Introduction

The current human society faces a difficult challenge; satisfying the needs of a growing urban population while maintaining environmental integrity. Such challenge is not trivial considering that urbanization is a dominant demographic trend that persuades more than half of the global population to reside in urban areas (Pickett et al. 2001; United Nations 2019). A major consequence of urbanization is the intensification of the risk for water scarcity –where water demand exceeds water availability-, considering that 40% of the global population living in urban areas are suffering from water stress (Fitzhugh and Richter 2004; United Nations 2019). Without curbing the current urban demand for water the risk for water scarcity will reach half of the global urban population by 2050, including 234 large cities, and 10 to 20 megacities (Krueger et al. 2019; He et al. 2021). Likewise, urbanization is a risk for food insecurity reducing the availability of fertile soil for agriculture, as cities are historically settled in high-quality fertile soil which is sealed, depleted, and polluted to build infrastructure (FAO and ITPS 2015; Seto and Ramankutty 2016). Nearly 2% of the best agricultural land –fertile soil- will be lost as cities grow faster particularly in Africa, Latin America, and Asia (Bren d’Amour et al. 2017).

Urbanization has also resulted in a considerably rapid increase in the size of cities; 24 cities from developing countries were added to the current list of 31 megacities with more than ten million inhabitants in the last decade (United Nations 2019). Likewise, ten new megacities will emerge from these countries in the coming decade, and more than two billion people will live in middle-size cities with less than one million inhabitants (United Nations 2019). Megacities and middle size cities are often part of densely populated clusters of cities -urban agglomerations- organized around a prominent central city and glued through strong socioeconomic forces (e.g., concentration of production, consumption, labor, and trade) (Bertinelli and Black 2004; Fang and Yu 2017). Yet, urban agglomerations are recognized as organized cooperative and competitive entities that aim to promote social cohesion and economic development (World Bank Group 2009, 2020; Fang and Yu 2017). Such socio-economic focus envisages the conception of an urban society as uncoupled from ecosystems. Decoupling cities from ecosystems, however, is inconsistent with cities’ appropriation of ecosystems and ecosystem services beyond their boundaries (Folke et al. 1997; Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013). Water and food are two key ecosystem services demanded by urban inhabitants and supplied by ecosystems appropriated by cities, sometimes, beyond their boundaries. Water supply depends on the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to mobilize water by organizing critical hydrogeological functions (e.g., infiltration and transpiration) (Brauman et al. 2007). Food supply depends on the supply of fertile soil, and the supply of fertile soil depends on the capacity of soil ecosystems to support biomass production through the interaction of soil components (e.g., minerals), properties (e.g., texture), and processes (e.g., denitrification) (Dominati et al. 2010). An unsustainable pressure in the supply of water and fertile soil is rapidly increasing in densely populated urban agglomerations and rapidly growing middle-size cities where the demand for water to quench a thirsty population and for fertile soil to expand their infrastructure is almost exponential.

The analysis of the supply and demand of ecosystem services can shed light on potential mismatches, surpluses, deficits, and unsustainable uses of ecosystems and ecosystem services in urban areas (Baró et al. 2017). Such analysis is essential to guide decision making and urban land use planning (Maes et al. 2012; Burkhard and Maes 2017). However, the adaptation of ecosystem services supply and demand analysis to political and institutional contexts can be challenging considering the complexity of the hierarchical planning models used in various countries (Brunet et al. 2018; Rozas-Vásquez et al. 2018). For example, in Colombia a strong centralized top-down planning model moving from the national to the municipal level bounds public institutions to the spatial extent of their administrative boundaries. Although the use of spatial explicit methods for the analysis of the supply and demand of ecosystem services is increasing, their use in urban political and institutional contexts has been poorly studied (Burkhard et al. 2012; Hou et al. 2015; Diez-Pisonero et al. 2020). There is a need to know how spatially explicit analysis of potential mismatches, surpluses and deficits in the supply and demand of ecosystem services can be used to inform urban policy making and land use planning. Ignoring the use of environmental information to guide urban decision making and urban land use planning, will be a socio-economic construct decoupled from ecosystems (Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013).

