Cultural ecosystem services and disservices in an urban park in Bogota, Colombia

Abstract

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are important for contributing to the physical and mental health of humans, but they have been little studied in low-income populations. It is intended to understand the meaning of the “Entrenubes” Ecological Park (PEN) for visitors, through: 1) identifying the sociodemographic variables associated with the different ecosystem services and disservices; 2) Define how the relative importance of interactions with these variables differs between ES. A questionnaire was applied to 281 visitors. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), chi-squared test and ordinal logistic regression were performed between ES and visitor profile. 7 CES and 3 regulatory ones were identified. No significant associations were found between ES preferences, disservices and sociodemographic characteristics of the visitors. Recreation presented the highest average perception. Drug abuse was the predominant disservice. These results provide criteria for decision-making in urban green infrastructure planning.