The Value of Ecosystem Traffic Noise Reduction Service Provided by Urban Green Belts: A Case Study of Shenzhen

Li Liu, Baolong Han (), Deming Tan, Dawei Wu and Chengji Shu
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Li Liu: Solux College of Architecture and Design, University of South China, Hengyang 421009, China
Baolong Han: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Deming Tan: School of Economics, Management and Law, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
Dawei Wu: Solux College of Architecture and Design, University of South China, Hengyang 421009, China
Chengji Shu: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: With increasing urbanization in China, the traffic-induced urban environmental noise pollution problem is becoming more and more serious, and it has become a common urban malady that cannot be ignored. Traffic green belts are an important part of the urban ecosystem and play a role in traffic noise reduction, and simultaneously provide ecosystem services, such as creating a natural landscape and retaining dust. Therefore, they are a category of Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) that have multiple ecosystem service provisions. The relationship between NbSs and urban ecosystem services is one of the current research hot spots. However, regarding the assessment of ecosystem services on the urban scale, the role of vegetation in reducing noise pollution as a service has rarely been studied. Taking Shenzhen City as an example, through monitoring 217 sample plots in the city, this paper analyzes the relationship between vegetation coverage and the ability of green belts to reduce noise by using the IUEMS platform combined with the high-resolution spatial distribution data of green spaces. Then, we evaluated the product amount and the value of the roadside green belts in Shenzhen when acting as a noise reduction service. The work of this study, to a certain extent, improves the problems related to the inadequate consideration of vegetation characteristics in current urban-scale noise assessment models. The results show the following: (i) In the respective analysis buffer zones of the Grade I to Grade IV roads in Shenzhen, on average, for every 1% increase in the vegetation coverage of green belts, noise can be reduced by 0.4 dB, 1.0 dB, 0.2 dB, and 0.6 dB, respectively. (ii) The product value of the noise reduction service provided by roadside green belts is CNY 1.16 billion in Shenzhen. (iii) The road traffic noise greatly exceeds the standard in Shenzhen, but traffic noise can be decreased by increasing the vegetation coverage of green belts. This is not only beneficial to the scientific understanding of the ecological service value of green spaces by evaluating the noise reduction service of traffic green belts, as well as its influencing factors, but is also beneficial to making improvements in construction and management ideas for urban green spaces.

Keywords: roadside green belts; noise reduction; urban ecosystem services; Shenzhen; IUEMS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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