This study aimed to explore how the analysis of potential mismatches, surpluses, and deficits in the supply and demand of water and fertile soil can be spatially assessed for urban areas, and how such information can be used to inform land-use decision making. This study focused on Bogota, a consolidated urban agglomeration with more than 11 million inhabitants, and Villavicencio, a rapidly growing middle size city with less than a million inhabitants (ONU-HABITAT. et al. 2015).

Methods

Case study

The urban agglomerationof Bogotá

The urban agglomeration of Bogotá (referred from now as Bogotá) is a competitive cooperative entity aiming to promote social and economic development (DNP, UN-Habitat 2014). The spatial limits of Bogotá encompass 23 municipalities: Bogotá, Sutatausa, Tausa, Nemocón, Cogua, Zipaquirá, Sesquilé, Tocancipá, Tabio, Cajicá, Sopo, Guatavita, Chía, Cota, Facatativá, Gachancipá, La Calera, Funza, Madrid, Mosquera, Bojacá, Soacha, and Sibaté (Samad et al. 2012); (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Map showing differences in altitude for the study area (digital elevation model from black to white), urban areas (in black), and the administrative limits of Villavicencio, and 23 municipalities included in the urban agglomeration of Bogotá (colored ramp)

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The city of Bogota is in the Andes Mountain range at 2,600 m of altitude (Fig. 1), with an average temperature of 14 °C. The administrative boundaries of the urban agglomeration of Bogota include high altitude areas in the Andes (above 4,000 m), surrounded by strategic ecosystems such as paramos (e.g., Sumapaz, Chingaza, y Guerrero), cloud forests, rivers, lakes, swamps, and wetlands, among others. These ecosystems are protected in national parks such as Sumapaz and Chingaza, and reserves such as Cerros orientales, La Conejera, Torca, Entre nubes, Tibanica and La Vaca (Cortés 2017). In terms of competitivity (infrastructure and connectivity), productivity (economic growth), complementarity (rurality and bidirectional cargo transportation), social inclusion and equity, Bogotá was the most important urban agglomeration at the national level, compared to other urban agglomerations such as Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla (ONU-HABITAT. et al. 2015).

Villavicencio

Villavicencio is a middle size city in the east face of the Andes at 340 m of altitude (Fig. 1), with an average temperature of 26 °C. The administrative boundaries of the municipality include high altitude areas in the Andes (above 3,700 m) and flat lands in the east (Fig. 1). Villavicencio is surrounded by strategic ecosystems such as paramos, mountain cloud forests, lowland forests, wetlands, rivers, grasslands and shrublands, among others (Caicedo et al. 2018). Natural reserves in Villavicencio are Quebrada Honda, Cuenca alta caño Vanguadia, humedal calatrava, Coroncoro el charco, kirpas-pinilla-la cuerera (Garay Ramirez et al. 2019). The population size in Villavicencio increased 40% between 2005 and 2018 and this population growth rate was the highest compared to other Colombian cities (DANE 2018). In terms of competitivity, quality of life, and income distribution, Villavicencio was below the national mean, however, the economic growth of Villavicencio was only surpassed by Bogotá (ONU-HABITAT. et al. 2015).

Mapping ecosystem services supply and demand

Water supply, demand, and risk for water scarcity

To map water supply we used two spatial explicit units; (i) river basin, and (ii) natural reserves. A river basin is a hydrographical zoning unit used for territorial planning at the national and subnational level where hydro-ecological information such as water runoff, elevation, slope, and land cover are used to define its limits (IDEAM 2013). To map river basins, we obtained spatially explicit information from the Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) zoning units database in Colombia (IDEAM 2013). Natural reserves are administrative units targeting natural resource conservation where ecological information such as species distribution, biodiversity, endangered species, and strategic ecosystems, are used to define its boundaries. To map natural reserves, we obtained spatially explicit information from the Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (SINAP) in Colombia. Note that natural reserves protect part of the head river streams and high mountain ecosystems such as paramos and cloud forests that support the regulation of water supply. We combined spatially explicit information of river basins and natural reserves using QGIS 3.8.0 spatial tools to generate two water supply maps, one map overlapping the administrative limits of Bogotá, and the other overlapping the administrative limits of Villavicencio. To quantify the annual average water supply we used the annual average water runoff per river basin, obtained from IDEAM national database (IDEAM 2018) (see Annex 1 for more details on evapotranspiration (Budyko, M. I. &, Zubenok 1974; Hargreaves 1994), and on water runoff (Zhang et al. 2008)). To quantify urban water supply we obtained information from the municipal aqueduct companies for both cities (Acueducto 2006, 2021; Villavicencio 2020).

