Ecosystem services from urban parks: Discrepancies between demand and experienced realities in China

Abstract

Urban parks provide many essential ecosystem services that significantly enhance the well-being of the massive urban population around the world. Nevertheless, there remains a limited understanding of the extent to which the services that park visitors desire align with those they genuinely appreciate. Here, using survey data from over 20,000 respondents across China, we studied the types of ecosystem services that urban residents want and actually enjoy, factors influencing service satisfaction, and the impact of service demand satisfaction on perceptions of urban parks. Findings reveal significant discrepancies between desired and experienced ecosystem services, particularly for food and water supply, and the need for education. Service demand satisfaction correlates positively with people’s environmental interests, income level, park visiting frequency, and urban vegetation coverage. Additionally, a wider range of ecosystem services experienced, even if undesired, enhances users’ perceptions of park environments. Our study highlights the need for urban park designs that address diverse demands, contributing to sustainable urban planning and improving the quality of life in rapidly urbanizing regions.

Keywords

Ecosystem service / Demand / Satisfaction / Urban park / National survey / China

Ethical statement

The ethics approval of this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the College of Geography and Remote Sensing, Hohai University (20250624001). All participants provided informed consent prior to completing the questionnaire.

Data availability

Processed survey data will be available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author. Other data used in influential factor identification are publicly available, as described in Table S1 in the Supplementary materials.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Shuyao Wu: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Delong Li: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Binbin V. Li: Writing - review & editing, Validation. Kai-di Liu: Writing - review & editing. Wentao Zhang: Writing - review & editing. Shuangcheng Li: Writing - review & editing, Validation, Supervision. Linbo Zhang: Writing - review & editing, Resources. Lumeng Liu: Writing - review & editing, Validation. Zhonghao Zhang: Writing - review & editing, Validation.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 42301344, 42501366) and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. ZR2022QZ092) for funding this research.

Supplementary materials

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.geosus.2026.100432.

References

[1] Bakhtsiyarava M., Moran M., Ju Y., Zhou Y.Q., Rodriguez D.A., Dronova I.,de Fatima Rodrigues Pereira de Pina, M., de Matos, V.P., Skaba, D.A., 2024. Potential drivers of urban green space availability in Latin American cities. Nat. Cities 1 (12), 842-852. doi: 10.1038/s44284-024-00162-1.

[2] Borysiak J., St ępniewska M., 2022. Perception of the vegetation cover pattern promoting biodiversity in urban parks by future greenery managers. Land 11 (3), 341. doi: 10.3390/land11030341.

[3] Cabaraban M.T.I., Kroll C.N., Hirabayashi S., Nowak D.J., 2013. Modeling of air pollutant removal by dry deposition to urban trees using a WRF/CMAQ/i-Tree Eco coupled system. Environ. Pollut. 176, 123-133. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.01.006.

[4] Cao H., Li P.X., Song W.X., Chen J.L., Chen C., 2024. Does supply match demand? Assessing the relationship between urban parks and residents from the perspective of equity and efficiency. Urban For. Urban Green. 99, 128469. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128469.

[5] Chen Y.M., Zhai Y.P., Gao J.X., 2022. Spatial patterns in ecosystem services supply and demand in the Jing-Jin-Ji region, China. J. Clean. Prod. 361, 132177. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132177.

[6] Cheng Y.Y., Zhao B., Peng S.Q., Li K., Yin Y., Zhang J.G., 2024. Effects of cultural landscape service features in national forest parks on visitors’ sentiments: a nationwide social media-based analysis in China. Ecosyst. Serv. 67, 101614. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101614.

[7] Collins C.M.T., Cook-Monie I., Raum S., 2019. What do people know? Ecosystem services, public perception and sustainable management of urban park trees in London, U.K. Urban For. Urban Green. 43, 126362. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2019.06.005.

[8] Dai D.X., Chen Y.X., Dai K.Y., 2024. Evaluating cultural ecosystem services in China’s modern historic parks: a sentiment computing approach. Urban For. Urban Green. 95, 128314. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128314.

[9] Dormann C.F., Elith J., Bacher S., Buchmann C., Carl G., Carré G., García Marquéz J.R., Gruber B., Lafourcade B., Leitão P.J., Münkemüller T., Mc- Clean C., Osborne P.E., Reineking B., Schröder B., Skidmore A.K., Zurell D., Lautenbach S., 2013. Collinearity: a review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance. Ecography 36 (1), 27-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07348.x.

[10] Evans D.L., Falagán N., Hardman C.A., Kourmpetli S., Liu L., Mead B.R., Davies J.A.C., 2022. Ecosystem service delivery by urban agriculture and green infrastructure - a systematic review. Ecosyst. Serv. 54, 101405. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101405.

