Perception of cultural ecosystem services among park users in Singapore

Abstract

Urbanisation is driving land-cover change globally, with many ecosystems being degraded and vast areas of natural environments being converted to cityscapes. However, the pockets of nature that have been conserved in cities, along with new types of managed vegetation that have been introduced in these places, provide multiple benefits – or ecosystem services – to residents. This study examines a sub-group of non-material benefits – cultural ecosystem services (CES) – and the associated perceptions among visitors of 10 different parks and nature reserves in Singapore. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions: (i) What are the CES provided by Singapore’s parks as perceived by the public? (ii) What is the relative importance of each CES to the public? (iii) What are the factors that influence the perception of CES? and (iv) What is the bequest value of parks in Singapore? To this end, a face-to-face close-ended survey was conducted in-situ at the 10 study sites. The responses (n = 407) were examined using a mix of statistical methods, primarily ANOVA and regression analysis. The results show that some CES were important across all the sites, but there was also a high degree of heterogeneity for other CES, with hotspots emerging in some sites. The perception of CES was similarly heterogeneous and was closely linked to the sociodemographic characteristics, environmental behaviour and park usage habits of the respondents. In terms of bequest value, a vast majority of the respondents were willing to pay to conserve the parks for future generations. These results improve the understanding of CES in Singapore by underscoring the unique and non-substitutable values of the sites that were studied, and examining the factors that influence these values. The ecosystem services approach elucidates the value of urban green spaces in Singapore and can inform decisions pertaining to Singapore’s future land-use, particularly as the country is poised to construct new infrastructure across the island and has plans to expand the area of green spaces.