To map water demand, we used two spatial units, (i) municipality, and (ii) small catchments. A municipality is an administrative unit where political and administrative authority is confined, and where political, social, administrative, and economic information is used to define its area. For Bogotá, the administrative limits of the 23 municipalities were combined to generate one urban agglomeration based on labor commutations (Samad et al. 2012). A small catchment is a hydrographical zoning unit used for territorial planning at the municipal level, and where water extraction through the development of water systems occurs. We combined these two units using QGIS 3.8.0 spatial tools to generate one water demand map for each city. To quantify water demand, we multiplied the daily estimated amount of water needed for domestic consumption by the number of inhabitants per city. Whereas 11 million inhabitants in Bogota daily required 75 L of water per capita, 530 thousand inhabitants in Villavicencio daily required 110 L per capita (daily domestic water requirements are higher for Villavicencio than Bogotá because this city has a high atmospheric temperature and humidity (IDEAM 2014)).

To assess a potential risk for water scarcity we used five indicators: very-high, high, moderated, low, and very-low risk. A very-high risk implied that more than 80% of the water supply was on demand, between 60% and 80% indicated a high risk, between 40% and 60% a moderated risk, between 20% and 40% a low risk, and below 20% a very-low risk for water scarcity.

Fertile soil supply, demand, and risk for food insecurity

We mapped fertile soil supply to grow potatoes, and fertile soil supply to grow rice. These two crops were selected because they are priority crops − 75% of the global population depends on the provision of potatoes, cassava, sugar cane, beans, oat, sorghum, coconut, and plantain, and 50% on the provision of rice, maize, and wheat-, essential to ensure food security in Colombia (Rural et al. 2012). To map fertile soil supply to grow potatoes, and fertile soil supply to grow rice we used QGIS 3.8.0 spatial tools, and maps addressing land use vocation, soil, and the administrative limits of Bogota and Villavicencio. A land use vocation, a soil map, and a map with municipal administrative limits were obtained from the Instituto Geográfico Agustin Codazzi (IGAC) database. A land use vocation map indicated the most suitable use of land using broad classes such as agriculture, forests, natural resource conservation, urban, and water bodies. A soil map provided information about soil genesis, soil type, physical, chemical, morphological, and mineral characteristics, soil taxonomy, climatic zone, slope gradient, and soil distribution. We use three inherent edaphoclimatic conditions to define fertile soil supply for each crop; (i) soil type, (ii) climatic zone, and (iii) slope. We use these conditions to select information from the soil map. We recognize that other conditions such as soil nutrition, weed control, and irrigation, are essential to grow crop ̓s biomass, however, such conditions were not included in this study as they relate to the management of the crop.

To map fertile soil supply to grow potatoes we selected from the land use vocation map, areas indicated for agriculture use. From the soil map we selected areas with deep, well-drained soils of light to medium texture, classified as Andisols (Ustands and udands) or Inceptisols (udepts and aquepts), with a humid and semi-humid climate (annual average temperature below 18 °C), and where the slope gradient was less than 9%. Although potatoes can grow in a broader set of soil types, climatic zones, and slope gradients, the selected edaphoclimatic conditions can be considered as desirable for tropical conditions (Manrique and Uehara 1984; Urbano et al. 2019). To map fertile soil to grow rice we selected from the land use vocation map, areas indicated for agriculture use. From the soil map we selected areas with deep clayey or loamy soils of medium to fine texture, suitable for water excess conditions in river valleys and flood plains, classified as Inceptisols (ustepts and udepts), Entisols (aquents and fluvens) and Oxisols, with a warm humid and semi-humid climate (annual average temperature above 24 °C), and where the slope gradient was less than 5. Although rice can grow in a broader set of soil types, climatic zones, and slope gradients, the selected edaphoclimatic conditions can be considered as desirable for tropical conditions (Chaudhary et al. 2003; Huang et al. 2015; Castro-Llanos et al. 2019).

