[Objective] China’s urbanization has entered a new phase of connotative development. The concept of “People’s City” is driving the transformation of urban recreational green space (URGS) planning towards “human-oriented demands”. In the post-pandemic era, residents’ leisure behaviors have shown characteristics such as proximity, healthiness, and diversity. AI technology has further given rise to differentiated recreational demands. The current URGS layout is confronted with shortcomings such as emphasizing indicators over demand response in planning, insufficient functional integration, structural imbalance in services, and low system integration. This research, through systematic review and theoretical prospect, innovatively constructs a “theoretical framework for URGS planning that responds to human-oriented demands”, breaking through the limitations of traditional static adaptation, promoting the dynamic coupling of URGS with people’s lifestyle, and supporting the modern governance goals of precision, refinement, depth, intelligence, and excellence. This research may provide theoretical support for resolving the structural mismatch contradiction between URGS layout and diversified demands.

[Methods] The China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science Core Collection are taken as data sources, journal article is determined as literature type, and the retrieval time is set from January 1st 2000 to December 31th 2024 based on the characteristics of the publication period. The advanced search formula for the subject terms of Chinese AND English literature is TS=(“recreation*” OR “leisure” OR “tour*” OR “entertain*”) AND (“green space*” OR “park*”) AND (“layout” OR “planning” OR “design*”). After eliminating the items irrelevant to the research topic, 687 Chinese and 345 English literature articles are ultimately selected as the research object. CiteSpace 6.2.R6 is utilized to conduct visual analysis of the selected articles, supplemented by traditional literature review methods and inductive comparative analysis. This approach systematically examines the evolutionary stages, research hotspots, and trend characteristics of URGS layout research, aiming to advance a forward-looking layout framework.

[Results] 1) Evolutionary stages: Research on URGS layout in China has progressed from planning control to spatial governance. From 2000 to 2009, it was the period of rough demand identification – initial exploration, with more attention paid to the configuration of recreational functions and scale estimation around the supply side. From 2010 to 2016, it was the period of coarse demand response – fluctuating growth, promoting the transformation of China’s URGS layout towards “social equity – demand response”. From 2017 to 2024, it was the period of refined and rapid development in demand, catering to diverse recreational demands. 2) Research hotspots: Common dimensions encompass human-oriented planning and governance, demand-differentiated green space provision, and recreational experience – health co-benefits. However, Chinese literature research prioritizes macro-level planning and supply-side refinement, while English literature emphasizes meso & micro-scale empirical studies and demand-side drivers. 3) Development trends: While both Chinese and English research converge on green space layout based on socio-spatial and spatiotemporal behavioral differentiation for demand identification, their divergences persist in primary research focus, depth of interdisciplinary integration, and intensity of policy-coupling. 4) Theoretical system: A “theoretical system framework for URGS layout that responds to human-oriented demands” has been constructed, covering a multi-dimensional hierarchical classification system based on the “time – space – demand” principle; based on the principle of “differential justice”, the traditional classification of green spaces has been broken and a “recreational circle” layout system adapting to urban functional spaces has been constructed; an evaluation-optimization system employing digital intelligence technologies for supply-demand matching has been constructed to advance optimally regulated connotative development.

[Conclusion] This research aims to address systemic issues — including extensive URGS system development, insufficient functional integration, low supply – demand matching efficiency, and inadequate open sharing mechanisms — by proposing holistic solutions with reference value for future urban recreational space planning, policy-making, and research. 1) Spatial planning dimension: Promote the statutory institutionalization and systematization of URGS-specific planning, clarify its position within the territorial spatial planning framework, strengthen horizontal coordination and vertical implementation, and guide high-quality development of diversified recreational green spaces. 2) Policy orientation dimension: Focus on diverse public needs to deepen the connotation of “human-oriented demands”. Establish a precision-tailored methodological framework for supply – demand matching, creating a synergistic governance model combining “top-down guidance” and “bottom-up participation” to operationalize differential justice in spatial allocation. 3) Academic research dimension: Construct a three-dimensional theoretical framework integrating recreational systems with resource distribution patterns, spatial ring characteristics and urban functional layouts. This research significantly enhances the precision and depth of population demand identification, considers behavioral traits and visitation preferences, and develops a demand-driven URGS layout adaptation model responsive to distinct urban functional spatial requirements. The accuracy and depth of crowd demand identification have been enhanced, taking into account behavioral characteristics and access preferences. Furthermore, an URGS layout adaptation mode driven by the demands of different urban functional spaces is proposed. This research responds to the people’s demand for a better life and is of great significance for promoting the transformation of URGS layout to a refined supply that responds to the differences in group demands, resolving the structural mismatch contradiction between URGS layout and diverse recreational demands, and ultimately achieving the dual goals of a sense of gain and happiness in green well-being.

