What Do Urban Ecosystems Do for the People in the City

This chapter looks at ecosystems and the services they provide for the well-being of people in cities, so-called ecosystem services, but also at the biophysical processes, structures and functions that contribute significantly to the creation of ecosystem services and their maintenance. For this purpose, selected methods for measuring, monitoring, statistics, modelling and evaluating these structures, processes and functions are presented for these individual components—climate, water, vegetation, and soil. In addition, basic methods for the assessment and valorization of ecosystem services are presented. Using information boxes, case study and excursus, current approaches to the analysis and investigation of components of urban ecosystems and urban ecosystem services will be illustrated.