To map fertile soil demand we generated two land cover classified maps; one map with 4 land cover classes (urban, grasslands, potatoes, and other crops) for Bogotá, and one map with 4 land cover classes (urban, grasslands, rice, and other crops) for Villavicencio. We obtained a land cover classified map from IGAC for the year 2010. We used Google earth engine to run a script to download Landsat 8, and Sentinel 1 remote sensed images for the year 2018. On those images we performed atmospheric, radiometric, noise, shadow, and cloud correction, and calculated a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). In addition, we combined optical and radar data, trained a random forest classifier based on a land cover IGAC map and generated two fertile soil demand maps with 4 classes (see annex 1 for more details on the script). To quantify the urban demand of potatoes and rice for Bogota and Villavicencio, we multiply the average consumption of potatoes (57Kg) (FEDEPAPA 2018), and the average consumption of rice (42Kg) (FEDEARROZ and DANE 2019), with the number of inhabitants of Bogota and Villavicencio.

To assess the potential risk for food insecurity we used two indicators: high and low risk. A high risk implied that the amount of fertile soil –supply- to grow potatoes or rice within the administrative limits of Bogota or Villavicencio was not enough to cover the urban demand of potatoes or rice. A low risk implied that the amount of fertile soil –supply- to grow potatoes or rice within the administrative limits of Bogota or Villavicencio was enough to cover the urban demand of potatoes or rice. We recognized that food insecurity is a multidimensional concept that embraces among others, the access, quality, safety, and quantity of food, however, we used fertile soil as an indicator for food security highlighting that without fertile soil food security cannot be supported (Stocking 2003; Oliver and Gregory 2015).

Results and discussion

Water supply, demand, and water scarcity

Water supply and demand

Water supply mismatched the administrative limits for both cities as water supply depended on river basins and natural reserves beyond their municipal limits. The supply is dependent on five river basins and more than 10 natural reserves for Bogotá, and three river basins and four natural reserves for Villavicencio (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Maps showing in (a) water supply for Bogotá and Villavicencio (including river basins and micro basins), and in (b) natural reserves. Bogotá and Villavicencio share two river basins (Guayuriba, Guatiquia), and three natural reserves (Rio blanco, Chingaza, and Sumapaz)

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Five river basins support both cities; these river basins, together, can supply on average 13,000 Mm3 of water per year. Whereas two of those river basins, Guayuriva and Guatiquia, provided 66% of the total supply, three river basins, Bogotá, Sumapaz and Negro, supplied the remaining 34% (Table 1).

Table 1 Risk for water scarcity per river basin and city based on total and urban water supply and demand
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The urban water supply in Bogotá reached 350 Mm3 by 2018. The Guatiquia, Bogotá, and Sumapaz river basins generated 65%, 32%, and 3% of the urban water supply for Bogotá, respectively. The urban water supply in Villavicencio reached 70 Mm3, and exclusively depended on the Guatiquia river basin. Both cities share two river basins (Guatiquia and Guayuriba) and three natural reserves (Sumapaz, Rio Blanco and Chingaza). Note that the Chingaza National Park located in the Guatiquia river basin can be considered as a water supply hotspot considering its high-water provision for both cities (Guatiquia supplied 3 times more water than the Bogotá river basin) (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Map showing the administrative limits of Bogotá and Villavicencio, and tributary rivers in small catchments where water extraction takes place. The zoom-in map shows the Chingaza national park (in green). Few inhabitants reside inside the national park, however Chingaza can be considered a water supply/demand because a water extraction system (in red) provides water for Bogota using the Chuza reservoir to store water (in dark blue), and the head water system of the Guatiquia river provides water for Villavicencio (in blue)

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The environmental integrity of this important water supply hotspot is under pressure due to the rapidly increasing urban population in both urban areas that depend on its water provision (Bogota is projected to reach 13 million of inhabitants and Villavicencio 600 thousand by 2030). Eleven million urban inhabitants of Bogotá demanded the extraction of 301 Mm3 of water; 48% of this urban demand was extracted from the Guatiquia, 36% from the Bogota, and 16% from the Sumapaz river basins. The urban domestic demand for water in Bogotá represented a high proportion of the total demand for water in each river basin; Bogotá demanded 57% of the total domestic extraction of water in the Guatiquia, 71% in the Sumapaz, and 27% in the Bogotá river basins (Table 1). Likewise, more than half million inhabitants of Villavicencio demanded the extraction of 21 Mm3 of water, which represents more than 8% of the overall demand in the Guatiquia river basin.