[Objective] As urban design faces increasing demands for contextual responsiveness, iterative optimization, and data-informed reasoning, integrating artificial intelligence into the design process has gained renewed relevance. Among emerging technologies, generative artificial intelligence (GAI) shows strong potential for automating content creation and simulating spatial configurations. This research provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in the application of GAI to urban design. The research identifies representative technical pathways, their respective intervention stages, and the functional mechanisms by which generative models are reshaping the design workflow. This research presents a structured, theory-informed synthesis of how different generative models contribute to tasks such as intention modeling, spatial reasoning, and performance-driven design. Building on design thinking and a descriptive lens informed by the technology acceptance model (TAM), the research examines how model type, data modality, and task characteristics affect GAI’s functional role, usability, and acceptance. Particular attention is given to mapping deployment forms, from isolated tools to coordinated multi-model workflows, and to characterizing cross-cutting challenges of controllability, transparency, and contextual adaptability in urban design settings.
[Methods] Following the PRISMA protocol, the research conducts a multi-stage literature review combining automated search and expert screening. A total of 125 peer-reviewed articles and high-impact preprints are selected from Web of Science, CNKI, arXiv, and selected industry sources, covering the period from 2014 to July 2025. Search terms such as “generative AI”, “AIGC”, “GAN”, “diffusion model”, “variational autoencoder”, “autoregressive model”, “large language model”, and urban-related keywords are used in various combinations. Based on the collected literature, four types of generative models are summarized as image-driven, language-driven, structure-driven, and feedback-optimized models, according to their application characteristics in urban design tasks. These types are aligned with four stages of the design process: preliminary analysis, scheme generation, evaluation and decision-making, and outcome expression. On this basis, a two-dimensional framework to examine how different GAI pathways intervene across tasks is formed. To refine the mapping, each design stage is further broken down into three representative sub-tasks. Preliminary analysis includes public demand analysis, urban data enhancement, case/task framing, and spatial element recognition. Scheme generation covers design intention modeling, spatial layout generation, and 3D form construction. The evaluation and decision-making stage includes multi-objective optimization, scheme evaluation, and scenario prediction. The final expression stage involves textual documentation, 2D representation, and visual rendering. A quantitative analysis is also conducted to show the distribution of model types over design stages, identify common combinations, and trace the evolution of research focus over time. TAM informs a descriptive synthesis of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) across model types to illuminate adoption patterns.
[Results] The findings reveal that GAI models are increasingly integrated into urban design workflows but exhibit uneven adoption across task types and modalities. Image-driven models dominate in both early-stage analysis and final visual representation due to their high interpretability, usability, and compatibility with existing design practices. Language-driven models are commonly used in public demand analysis, participatory planning, and scenario scripting, enabled by the rise of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Structure-driven models, though less prevalent, show promise in generating street networks, land-parcel layouts, and spatial typologies using graph-based logic. Feedback-optimized models, which rely on reinforcement learning, evolutionary algorithms, and performance simulation are the least adopted, but demonstrate strong potential in multi-objective optimization and iterative decision-making. Recent research indicates an increasing use of multi-model workflows, such as text-to-image pipelines integrated with urban simulation or feedback loops. While GAI applications increasingly support design iteration, their adoption is heavily influenced by the controllability, explainability, and contextual adaptability of models. PU and PEU vary significantly by model type, with image-driven models rated highest and structure-driven and feedback-optimized models facing usability challenges due to complexity and low transparency.
[Conclusion] Although GAI has demonstrated broad applicability across the urban design process, current implementations are largely procedural and auxiliary in nature. Most models recombine existing inputs rather than construct original logic, and few possess autonomous reasoning or normative awareness. This limits their role to content augmentation rather than conceptual guidance in design development. Moreover, issues such as opaque decision logic, lack of domain-specific knowledge embedding, and poor adaptability to local planning norms hinder practical adoption. Addressing these challenges requires multi-level efforts: 1) Construct structured, regionally grounded urban design datasets; 2) improve model interpretability, controllability, and responsiveness to professional input; and 3) develop modular, multi-model systems that support seamless interaction across design stages. Human – AI collaboration mechanisms — especially those based on iterative prompts and semantic feedback-must be enhanced to enable AI not just as a tool, but as an active design partner. This review offers a comprehensive reference for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand how GAI is reshaping the logic, structure, and agency of urban design.

