• Assessment of urban ecosystem services (ES) and their impact on urban quality of life (UQoL) in Khulna City, Bangladesh, a rapidly urbanizing region. • Unplanned residential areas (URA) were found to have the highest levels of provisioning and regulating services, while cultural services (especially social relationships) were prioritized across all urban zones. • Slum areas (SRA) exhibited a significant deficit in economic health, despite receiving other ecosystem benefits, revealing critical challenges in livelihood and financial well-being. • Mismatch between the supply of ecosystem services and perceived UQoL demand was identified, with low agreement among respondents about the benefits provided by ecosystems (Kendall’s W = 0.011). • The study calls for targeted interventions, including green–blue infrastructure, community awareness programs, and equitable urban planning to address environmental justice in rapidly urbanizing cities. Rapid urbanization in developing cities like Khulna, Bangladesh, is putting immense pressure on the environment, making it harder to improve the quality of life (UQoL) for residents. Despite the city’s valuable natural resources, many residents experience low well-being, which highlights the need to better understand the link between ecosystem services (ES) and UQoL. This study categorized Khulna into 6 urban areas and collected data through a combination of household surveys and focus group discussions (FGDs). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to rank the indicators of ES supply and UQoL demand, while Kendall’s coefficient of concordance measured agreement, and gap analysis quantified discrepancies between available and expected UQoL. The findings show that unplanned residential areas (URA) benefit most from provisioning and regulating services, while cultural services such as, social relationships were valued (Cw − 45–73%) across all areas. However, residents in slum areas still face significant challenges, particularly in economic well-being, despite access to other benefits. In the study UQoL rankings revealed low agreement (Kendall’s W = 0.011, χ2 = 0.2), signifying that residents are more attuned to deficiencies than to the benefits they receive. ES such as provisioning, regulating, and cultural services significantly influence various dimensions of UQoL. This study exposes the disconnect between ES supply and perceived UQoL demand, demonstrating how a lack of awareness and context-specific planning undermines the potential of urban ecosystems to improve well-being. The study recommends implementing targeted green–blue infrastructure and community awareness programs to bridge this gap and enhance the quality of life in Khulna City and other rapidly urbanizing cities.
Rafi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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