Enhancing land planning: A quantitative review of relationships between cultural ecosystem services and peri-urban areas

Most of the population in the future will live in urban areas, and the demand for cultural ecosystem services is expected to grow. Peri-urban ecosystems are highly pressured, often leading to conflicting management situations that vary with the socioeconomic scenario. Understanding what is known about the relationships between cultural services and peri-urban areas can enhance natural resource management. A quantitative review of recent literature shows the global trends and patterns based on socio-cultural valuation approaches. From this analysis, we have revealed that cultural services in peri-urban areas have become more significant, and a dominant global pattern is linking peripherical forest ecosystems with outdoor recreation and aesthetic values. Additionally, agricultural areas were associated with environmental education in the global North. At the same time, in the South, low perception of cultural services was clustered with informal settlements near or around a peri-urban landscape. Based on this quantitative review, we provide several knowledge gaps that could guide six future research directions. •Qualitative methods are dominant worldwide, while in the North also, ordinal scale or scores.•Locals and experts or researchers are the social agents most often involved.•Recreational and aesthetic values are the cultural services most often assessed.•Knowledge systems, sense of place, and bequest value are services occasionally considered.•In the South, peri-urban ecosystems are usually affected by informal settlements.