Urban forests generate a wide range of ecological and social benefits, yet they may also impose disservices when poorly designed, improperly located, or insufficiently maintained. Although a substantial body of literature has examined the economic value of urban forest services, relatively limited attention has been given to quantifying their disservices and understanding how residents jointly evaluate both aspects. Addressing this gap, this study investigates residents' preferences for key services and disservices of urban forests in the 29 districts of Taichung City, Taiwan, using the best-worst scaling approach. A structured survey was administered to capture trade-offs among multiple forest attributes, including tree shade, tree health, biodiversity-related components, property value effects, and maintenance-related disservices. The results show that high tree shade is the most preferred attribute, followed by healthy tree conditions and property value enhancement. Residents were willing to pay NT118. 79 per person per month for high shade coverage and NT81. 83 per month for a property value increase of NT61, 315. In contrast, poor tree conditions emerged as the most significant disservice, for which residents required compensation of NT66. 49 per person per month. These findings underscore the importance of designing urban forests that provide substantial shading benefits while minimizing risks and maintenance burdens associated with deteriorating tree conditions. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of evaluating urban forests through a balanced lens that considers both services and disservices. Incorporating such preference-based indicators can help cities better prioritize management efforts and support evidence-based decision-making for sustainable urban forestry planning. • Assess Taichung residents' preferences for urban forest services and disservices. • Preferred attributes and attribute levels are assessed by best-worst choice method. • Preference rank: high tree shade > good tree condition > increasing property value. • Willing-to-pay rank: tree shade (NT118. 79) > increasing property value (NT81. 83). • Each resident required monthly compensation of NT66. 49 for poor tree conditions.
Liu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.