Landscape pattern and ecosystem service value changes: Implications for environmental sustainability planning for the rapidly urbanizing summer capital of the Philippines

•Baguio is a hill station city and the summer capital of the Philippines.•Rapid urbanization has contributed to dramatic changes in Baguio's natural landscape.•Baguio's ecosystem service value has decreased substantially since the late 1980s.•Baguio must balance socio-economic development and environmental conservation.•Future planning must draw on concepts of landscape conservation and ecosystem services.

This study analyzes the dynamics of the socio-ecological system of Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, in order to derive meaningful information for use in planning its sustainable development. Remote sensing data and geographic information systems techniques, in conjunction with spatial metrics and socio-economic information, were used to facilitate the analysis. The spatial and socio-economic components of Baguio's rapid urbanization over the past 21 years (1988–2009) were the major factors that contributed to dramatic changes in the setting's natural landscape, as indicated by an almost threefold increase in its built-up area, at the expense of other land-use/land-cover classes. Its rapid growth has seen the city's population exceed its designed ceiling of 25,000 people by a factor of at least twelve. Such landscape changes and population growth have resulted in a substantial decrease in the overall annual ecosystem service value (ESV) of Baguio of approximately 60%. The human-to-ESV ratio in the city has also decreased over this same period, from 1:31 (US$/year) in 1988 to just 1:7 in 2009. Although Baguio has enjoyed economic, political and social prominence for more than a century, its rapid population growth and urban expansion are now exerting pressure on its natural landscape, jeopardizing the environmental sustainability of this highly valued hill station. This study offers important insights to all, but especially those in fast-urbanizing regions, as Baguio's case offers learning experience valuable for achieving more successful landscape and urban planning.