Neighborhood ecosystem services: Insights from a multi-expert assessment of nature-based solutions in Scandinavian cities
Gabriela Maksymiuk, Renata Giedych, Magdalena Kuchcik, Marcin Łączyński, Dorota Pusłowska-Tyszewska, Joanna Adamczyk, Kaja Czarnecka, Krzysztof Klimaszewski, Agata Cieszewska
Urban areas are disproportionately affected by the environmental crisis, making climate change adaptation a pressing challenge for cities. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) enhance urban resilience by supporting urban green infrastructure (UGI) and delivering essential ecosystem services (ES). However, most ES research focuses on national-scale assessments and natural open spaces, leaving a critical gap in understanding ES provision at the neighborhood scale. To address this gap, this study evaluates the capacity of climate-adaptation–oriented neighborhoods to deliver a broad range of ES and examines how locally implemented NbS influence ES provision. We assessed 17 urban spaces—including housing estates, local parks, schoolyards, public squares, and urban farms—across Oslo (NO), Copenhagen (DK), and Malm¨o (SE). Using an expert-based assessment, we analyzed the diversity and intensity of 32 ES (3 provisioning, 16 regulating, 13 cultural), extending beyond those directly related to climate adaptation. Statistical analyses (PERMANOVA, k-means) confirmed the significance of observed patterns. The most frequently identified ES were ensuring mental health, recreational space provision, and regulation of climatic conditions. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) showed the highest overall capacity, highlighting the strong social benefits of NbS. Regulating ecosystem services (RES) were more prominent in retrofitted with NbS sites, while CES dominated purpose-built NbS areas. The highest overall ES provision was observed in Malm¨o’s V¨astra Hamnen housing estate, a brownfield redevelopment, demonstrating how well-integrated NbS can maximize ES benefits. Our results underscore the critical role of neighborhoods in climate adaptation and support integrating NbS across diverse urban contexts to strengthen ecological and social resilience.