Potential risk for water scarcity

There is a very high risk for water scarcity in the Bogotá river basin as water demand surpasses the water supply. The risk for water scarcity in the other four river basins was low considering that water demand consumed only 11% of the total supply in the Sumapaz, 10% in the Guatiquia, and 1% in both the Guayuriba and the Negro river basins. The urban expansion of Bogotá and Villavicencio generates a high impact on their urban water supply. Urban water demand in Bogotá consumed nearly 94% of the urban water supply annually extracted from the Bogotá river basin; 63% was derived from the Guatiquia river basin, surpassing the urban water supply from the Sumapaz river basin (Table 1). Any increase in the urban demand for water in Bogota will rise the urban risk for water scarcity (we used a conservative daily consumption of 75 L per capita). This risk, however, will be mitigated with the extraction of more water from the Guatiquia, Bogotá, and Sumapaz river basins in the coming years (see the planned expansion of the urban water system (Acueducto 2006, 2021). The risk for water scarcity in Villavicencio was relatively low considering that urban water demand only consumed 30% of the urban water supply (Table 1). However, the risk for water scarcity on this city can be raised to moderated as Bogota is already extracting 63% of the urban water supply from the Guatiquia river basin, and because the urban water system of Villavicencio only covers 70% of the urban population. The risk for water scarcity in Villavicencio will be mitigated by extracting water from the Guayuriba and Negro river basins (Villavicencio 2020). Any increase in the urban population of both cities, however, will boost the extraction of water to satisfy an increasing urban demand, rising the human pressure on strategic ecosystems such as paramos and cloud forests even though they are protected inside natural reserves such as Chingaza and Sumpaz.

Fertile soil supply, demand, and food security

Fertile soil supply and demand

Fertile soil is a valuable stock and a critical component of the natural capital of Bogotá and Villavicencio. Areas with a stock of fertile soil matched the administrative limits of Bogotá and Villavicencio, enabling a potential growth of potatoes in Bogotá, and rice in Villavicencio (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4
figure 4

Maps showing in (a) fertile soil supply to grow potatoes in Bogota, and in (b) fertile soil supply to grow rice in Villavicencio. Edaphoclimatic conditions including soil type, slope, and temperature were used to define fertile soil supply

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The supply of fertile soil to grow potatoes accounted for 55% of the total area of Bogotá; the remaining area was feebly suitable to grow potatoes as it was comprised by desertic areas (e.g., Bojacá), steep slopes, forested areas, and areas subject to exceptionally low temperatures. Likewise, the supply of fertile soil to grow rice accounted for 55% of the total area of Villavicencio; the remaining area was poorly suitable to grow rice as it is seasonally exposed to drought conditions, covered with forests, located in steep slopes, or subject to low temperatures.

The demand for fertile soil to grow potatoes/rice competes with that to grow other crops (e.g., grasslands), and to expand cities (Fig. 5). Demand for fertile soil to grow potatoes accounted for 8% of the total demand for soil in Bogotá, while growing grasslands utilized 67%, built infrastructure 24%, and other crops 1% of the total demand for fertile soil. Likewise, for Villavicencio, fertile soil demand to grow rice accounted for 7% of the total demand for soil, while growing grasslands utilized 68%, other crops 10% (e.g., oil palm), and built infrastructure 15%.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Maps showing soil demand to grow potatoes, rice, grasslands, and other crops, for (a) Bogotá, and (b) Villavicencio. Fertile soil demand to grow potatoes is strong in municipalities such as Pasca, Subachoque and Lenguazaque, which were not included in the urban agglomeration of Bogotá. Fertile soil demand to grow rice compete with other crops such as oil palm and grasslands for cattle to graze

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A competition for fertile soil between urbanization and agriculture increases fertile soil demand to grow crops in the surrounding municipalities. This competition was evidently strong in Bogotá where urban infrastructure grows fast and push an increasing demand for fertile soil to grow potatoes in municipalities not included in the urban agglomeration (Fig. 5a). In contrast, soil demand to grow rice does not compete with urban infrastructure in Villavicencio, due to the fields’ distant location from the urban limits (Fig. 5b).

