Seasonal Dynamics and Trade-Offs/Synergies of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Urban Parks: A Case Study of Chengdu, China

Urban parks provide diverse cultural ecosystem services (CESs), which are crucial for residents’ mental well-being. However, few studies have investigated how urban parks’ CESs and their interactions vary across seasons. In this study, we used the downtown area of Chengdu, China, as a case study, and evaluated urban parks’ CESs based on social media comments and further explored their seasonal dynamics. We then analysed the seasonal trade-offs/synergies of these CESs for service pairs using Pearson correlation and for multiple services using bundle identification. The results show the following: (1) Most CESs except for social interaction had the highest intensities in autumn, and recreational activities and education were the CESs with the highest and lowest intensities among the four seasons, respectively. Education service showed the greatest seasonal variation, while recreational activities and physical and mental recovery were stable among different seasons. (2) Some CES pairs exhibited trade-offs/synergies, but those relationships changed over seasons. Specifically, there were trade-off/synergy relationships between seven CES pairs in spring, three CES pairs in summer and autumn, and four CES pairs in winter. (3) In terms of the trade-offs/synergies among multiple CESs, we identified three types of CES bundles, i.e., physical and mental recovery- and aesthetics-dominated, inspiration- and education-dominated, and social interaction- and recreation-dominated bundles. More than 50% of the urban parks exhibited the physical and mental recovery- and aesthetics-dominated bundle in four seasons, and the seasonal change between this bundle and the social interaction and recreation-dominant bundle was the most obvious among all the bundle changes. This study revealed urban parks’ CES seasonal dynamics and identified the seasonal variations in CES trade-offs/synergies, providing a reference for CES management in urban parks.