Ecosystem services are the social and ecological benefits that are provided to humans by the natural environment. Where should cities strategically locate green infrastructure (GI) to address the needs of areas with specific ecosystem service provision deficits? Where should GI be located so that it addresses multiple ecosystem service provision deficits at once?
City-wide spatial modeling of ecosystem service needs using the GIS-based ‘Green Infrastructure Spatial Planning’ (GISP) tool can help identify hotspot areas ripe for investment based on different service provision goals, including the goal of providing multiple ecosystem services at once.

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This brief is adapted from the following peer-reviewed journal article: Meerow, S. & J.P. Newell. (2017). “Spatial planning for multifunctional green infrastructure: Growing resilience in Detroit.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 159 (2017) 62–75. Access the full article here.