Mapping the spatial pattern of ecosystem services in the Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area, Indonesia: Could peri-urban areas support the urban core?

The Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area (JMA), Indonesia’s largest urban agglomeration, faces severe challenges due to rapid population growth and environmental degradation. Expanding urban areas has led to a reduction in green spaces, damaging ecosystem services, and exacerbating urban heat island effect, soil erosion, and flood risk. Therefore, this study identified key ecosystem service indicators, including Urban Heat Mitigation (UHM), Sediment Retention (SR), and Flood Risk Mitigation (FRM), and defined the spatial pattern of ecosystem services and its management zones in the JMA in 2024. Spatial data and ecosystem service indicators were analyzed using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) and spatial clustering analysis tool (e.g., Rustiadi’s Quantitative Zoning Method (RQZM) II), and the results served as the basis for formulating strategic recommendations. This study highlighted significant regional disparities. Jakarta, Tangerang Regency, Bekasi Regency, Depok City, Tangerang City, South Tangerang City, and Bekasi City experienced the increase of urban heat effect and flood risk due to dense infrastructure and limited green spaces. Conversely, southern peri-urban areas of Bogor Regency demonstrated higher ecological capacities, particularly in water infiltration and temperature regulation, but remained vulnerable to soil erosion due to urban expansion. The results underscored the critical imbalance between growing urban demands and the diminishing capacity of peri-urban areas to supply ecosystem services, which is driven by the transformation of green spaces into built-up areas. To address these challenges, this study proposed the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) by emphasizing forested area conservation in the southern region of the JMA, natural landscape restoration and rehabilitation in the central region, and a hybrid of natural and artificial ecosystem creation in the northern region.