Integrating the concept of ecosystem services in urban planning: Classification and analysis of its challenges and obstacles using the meta-study method

Ecosystem services include a wide range of direct or indirect services related to human well-being, which are obtained through biophysical processes, but their production, distribution and reproduction are influenced by the management of urban social and ecological systems. The whole effort of this research is to identify and categorize the integration obstacles of ecosystem services in urban planning. The method of this article is a meta-study, which examines the structure and content of selected studies in four analytical sections: meta-data, meta-method, meta-theory and meta- synthesis. The statistical population of this study includes 47 scientific-research articles in the period of 2010-2022. In the findings section, obstacles were classified into 31 categories, 9 combined categories and 3 themes (Structural, economic and epistemic). Lack of standard methods, weak participation of stakeholders, lack of awareness and ecological knowledge, thematic gap, lack of data and lack of budget and financial resources are the most important obstacles and challenges of this integration.