Potential risk for food insecurity

The increasing demand for fertile soil to expand the urban infrastructure and to rise cattle, caused a deficit in the supply of fertile soil to grow potatoes in Bogotá. Such deficit increased the potential risk for food insecurity in Bogotá considering that potato is one of the top five foods consumed in Colombia. Covering the urban demand for potatoes in Bogota requires 627,000 tons of potatoes. Together, 23 municipalities within the urban agglomeration of Bogotá supply 77% of the urban demand for potatoes clustered in four municipalities that supply 78% of the total production. A stock of fertile soil in five municipalities beyond the limits of Bogotá (Subachoque, Chocontá, Pasca, Tenjo and Villapinzón) can support the provision of 300,000 tons of potatoes required to cover the urban demand for potatoes in Bogotá (see Annex 2 for more details). Likewise, covering the urban demand for rice in Bogota requires 462,000 tons of rice. Fertile soil within the administrative limits of Bogota cannot grow rice, and therefore rice should be imported from other regions such as Villavicencio, increasing the potential risk for food insecurity.

Covering the urban demand for potatoes in Villavicencio requires 30,000 tons of potatoes, likewise, covering the urban demand for rice requires 22,000 tons of rice. Fertile soil in Villavicencio cannot grow potatoes and therefore potatoes should be imported from municipalities beyond its administrative limits, increasing the potential risk for food insecurity. Because municipalities with a stock of fertile soil to grow potatoes are mainly located in Bogota and its surrounding area, both cities compete for the appropriation of this stock, and for the supply of potatoes required to satisfy the needs of their growing urban population. Within the administrative limits of Villavicencio 6,600 hectares of fertile soil supplied 30,000 tons of rice, enough to cover its urban demand for rice and to decrease the potential risk for food insecurity in this city.

Potential implications for land-useplanning

There is an increasing interest in integrating ecosystem services in planning processes and governance tools for science-informed sustainable land-use decisions (McKenzie et al. 2014; Díaz et al. 2015; Guerry et al. 2015). Cities play an important role in this integration because most land-use decisions are made at the municipal level (González-García et al. 2020). Informed land-use decisions at this level benefit from the understanding of the spatial relations and mismatches of ecosystem services’ supply and demand (Haase et al. 2014; Kremer et al. 2016). Understanding spatial relations is relevant for urban planning due to potential cross-scale implications; the supply of ecosystem services might have a different scale from its demand. Understanding these mismatches is relevant also due to potential cross-boundary implications; the ecological processes underpinning the supply of ecosystem services might differ from its management and governance scale.

We analyzed spatial relations and mismatches in the supply and demand of water and fertile soil for Bogotá and Villavicencio. Our results showed that water supply and demand occurred on a different scale beyond the administrative limits of both cities. Natural reserves and river basins are jurisdictional entities that control water supply but differ in scope and scale. Whereas natural reserves are administrative entities (e.g., national parks) targeting natural resource conservation at the local level, river basins are hydrographical zoning areas used for territorial planning at the national and sub-national level. Other jurisdictional entities that manage water supply such as provinces (departments in Colombia), and regional autonomous corporations (governmental authority for natural resource management) were not included in our study. The municipality is a jurisdictional entity that controls water demand by legalizing water access to urban citizens through the regulation of water purification and distribution for residential use.

