Abstract Body

Coastal cities are suffering an accelerated growth that will continue in future decades, putting extraneous pressure on urban ecosystem services. The study of urban areas as social-ecological systems and the development of analytical frameworks enable the understanding of a complex network of relationships between anthropic and natural variables. Nonetheless, an integrated, efficient and appliable framework that will facilitate the implementation of Ecosystem-Based Management principles for urban management is not yet available. This research integrates a series of tools and frameworks like the SES Framework, the DPSIR and remote sensing techniques to identify and determine the state for urban ecosystems services. This methodology allowed the description and identification of urban ecosystem services in Cádiz in Southern Spain. For each city, this research described in detail the characteristics and relationships of the social-ecological system. It also determined the main drivers and pressures over the urban ecosystems services. Additionally, it measured the state's change using remote sensing techniques like the Normalised Vegetation Index for urban vegetation, the Normalised Built-up Index for urban sprawling, Chlorophyll and Total Suspended Matter for water bodies and NO₂ as an indicator of atmospheric pollution. Finally, taking into consideration the gather information, this research proposed a series of responses based on the Ecosystem-Based Management principles. This integrated methodology has proven to be an efficient, relatively simple and useful technique for urban and environmental managers looking for more sustainable and resilient cities.