[11] Fan S.X., Yan M., Yu L.F., Chen B.W., Zhang L., 2024. Integrating ecosystem service supply-demand and ecological risk assessment for urban planning: a case study in Beijing, China. Ecol. Indic. 161, 111950. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111950.

[12] Filho W.L., Barbir J., Sima M., Kalbus A., Nagy G.J., Paletta A., Villamizar A., Martinez R., Azeiteiro U.M., Pereira M.J., Mussetta P.C., Ivars J.D.,Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, J.B., de Silva Neiva, S., Moncada, S., Galdies, C., Klavins, M., Nikolova, M., Gogu, R.C., Balogun, A.-L., Bouredji, A., Bonoli, A., 2020. Reviewing the role of ecosystems services in the sustainability of the urban environment: a multicountry analysis. J. Clean. Prod. 262, 121338. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121338.

[13] Graf P.M., Wilson R.P., Qasem L., Hackländer K., Rosell F., 2015. The use of acceleration to code for animal behaviours; a case study in free-ranging Eurasian beavers castor fiber. PLoS One 10 (8), e0136751. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136751.

[14] Granobles Velandia F.A., Trilleras Motha J.M., Romero-Duque L.P., Quijas S., 2024. Understanding the sociocultural valuation of ecosystem services in urban parks: a Colombian study case. Urban Ecosyst. 27 (1), 289-303. doi: 10.1007/s11252-023-01438-5.

[15] Greenwell B.M., 2017. pdp: an R package for constructing partial dependence plots. R J. 9 (1), 421. doi: 10.32614/RJ-2017-016.

[16] Grizzetti B., Liquete C., Pistocchi A., Vigiak O., Zulian G., Bouraoui F., De Roo A., Cardoso A.C., 2019. Relationship between ecological condition and ecosystem services in European rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Sci. Total Environ. 671, 452-465. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.155.

[17] He W., Wang H.M., Liu G., Bai Y., Xue S., Fang Z., Xiao Y., Wang Y.X., Wang W.Q., 2025. Can ecosystem services supply match local residents’ perception: linking macro- ESs and micro-individual perceptions in the Yellow River Basin. J. Environ. Manage. 374, 124116. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124116.

[18] Hutcheson W., Hoagland P., Jin D., 2018. Valuing environmental education as a cultural ecosystem service at Hudson River Park. Ecosyst. Serv. 31, 387-394. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.03.005.

[19] Jaung W., Carrasco L.R., Ahmad Shaikh S.F.E., Tan P.Y., Richards D.R., 2020. Temperature and air pollution reductions by urban green spaces are highly valued in a tropical city-state. Urban For. Urban Green. 55, 126827. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126827.

[20] Jia Q.Q., Jiao L.M., Lian X.H., Wang W.L., 2023. Linking supply-demand balance of ecosystem services to identify ecological security patterns in urban agglomerations. Sust. Cities Soc. 92, 104497. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2023.104497.

[21] Jiang B., Sun C., Mu S., Zhao Z., Chen Y., Lin Y., Qiu L., Gao T., 2022. Differences in airborne particulate matter concentration in urban green spaces with different spatial structures in Xi’an, China. Forests 13 (1), 14. doi: 10.3390/f13010014.

[22] Kang N., 2023. Assessing tourism carrying capacity based on visitors’ experience utility: a case study of Xian-Ren-Tai National Forest Park, China. Forests 14 (9), 1694-1694. doi: 10.3390/f14091694.

[23] Katz-Gerro T., Orenstein D., 2015. Environmental tastes, opinions and behaviors: social sciences in the service of cultural ecosystem service assessment. Ecol. Soc. 20 (3), art28. doi: 10.5751/ES-07545-200328.

[24] Kofel D., Bourgeois I., Paganini R., Pulfer A., Grossiord C., Schmale J., 2024. Quantifying the impact of urban trees on air quality in Geneva, Switzerland. Urban for. Urban Green. 101, 128513. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128513.

[25] Li D.L., Wu S.Y., Liang Z., Li S.C., 2020. The impacts of urbanization and climate change on urban vegetation dynamics in China. Urban For. Urban Green. 54, 126764. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126764.

[26] Li D.L., Wu S.Y., Liu L.B., Liang Z., Li S.C., 2017. Evaluating regional water security through a freshwater ecosystem service flow model: a case study in Beijing-Tianjian- Hebei region, China. Ecol. Indic. 81, 159-170. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.05.034.

[27] Li K.M., Li C.L., Hu Y.M., Xiong Z.P., Wang Y.H., 2023. Quantitative estimation of the PM_2.5 removal capacity and influencing factors of urban green infrastructure. Sci. Total Environ. 867, 161476. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161476.