[Objective] Amid rapid urbanization and the increasing frequency of extreme climate events, urban systems are facing escalating systemic risks. As the fundamental unit of urban governance, community resilience — the capacity to withstand, adapt to, and recover from risks — has become a key concern in public administration. However, disparities in resource allocation, spatial power structures, and uneven risk exposure have made old and dilapidated communities — characterized by aging facilities, complex demographic structures, and weak infrastructure — concentrated zones of urban risk inequality. In China, there are over 200,000 such communities, home to more than 100 million residents, which are highly vulnerable to natural disasters, public safety incidents, and public health emergencies. These vulnerabilities generate a negative feedback loop of “vulnerable group concentration – declining resilience – cyclical risk accumulation” . Therefore, optimizing spatial resource allocation and addressing both external shocks and internal risks are essential to exploring resilience governance pathways that enhance the ability of diverse groups in old and dilapidated communities to resist, adapt, and recover rapidly, thereby strengthening grassroots governance and advancing resilient city construction.

[Methods] This research adopts a triangulated methodology integrating comparative analysis, inductive – deductive reasoning, and systematic literature review to clarify the conceptual foundations and mechanisms of risk inequality, identifying four core dimensions of community resilience governance, namely the spatial, social, institutional, and technological dimensions. Focusing on old and dilapidated communities, the research uses risk inequality as an analytical lens to systematically deconstruct structural barriers to resilience governance, revealing mechanisms of risk differentiation and institutional root causes. Drawing on social vulnerability theory, spatial justice theory, and resilience theory, the research develops an analytical framework centered on three pillars: stakeholder identification, resource allocation optimization, and adaptive governance responsiveness. Guided by spatial justice principles, the framework promotes multi-level, cross-dimensional interventions — including infrastructure renewal, governance structure reform, technological upgrading, and social capital rebuilding — to dismantle structural constraints of risk inequality, promote equitable risk distribution, and strengthen sustainable adaptive capacity.

