Hidden Cultural Ecosystem Services in Private Green Spaces: A Case of UNESCO World Heritage Site

Urban green spaces serve as a cultural ecosystem service that contributes to human well-being and quality of life, as well as mitigating stress and anxiety. However, the climatic and cultural conditions in the Middle East, particularly in desert cities, present varied opportunities for the development of green spaces on a smaller scale and in private or semi-private settings. Hence, the aim of this paper is to investigate how private urban green spaces contribute to the production of cultural ecosystem services in Yazd, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Iran. Additionally, it seeks to identify the primary activities and interactions that arise from these cultural ecosystem services within the context of private urban green spaces. To achieve these objectives, we employed qualitative methods, including the analysis of pre-existing data, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with experts and professionals. The findings indicate that these private green spaces are integral components of larger integrated socio-ecological systems within the courtyards. Furthermore, the specific architectural design of these courtyards, in conjunction with the green spaces, promotes social cohesion and interaction, provides recreational benefits, and contributes to the development of place identities. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this cultural ecosystem service can inform sustainability strategies aimed at addressing climate change challenges.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  International Journal of Conservation Science

• Publication date

  2025-12-15

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.36868/ijcs.2025.04.23
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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