Provision of entertainment cultural ecosystem services in the cross-boundary landscape

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), among other types of Ecosystem Services (ES), are easy recognizable and directly appreciated by people (La Rosa, Spyra, & Inostroza, 2015). Thus accessibility to CES are important reason for people to visit certain part of the landscape (Gomes, 2013). The accessibility to CES in the context of the cross-boundary landscape rises in the importance (Spyra, 2014a). Encouraging inhabitants to visit the “other side” of the landscape, located behind the national border is a stepping stone in the process of “constructing” the cross-boundary region, by getting used to appreciate the cross-boundary landscape on the both sides of the border and thus increasing cohesiveness of this landscape (Spyra, 2014b). However CES are very often not stated officially in national planning documents, which together with the often absence of cross-boundary planning documents, makes difficult to fully explore their capacity.
In our study we aim to identify missing links across the national border line, which can serve as CES connecting areas and thus increase cohesiveness of the cross-boundary landscape.
The case study of Upper Silesia Polish – Czech cross – border region was analyzed. The study was performed in regional scale of 10km buffer to the border line between Poland and Czech Republic.
We assumed that in the regional scale the urban fabric patches indicate the entertainment CES benefiting areas. The accessibility to the Natura 2000 areas and designated patches from urban fabric patches was used as a proxy indicator of the provision of entertainment CES (according to CICES V4.3 classification). The good accessibility indicates good entertainment CES provision, while poor accessibility low entertainment CES provision. The analyze was performed using CORINE land cover data (level 2). It was assumed that pedestrian and bicycle good accessibility is within the euqulidian distance of max. 5 km. Centroids of urban fabric patches were calculated and 5 km buffers to the centroids were designated. Areas of low entertainment CES provision, ensured by the national side of the landscape, but good entertainment CES provision, ensured by the landscape located on the other side of the border, were delineated and named as “cross-boundary attention territories” (CAT). Each CAT was analyzed according to the availability of touristic pedestrian and bicycle paths, which are links across the border line and thus increases the provision of entertainment CES.
The methodology applied for the cross-boundary landscape in Upper Silesia can be usable for other cross-boundary landscapes. The results were analyzed in the cross-boundary context, meaning that the particular attention was given to the entertainment CES accessibility across the border line. Our findings can inform spatial planning and governance in the analyzed cross-boundary landscape by proving the need of increasing cross-boundary links between Poland and Czech Republic, implemented with touristic routes and bicycle paths. Such links would serve as entertainment CES connecting areas in the cross-boundary landscape.