Analysis of Ecosystem Service Valuation in the Process of Rapid Urban Growth: The Case of Tehran Metropolis

Document Type : Article extracted From phd dissertation

Authors

1 tehran uni

2 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Geography, University of Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2026.399927.2086

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the trends of Tehran's physical growth and evaluate its effects on ecosystem service functions using a descriptive-analytical approach. The data used include Landsat satellite imagery from the years 1971, 1986, 2006, and 2024, captured by MSS, TM, and OLI sensors. After performing radiometric and atmospheric corrections, the images were classified in ENVI software. The supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) algorithm was applied to distinguish six major land-use classes. For validation, reference control points were extracted from Google Earth, and the error matrix and Kappa coefficient were calculated, yielding values above 0.84. Subsequently, the value of ecosystem services at each time point was estimated using the Costanza valuation model based on global coefficients (USD per hectare per year). The results revealed that the physical area of the city expanded from 14,559 hectares in 1971 to over 68,645 hectares in 2024. This urban growth has resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural lands, rangelands, and orchards, leading to an overall reduction of approximately 266 million USD in the net value of ecosystem services. The most significant losses were observed in supporting, regulating, and provisioning services, such as soil conservation, biodiversity, food production, and climate regulation. In contrast, the limited increase in urban green infrastructure has been insufficient to compensate for the loss of natural ecological functions. These findings indicate that Tehran is on an unsustainable trajectory due to the degradation of natural capital and ecological functions, underscoring the urgent need to revise land-use policies and implement

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