Moving Beyond the Surface Area - Comparing Green Space and Green Volume as Indicators for Regulating Ecosystem Services and Income Disparities in Munich

Kurzfassung

Amid urbanization and climate change, urban green infrastructure plays an important role in mitigating climate impacts in cities. In addition, the equal distribution of these ecosystem services has become an increasingly important concern. While current methods primarily measure the distribution of green space in two dimensions, recent studies suggest that three-dimensional mapping provides a more accurate representation of underlying processes. This thesis analyzed the extent to which green volume is better suited to predicting ecosystem services compared to green area. Further, it examined how economic disparities influence the provision of ecosystem services. Using Munich, southern Germany, as a case study, Kendall’s tau correlation, bivariate choropleth maps, and linear regression were applied to assess the explanatory power of green area and green volume for the regulating ecosystem services CO2 storage, interception, cooling by transpiration, and by shading. Gini coefficients were calculated to quantify inequality in ecosystem service provision across four household income groups. The results show that green volume clearly exceeds green area as a predictor of CO2 storage and both cooling mechanisms, while interception shows less dependence on structural green infrastructure metrics, resulting in comparatively weaker correlations for both predictors. The distribution of ecosystem services across income groups was fairly even. Consequently, no systematic undersupply among poor-income households could be demonstrated. The findings provide empirical evidence that urban planners in Munich should prioritize green volume over green area as a planning and monitoring metric, thereby offering a methodologically reproducible approach for comparable analysis in other cities.