[Results] The research reveals that risk inequality is neither accidental nor monocausal, but stems from the long-entangled interplay of multifaceted social, economic, and environmental factors, which collectively undermine the systemic resilience and sustainable development of old and dilapidated communities. Amid escalating uncertainties and increasingly frequent risk events, the diversification of risk sources and compounded community vulnerabilities synergistically amplify hazard impacts. Old and dilapidated communities — characterized by physical infrastructure decay, institutional inertia, eroded social capital, and technological marginalization — have become epicenters of risk inequality, where vulnerable groups face systemic disadvantages in disaster exposure levels, access to emergency resources, and adaptive response capacity. To address these challenges, resilience governance for old and dilapidated communities must focus on integrating internal/external resources, revitalizing institutional mechanisms, and holistically enhancing residents’ risk-coping capacities, thereby strengthening communities’ ability to withstand shocks while maintaining operational stability and sustainable trajectories. Centering on vulnerable subpopulations and spatial demands for disaster preparedness, the research embeds spatial justice principles into resilience governance frameworks. Key strategies include: precision identification of vulnerability profiles through data-driven diagnostics, optimized allocation of disaster-response spatial resources, dynamic simulation of emergency protocols, and construction of multi-stakeholder collaborative networks. These strategies disrupt the traditional “one-size-fits-all” governance paradigm, replacing rigid frameworks with adaptive, equity-driven interventions that reconcile structural risk disparities and foster inclusive resilience. To address the heterogeneous vulnerabilities of community subgroups, this research proposes differentiated governance strategies across four resilience dimensions: spatial, social, institutional, and technological dimensions. First, spatial integration of normal and emergency functions should be prioritized to establish a tiered public space system for risk management. Second, adaptive capacities must be strengthened by fostering endogenous community mutual-aid networks grounded in multi-stakeholder collaboration. Third, resource provision should be optimized through flexible risk prevention policies and dynamic compensation mechanisms. Fourth, technological compatibility requires enhancement via the development of inclusive smart governance tools for community resilience.

[Conclusion] The resilience governance of old and dilapidated communities should incorporate the concept of spatial justice, emphasizing the precise identification of vulnerability demands, optimization of disaster-response spatial configurations, dynamic simulation of operational workflows, and establishment of multi-stakeholder collaborative networks. This approach aims to dismantle the traditional “one-size-fits-all” governance mindset, advancing resilient community theory from a “system preservation” paradigm to one centered on “social equity”. Looking forward, resilience governance frameworks need refinement to address distinct challenges in traditional courtyard communities, state-owned unit housing, and modern residential complexes. This involves defining risk typologies, deciphering causal mechanisms, evaluating resilience components, and formulating tailored mitigation strategies. Besides, quantitative methodologies should be advanced to monitor risk fluctuations, measure vulnerability thresholds, conduct stress tests, and analyze spatiotemporal risk distribution patterns among vulnerable groups. Integration of cutting-edge tools — such as geographic information system (GIS), big data analytics, system dynamics, and social network analysis — can enable behavior-based simulations to innovate early warning systems and resilience governance models. This dual-track advancement of theory and technology will catalyze inclusive, adaptive, and sustainable transformations in old and dilapidated urban communities.

[Objective] This research aims to quantify the geocultural characteristics of Chinese traditional villages through spatial network analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and clustering algorithms. By constructing a national-scale agglomeration demarcation model, this research proposes differentiated conservation strategies to optimize conservation area delineation methods considering natural geography, historical culture, and socioeconomic dimensions. The research ultimately provides theoretical foundations for policy-making to balance heritage preservation with regional development dynamics.

[Methods] The research method adopted in this research is to combine graph theory and machine learning with data from the lists of six batches of traditional villages published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China and other departments. First, the minimum Spanning tree (MST) model weighted by the actual transportation time cost is adopted to carry out the preliminary clustering. This process quantifies the spatial connection strength between villages by prioritizing the selection of low-cost connections and cutting off high-cost connections, and ultimately forms a spatial structure that highlights transportation accessibility and spatial proximity. Then, through Principal Component analysis (PCA) and K-Means clustering methods, the multi-dimensional cultural and geographical characteristics are analyzed. The analysis objects not only include the clustering results obtained based on the MST method, but also cover natural and cultural elements. On this basis, this research constructs a characteristic spectrum based on the geographical, economic and cultural characteristics of traditional villages, and divides the villages into different agglomeration areas according to their natural geographical attributes and cultural attributes. And through the spatial superposition analysis method, the K-Means clustering method are observed to explore the cultural background, language system characteristics, environmental characteristics and architectural types involved in each zoning.

