Ecosystem services in spatial planning

Abstract

Although the ecosystem services concept is very popular in recent years, its use in spatial planning is limited. The aim of this paper is to describe current problems of ecosystem services application in the spatial planning process. There are two aspects of research; the first is associated with the definitions and classifications of ecosystem services while the second is related to the use of the concept in supporting the decision-making processes in spatial planning. The first part of the paper discusses the definition and existing classifications system of ecosystem services and its usefulness for spatial planning. The second part is of more legal nature and is related to the spatial planning procedure. Proposals how to fit the ecosystem services concept into the planning process are presented in this part.