Our results showed that fertile soil supply to grow potatoes in Bogotá and rice in Villavicencio occurred in the same scale as its local demand. However, because fertile soil and food production are linked, to cover the urban demand for potatoes and rice in Bogotá a sub-national scale is needed, and more fertile soil should be appropriated beyond its administrative limits. Food demand influences both fertile soil supply and demand because any increase in the demand for potatoes raise the demand for fertile soil and decline its supply. Food demand from densely populated areas such as Bogotá surpasses local food supply, increasing fertile soil demand at a regional level beyond its administrative limits. Urbanization and agriculture compete for fertile soil reserves, which increases the price of this resource at the local level decreasing its supply and the local food production. As a consequence, the dependence and pressure of urban growth on ecosystems far from the city might increase due to the importation of these goods and services.

A mismatch in the scale of government and management, and the need for cross-boundary management is considered a major barrier in the integration of ecosystem services in urban planning (Frantzeskaki and Tilie 2014). Furthermore, a traditional urban planning approach is often used to confine political and administrative authority within the administrative boundaries of a municipal area, ignoring its spatial alignment with the supply and demand of ecosystem services. Such lack of spatial alignment has been demonstrated for multiple European cities and for ecosystem services such as air purification, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and air cooling (Larondelle et al. 2014; Baró et al. 2017). Cultural ecosystem services can be an exemption, a relatively close match between their supply and demand has been demonstrated in urban green gardens (Camps-Calvet et al. 2016). Although urban planning alternatives such as ecological zoning, land use optimization, and the performance-based approach, make more flexible traditional zoning to integrate the supply and demand of ecosystem services (Cortinovis and Geneletti 2020; Wang et al. 2021; Xu et al. 2022), they continue to be moderately embedded within city administration. Moving from traditional prescriptive urban planning will require inter-jurisdictional cooperation, inter-municipal cooperation, and strong governance to handle mismatches of urban ecosystem services supply and demand. Without cross boundary jurisdictional cooperation, entrenched organizational structures, internal politics, and separated ways of working are not connected, the system of political administration is fractured, and competing interests in the demand and supply of key ecosystem services (e.g., water and food) are magnified (Kitchin and Moore-Cherry 2021). Inter-jurisdictional cooperation, inter-municipal cooperation, in addition to strong governance can be seen as a potential solution to solve conflicts related to access, availability, and jurisdiction of ecosystem services (Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013). Cooperation is particularly important for ecosystem services derived from water and fertile soil, as a lack of clarity on their access, availability, and jurisdiction generate water scarcity and food insecurity in densely populated cities. The incorporation of analysis of supply and demand of ecosystem services in urban spatial planning and inter-jurisdictional cooperation for their management can put in place strategic actions towards more sustainable and resilient cities (Frantzeskaki et al. 2016; Woodruff and BenDor 2016).

Conclusion

Spatial explicit analysis of ecosystem services supply and demand can be used to monitor unsustainable patterns of use of ecosystem services for urban areas. Such analysis can reveal possible conflicts between urban growth, supply and demand of ecosystem services, and maintenance/functioning of ecosystems protected in natural reserves. Spatially explicit analysis of water supply and demand require the identification of spatial units; whereas river basins and natural areas can be used to define water supply, municipal administrative limits of urban agglomerations and middle size cities can be used to map water demand. Likewise, land-use and soil maps can be used to identify areas of fertile soil supply and demand. Understanding the spatial relations and mismatches of ecosystem services supply and demand in cities is relevant to improve planning processes and tools, guiding informed sustainable land-use decisions. Inter-jurisdictional cooperation, inter-municipal cooperation, in addition to strong governance, are necessary to handle mismatches of urban ecosystem services supply and demand, and a potential solution to solve conflicts related to access, availability, and jurisdiction of ecosystem services in urban and peri-urban areas. Such cooperation is essential for adjoining cities such as Bogota and Villavicencio with an active exchange of transport, people, and economic goods, and where the access, availability, and jurisdiction of ecosystem services is weak and unclear. Considering differences in the population size between these two cities can generate an uneven distribution in the supply and demand of water and fertile soil, and an unsustainable pressure on key ecosystems such as paramos and cloud forests protected in the Chingaza and Sumapaz national parks. The development of a cooperative urbanization planning strategy between Bogota and Villavicencio is an opportunity to transit towards sustainability. This strategy should clarify the management of shared strategic ecosystems and identify sustainable levels of supply and demand of water and fertile soil for both cities.