Urban green infrastructure does not show synergies or trade-offs in ecosystem services and invertebrate species richness

Green infrastructure (GI) is widely promoted as a solution to simultaneously deal with urban challenges related to climate, health and biodiversity. However, empirical field evidence supporting this claim is lacking. Our research assessed the relationship between GI, and the role of vegetation density, height and land-use, in driving ecosystem services (ES) and biodiversity across 167 sites in The Hague, the Netherlands. In contrast to expectations, ES and biodiversity did not show trade-offs or synergies, and contributions of GI and its features were remarkably unimportant for explaining biodiversity and ES. Our findings challenge the prevailing paradigm, and suggest that GI is unlikely to be inherently multifunctional, and that specific GI features are essential in promoting ES and biodiversity. Our findings highlight critical limitations in current GI multifunctionality models and tools leading to flawed urban planning, due to a lack of causal drivers, showing a demand for increased urban ecological understanding.