Who’s Missing Out? Supply-demand mismatch analysis of urban ecosystem services in Singapore

Abstract

In the face of rapid urban densification, many cities have seen a decline in the extent of urban green spaces which are also the very landscape that provide a myriad of benefits for human well-being. This results in a mismatch between the ecosystem service supply from the urban natural landscape, and demand from the urban dwellers. While the mapping of ecosystem service supply and demand has been widely conducted for ecosystem service assessments, spatially explicit assessments of supply-demand balances and distributions are rarely explored in the urban context. Using Singapore as a case study, we mapped out the distribution of mismatches in six urban ecosystem services. In addition, we investigated the potential influence that a lived experience of ecosystem service supply-demand mismatch may have on residents’ perception towards the importance of ecosystem services. We found that the level of mismatch is predicted by proportion of unmanaged vegetation and distance to nature reserves. This is likely due to the distribution of unmanaged vegetation around the island state. Except for the noise abatement ecosystem service, we failed to find evidence of correlation between mismatch and Singaporeans’ perceived importance of ecosystem services, except in the case of noise abatement. This could potentially be influenced by the hyper-connectedness of Singapore’s landscape, allowing a locally unmet demand for ecosystem services to be fulfilled in a location with higher supply.