[28] Li T.T., Chen H.P., Ma C.,2024. China’s urbanisation evolution and metropolitan area expansion, based on the prolonged Artificial nighttime-light dataset (PANDA, 1984- 2020). Int. J. Digit. Earth. 17 (1), 2347448. doi: 10.1080/17538947.2024.2347448.

[29] Liang Z., Wu S.Y., Wang Y.Y., Wei F.L., Huang J., Shen J.S., Li S.C., 2020. The relationship between urban form and heat island intensity along the urban development gradients. Sci. Total Environ. 708, 135011. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135011.

[30] Lin Y., Yang X.Y., Li Y.N., Yao S.B., 2020. The effect of forest on PM_2.5 concentrations: a spatial panel approach. For. Policy Econ. 118, 102261. doi: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102261.

[31] Luo W.B., Su M.M., Luo W.B., Su M.M., 2019. A spatial-temporal analysis of urban parkland expansion in China and practical implications to enhance urban sustainability. Sustainability 11 (1), 138. doi: 10.3390/su11010138.

[32] Ma Y., Yang J., 2025. A review of methods for quantifying urban ecosystem services. Landsc. Urban Plan. 253, 105215. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105215.

[33] Maleknia R., 2024. Psychological determinants of citizens’ willingness to pay for ecosystem services in urban forests. Glob. Ecol. Conserv. 54, e03052. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03052.

[34] Menze B.H., Kelm B.M., Masuch R., Himmelreich U., Bachert P., Petrich W., Hamprecht F.A., 2009. A comparison of random forest and its Gini importance with standard chemometric methods for the feature selection and classification of spectral data. BMC Bioinform. 10 (1), 213. doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-10-213.

[35] National Bureau of Statisticsof China, 2023. Parks and Green Areas in Cities. https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn = E0103 (accessed 10 February, 2026).

[36] Ode Sang Å., Sang N., Hedblom M., Sevelin G., Knez I., Gunnarsson B., 2020. Are path choices of people moving through urban green spaces explained by gender and age? Implications for planning and management. Urban For. Urban Green. 49, 126628. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126628.

[37] Orenstein D.E., Katz-Gerro T., Dick J., 2017. Environmental tastes as predictors of environmental opinions and behaviors. Landsc. Urban Plan. 161, 59-71. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.01.005.

[38] Remme R.P., Frumkin H., Guerry A.D., King A.C., Mandle L., Sarabu C., Bratman G.N., Giles-Corti B., Hamel P., Han B.L., Hicks J.L., James P., Lawler J.J., Lindahl T., Liu H.X., Lu Y., Oosterbroek B., Paudel B., Sallis J.F., Schipperijn J., Sosi č R., de Vries S., Wheeler B.W., Wood S.A., Wu T., Daily G.C., 2021. An ecosystem service perspective on urban nature, physical activity, and health. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118 (22), e2018472118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2018472118.

[39] Rendon P., Steinhoff-Knopp B., Burkhard B., 2022. Linking ecosystem condition and ecosystem services: a methodological approach applied to European agroecosystems. Ecosyst. Serv. 53, 101387. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101387.

[40] Rocha A.D., Vulova S., Förster M., Gioli B., Matthews B., Helfter C., Meier F., Steeneveld G.-J., Barlow J.F., Järvi L., Chrysoulakis N., Nicolini G., Kleinschmit B., 2024. Unprivileged groups are less served by green cooling services in major European urban areas. Nat. Cities 1 (6), 424-435. doi: 10.1038/s44284-024-00077-x.

[41] Santi E., Clarizia M.P., Comite D., Dente L., Guerriero L., Pierdicca N., 2022. Detecting fire disturbances in forests by using GNSS reflectometry and machine learning: a case study in Angola. Remote Sens. Environ. 270, 112878. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2021.112878.

[42] Shanahan D.F., Lin B.B., Gaston K.J., Bush R., Fuller R.A., 2015. What is the role of trees and remnant vegetation in attracting people to urban parks? Landsc. Ecol. 30 (1), 153-165. doi: 10.1007/s10980-014-0113-0.

[43] Song L.L., Wu M.Y., Wu Y.Y., Xu X.Y., Xie C.F., 2023. Research on the evaluation of cultural ecosystem services in Zhengzhou urban parks based on public perceptions. Sustainability 15, 11964. doi: 10.3390/su151511964.

[44] Song Y.M., Chen B., Kwan M.-P., 2020. How does urban expansion impact people’s exposure to green environments? A comparative study of 290 Chinese cities. J. Clean. Prod. 246, 119018. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119018.

