• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.99-115
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• 2024

A worldwide effort is underway to utilize urban parks as a means ofresponding to climate change, providing various benefits to citizens. However, it also has several negative effects, such as an increase in pollen allergies. These negative impacts have been defined as ecosystem disservices and discussed globally, although the discussion remains insufficient domestically. In particular, pollen allergies have been discussed as a typical ecosystem disservice, with negative impacts such as an increase in symptoms attributed to higher pollen production or the growth of trees with higher antigenicity. The WHO reports that approximately 30% of the world's population suffers from pollen allergies. Many recent studies indicate that the harm induced by pollen allergies is expected to increase due to changes in the climate and thermal environment. In this context, we aim to diagnose the allergenicity of current urban parks and assess changes according to climate change scenarios. To achieve this goal, we assess pollen allergenicity in Seoul Children's Grand Park using the Urban Green Space Allergenicity Index (IUGZA) as the first step towards discussing ecosystem disservices. We found that the IUGZA value in the target area exceeds the threshold suggested in previous research, causing harm due to pollen allergies and is expected to increase according to climate change scenarios. We conclude that this result indicates that social harm from pollen allergies in urban parks may increase due to climate change. Therefore, we emphasize the necessity of discussing ecosystem disservices in the composition of urban parks.