Accessibility of Water-Related Cultural Ecosystem Services through Public Transport—A Model for Planning Support in the Stockholm Region

Zahra Kalantari, Sara Khoshkar, Helena Falk, Vladimir Cvetkovic and Ulla Mörtberg
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Zahra Kalantari: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
Sara Khoshkar: Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
Helena Falk: Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
Vladimir Cvetkovic: Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
Ulla Mörtberg: Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Planning for sustainable cities involves supporting compact, energy-efficient urban form as well as maintaining attractive and liveable urban landscapes. Attractive cities depend highly on services provided by ecosystems, especially cultural ecosystem services (ES), which give direct benefits to urban citizens. Therefore, access to a diversity of urban functions and publicly available ES by walking and public transport should be considered when planning for sustainable cities. This could be facilitated by user-friendly planning support models. The aim of this study was to develop a GIS-based model for assessing accessibility to ES, more specifically, water-related cultural ecosystem services (WCES), via walking and public transport, with input from stakeholders. The model was applied to the Stockholm region in Sweden. Travel times and census data were used to derive measures and maps of accessibility to prioritised WCES in the region, today and in urbanisation scenarios for 2050. The results showed how access to WCES varied spatially within the region. The number of potential visitors to different WCES sites now and in the future urbanisation scenarios was estimated, and areas in need for future development of the public transport system as well as WCES were identified. The GIS-based accessibility model has potential to be used as planning support in urban planning.

Keywords: network analysis; travel time model; walkable cities; public access; liveable urban landscapes; sustainable cities; decision support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:3:p:346-:d:91557

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