_CES depends on the amount and quality of input data. As input data, the database includes information on: urban green spaces; vegetation; landscapes; areas with multi-age urban development; local areas of urban population concentration; survey statistics, etc. Attribute information is the basis for the correct operation of the Model_CES algorithms, in particular, the calculation of parameters by which it is proposed to assess the volume of CES. Adequate to the parameters, a file database in the GeoPackage format was formed in accordance with the standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium - Model_CES, which contains the input data sets: tabular: "survey_all"; vector: "Vegetation", "BGI", "local_district", "hollow", "age_consruct".

Technological procedures and algorithm for calculating CES volumes and risks of their loss in Model_CES form calculation blocks: 1. a block for determining the potential of green spaces in providing CES; 2. a block for determining the effectiveness of the green space in providing CES - the real supply of CES; 3. a block for calculating the volume of ecosystem services and the risks of their loss; 4. a block for calculating the score of alternative availability of the green space.

As a result, the proposed algorithm produces the output geodataset "BGI_CES". After the implementation of the technology, this dataset contains attribute information about each green space, in particular, their ability to provide cultural ecosystem services, efficiency in providing CES, the volume of CES and the risks of their loss.

Thus, the paper solves the scientific task of creating an assessment technology that meets the following requirements: it is suitable for processing information that is spatially distributed; it is focused on the availability of uncertain and often limited data; it is available for use by specialists of design and other institutions that may be limited in data. The presented technology can be used in urban planning practice as a tool for improving the quality of urban green spaces, their sustainable development and providing citizens with the maximum amount of CES.