Spatial and Temporal Changes in Supply and Demand for Ecosystem Services in Response to Urbanization: A Case Study in Vilnius, Lithuania

Giedrius Dabašinskas and Gintarė Sujetovienė ()
Additional contact information
Giedrius Dabašinskas: Department of Environmental Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Universiteto 10, Akademija, 53361 Kaunas, Lithuania
Gintarė Sujetovienė: Department of Environmental Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Universiteto 10, Akademija, 53361 Kaunas, Lithuania

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Intensification of urbanization is changing the supply capacities and demand levels of ecosystem services (ESs), and their mismatch has become a major problem for the sustainable development of urban areas. In this study, spatiotemporal changes of three ecosystem services (food provision, C sequestration, recreation) were quantified and imbalances between their supply and demand were identified in Vilnius County (Lithuania) in 2000–2020. The most significant land use transformation was the increase in forest and urbanized land at the expense of agricultural land. The lowest supply and the highest demand for food, carbon sequestration, and outdoor recreation were in the urban center. The urban land ratio had a negative impact on the provision of ecosystems’ services during the study period, most notably affecting food supply. Urbanization indicators—population density and urban land area—showed a negative relationship with the provision of ecosystem services. The balance of supply and demand changed during the 2000–2020 period—the growth of suburbs led to the distance of the supply areas from the city, and the area of the intense demand increased. The results of the study highlight the importance of spatial scale in determining the impact of urbanization on ecosystem functions.

Keywords: ecosystem services; supply; demand; urbanization; spatiotemporal changes; land cover (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/454/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/454/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:454-:d:1369118

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().