Assessing and mapping cultural ecosystem services supply–demand matching across hierarchical cities in China using multi-source data

This study integrates multi-source data to propose a framework for assessing and mapping cultural ecosystem services (CES) supply–demand matching in cities across China. The results showed that high CES supply was observed in Alpha-level cities and in a few Beta- and Sufficiency-level cities. CES supply and demand exhibited notable spatial heterogeneity, which was significantly influenced by GDP and urbanization. Significant differences in CES supply and demand were found among Alpha-level cities and Beta-, Gamma- and Sufficiency-level cities. Moreover, notable spatial disparities in CES supply and demand were observed between cities in eastern and central South China and those in northern, north, northwest and southwest China. 78.57% of the cities exhibited a surplus in CES supply, which was primarily distributed across the central and eastern coastal regions of China. Cities were subsequently classified into four types, with management strategies proposed for each. This study provides a basis for national-scale CES planning.