[Results] The MST and K-Means clustering results are respectively spatially superimposed and analyzed with the current situation of provincial administrative divisions across the country. The results show that the MST clustering boundaries based on transportation cost weighting are highly coexisting with the provincial administrative boundaries in provinces with dense traditional villages. This phenomenon stems from the characteristics of the MST method. The network construction principle of MST, which aims to minimize the overall transportation cost, makes it easier to form continuous clusters overlapping with administrative boundaries in areas with high density of traditional villages and strong transportation accessibility. Administrative boundaries are often delineated relying on geographical barriers such as rivers and mountains, and these barriers can lead to a significant increase in transportation costs, which is corresponding to the segmentation logic of MST that removes high-cost edges. In contrast, the K-Means clustering boundaries based on the MST clustering results and combined with the main components of natural and cultural elements such as topography, mountain and river aggregation, climate, and language system have a relatively high consistency with the provincial administrative boundaries in provinces with scattered traditional villages. The distribution of traditional villages in these provinces shows the characteristics of "broad geographical space" and overall “great dispersion”. The geographical and economic and cultural characteristics extracted by the PCA method show a spatial polarization of “small clusters”. In provinces with a high concentration of traditional villages, the delineated clusters are mostly distributed at the junctions of provincial administrative boundaries. This regularity indicates that the transportation network correlation and segmentation involved in MST can serve as the basis for the initial division of traditional village clusters. The division result of the “MST + PCA + K-Means” model can rely on the extraction ability of PCA for geographical, cultural and other characteristics, and form a comprehensive division result on the basis of simultaneously explaining the intrinsic connection between the geography and culture of each region.

[Conclusion] A comparative analysis of the MST clustering model weighted by actual transportation time cost, as well as geo-cultural zoning boundaries and administrative boundaries shows that when the MST clustering boundary is highly consistent with the transportation cost gradient, and the historical rationality of traditional zoning lies in its implicit consideration of transportation cost efficiency. A significant deviation indicates regionalization may be dominated by non-transport factors like cultural association and resource dependence; especially when the MST boundary crosses the transportation cost gradient, further analysis of cross-gradient cultural or economic drivers is needed. The MST weighted by transportation cost and the “principal component + K-Means” model essentially reflect the methodological opposition between “spatial determinism” and “cultural reductionism”. For research objects like traditional villages featuring the interaction of multiple scales and multiple influencing factors, it is necessary to break through the bottleneck of single quantitative analysis, comprehensively consider the combination of geography, culture and economy, and allow coexistence of transportation networks, language diffusion and other relationships to approach the true self-organization of characteristic traditional village clusters.