[45] Sun R.H., Li F., Chen L.D., 2019. A demand index for recreational ecosystem services associated with urban parks in Beijing, China. J. Environ. Manage. 251, 109612. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109612.

[46] Svetnik V., Liaw A., Tong C., Culberson J.C., Sheridan R.P., Feuston B.P., 2003. Random forest: a classification and regression tool for compound classification and QSAR modeling. J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 43 (6), 1947-1958. doi: 10.1021/ci034160g.

[47] Tao X., Chen M., Zhang W., Bai Y., 2013. Classification and its relationship with the functional analysis of urban parks:taking Beijing as an example. Geogr. Res. 32, 1964-1976. doi: 10.11821/dlyj201310018, (in Chinese).

[48] Tian Y.Q., Wu H.J., Zhang G.S., Wang L.C., Zheng D., Li S., 2020. Perceptions of ecosystem services, disservices and willingness-to-pay for urban green space conservation. J. Environ. Manage. 260, 110140. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110140.

[49] van de Mortel, T.F., 2008. Faking it: social desirability response bias in self-report research. Aust. J. Adv. Nurs. 25, 40-48. doi: 10.3316/informit.210155003844269.

[50] Veerkamp C.J., Schipper A.M., Hedlund K., Lazarova T., Nordin A., Hanson H.I., 2021. A review of studies assessing ecosystem services provided by urban green and blue infrastructure. Ecosyst. Serv. 52, 101367. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101367.

[51] Wang J., Jing R., Lai X., Zhang H., Lyu Y., Knoll M.D., Fang H., 2020. Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Vaccines 8 (3), 482. doi: 10.3390/vaccines8030482.

[52] Wang P., Li N., He Y.T., He Y.J., 2022. Evaluation of cultural ecosystem service functions in national parks from the perspective of benefits of community residents. Land 11, 1566. doi: 10.3390/land11091566.

[53] Washbourne C.-L., Goddard M.A., Le Provost G., Manning D.A.C., Manning P., 2020. Trade-offs and synergies in the ecosystem service demand of urban brownfield stakeholders. Ecosyst. Serv. 42, 101074. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101074.

[54] Wei F., 2017. Greener urbanization? Changing accessibility to parks in China. Landsc. Urban Plan. 157, 542-552. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.09.004.

[55] Wei M.Y., Zhang Z.M., Long T.F., He G.J., Wang G.Z., 2021. Monitoring landsat based burned area as an indicator of Sustainable Development Goals. Earths Future 9 (6), e2020EF001960. doi: 10.1029/2020EF001960.

[56] Wu S.Y., Liu K.D., Zhang W.T., Dou Y.H., Chen Y.Q., Zhang T.P., Li D.L., 2024. An integrated analysis framework of supply, demand, flow, and use to better understand realized ecosystem services. Ecosyst. Serv. 69, 101649. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101649.

[57] Xie Q.J., Yue Y., Sun Q., Chen S., Lee S.-B., Kim S.W., 2019. Assessment of ecosystem service values of urban parks in improving air quality: a case study of Wuhan, China. Sustainability 11, 6519. doi: 10.3390/su11226519.

[58] Xu L.Y., Hang Y., Jin F., 2023. Evaluating the supply-demand relationship for urban green parks in Beijing from an ecosystem service flow perspective. Urban For. Urban Green 85, 127974. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127974.

[59] Zhang Y.X., Fu B., Sun J.Y., da Silva R.F.B., 2025. Quantifying supply and demand of cultural ecosystem services from a dynamic perspective. Land Use Policy 148, 107414. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107414.

[60] Zhao J., Aziz F.A., Ujang N., 2024. Factors influencing the usage, restrictions, accessibility, and preference of urban neighborhood parks - a review of the empirical evidence. Urban For. Urban Green. 100, 128473. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128473.

[61] Zhao T., Pan J., 2022. Ecosystem service trade-offs and spatial non-stationary responses to influencing factors in the Loess hilly-gully region: Lanzhou City, China. Sci. Total Environ. 846, 157422. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157422.

[62] Zheng S.W., Yang S.J., Ma M.H., Dong J., Han B.L., Wang J.Q., 2023. Linking cultural ecosystem service and urban ecological-space planning for a sustainable city: case study of the core areas of Beijing under the context of urban relieving and renewal. Sust. Cities Soc. 89, 104292. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2022.104292.

[63] Zhu J.Y., Lu H.T., Zheng T.C., Rong Y.J., Wang C.X., Zhang W., Yan Y., Tang L.N., 2020. Vitality of urban parks and its influencing factors from the perspective of recreational service supply, demand, and spatial links. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health 17 (5), 1615. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17051615.