[Objective] Under the background of the “urban renewal” policy, the number of pocket parks has surged in China. In view of the blowout growth of the quantity of pocket parks, how to maximize the service capacity of pocket parks based on the efficient layout of the location and function of pocket parks and the full consideration of scattered urban “pocket” space has become a key issue in the shift of the focus in pocket park construction from “quantity” to “quality”. At present, there is a concept of “synergistic micro green space cluster”, which aims to regulate the layout and quantity of multiple pocket parks in a high-density environment, so as to make up for the disadvantage of the small scale and insufficient influence of a single park. However, most of the current design optimizations based on the benefit analysis of micro green spaces mainly focus on macro-level strategies such as addition of green space and area regulation, while seldom providing guidance for detailed design of park site such as the proportion of hard area, plant species, and pavement materials. In order to further explore the ways to give full play to the advantages of pocket park bundles from the perspective of micro design, this research introduces the synergy theory into the discussion of design practice mode. By dismantling the internal design elements of the pocket park system, and discussing the synergistic combination between different elements in the system, the research object is optimized from the spatial layout optimization at the site scale to the functional organization optimization of the design elements at the element scale. The overall service performance of the pocket park is improved through refined design, in order to solve the problem of low efficiency of existing space design. [Methods] In order to propose a synergistic design strategy at the micro level more accurately, the research object is further disassembled into the internal components of pocket park. Moreover, all the deconstructed design components are regarded as several data samples, and how different components should be synergistically combined to play a better role in the clustering effect is discussed, so as to guide the generation of micro synergistic design strategy. The various types of “bundles” formed by clustering and reorganization according to the degree of similarity between pocket parks are collectively referred to as “pocket park bundles”, which is used to distinguish the concept of “synergistic micro green space cluster” with individual pocket parks as the research object. The three principles of synergy theory, namely self-organization, synergy effect, and servo, are applied to the research of micro design practice, and the synergistic mechanism of the design elements of pocket parks in the selected plots is accurately tracked and controlled. In this research, the pocket park space ontology is taken as a system, and the design elements carrying different functions in space are taken as several elements in the system. Additionally, an efficient synergistic design system is constructed through the overall coordination of design elements, and multiple pocket park functions are mobilized to play a synergistic role. Through the overall planning of design elements, this research strengthens the functional cooperation between different park sites in the same area, and effectively avoids the problems of functional redundancy and design process repetition in the process of decentralized design. [Results] Taking Gucheng County in Hebei Province as an example, this research constructs a synergistic design model of “pocket park bundle”. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model, five categories of functional needs that should be met by decomposing pocket parks are basic use (physiological needs), boundary integration (safety needs), neighborhood interaction (social needs), style and feature continuation (respect needs), and value transmission (self-realization needs). Based on the subdivision of the five categories of functions above, the five carriers of positioning, boundary, space, planting and theme are further formed. Through the synergistic design of the five carriers, the synergistic mechanism of pocket parks is incorporated into specific to elaborate on the implementation mode of the synergistic design of pocket parks, which can help give full play to the overall benefits of multiple pocket parks to ensure that different user groups have equal access to urban public services. [Conclusion] In this research, the object is further refined into a collection of internal components of pocket parks, representing the transition from macro synergistic planning to micro synergistic design. The research figures out that, by deconstructing and reorganizing design elements, we can accurately trace the internal relationships between park sites, so as to avoid design problems such as duplicate design or functional redundancy. With a focus on the construction of synergistic design perspective, the current research discusses the optimization mode of the existing design strategies for pocket parks under the guidance of synergy theory. The follow-up research will construct a collaborative design process model based on the synergy theory, evaluate the practical application effect of the built pocket parks, and quantitatively evaluate the interrelationship between different components within the pocket parks. This research further refines and improves the principle and application mode of synergistic design, in hope of providing important support for the construction of a scientific and reasonable micro-design strategy for pocket parks.

[Objective] The pressure of accelerated urbanization has caused rural landscapes to face the great challenges of reconstruction, homogenization and extinction, with rural landscapes gradually losing their diversity and regional characteristics. Compared with lowland villages, mountainous villages are constrained by special topography, rich in resources but backward in construction, and have always been the key and difficult areas in China’s rural revitalization work, and the identification and management of their landscape characters are particularly urgent. As a complex landscape system with multiple levels and diversity, the mountainous villages need a more comprehensive cross-scale tool to guide and manage the process of landscape change and the protection of local landscape characters. Landscape character assessment (LCA) is a mainstream method to identify landscape character, but its results often present a static, nodal and objective perception. The collective memory theory focuses on the dynamic characteristics of landscape evolution and is able to identify more subtle differences in landscape characters, compensating for the shortcomings of LCA in the temporal and human dimensions. Therefore, this research aims to 1) integrate LCA and collective memory theory to construct a theoretical and technical framework for multi-scale identification of mountainous rural landscape characters; 2) integrate quantitative analysis of LCA and qualitative interpretation of collective memory to solve the problem of spatialization of narrative memories; and 3) validate the scientific validity and effectiveness of the identification system through empirical evidence in the Wuling Mountain area.

[Methods] The research proposes to construct a multi-scale mountainous rural landscape character identification system. 1) Theoretical framework: Integrate LCA and collective memory theory to establish a systematic framework of “definition scope − element selection − classification and description − practical application”, realizing the layer-by-layer cognition and description from macroscopic to microscopic perspective. 2) Technical path: Establish the operational path of “data collection − character recognition − character translation”. The “extraction of memory carriers − spatial coordinate localization − generation of vector data” approach is used to realize the spatialization of collective memory. At the regional scale (Chongqing section of the Wuling Mountain area), natural elements such as elevation, and land cover are selected to identify landscape character zones. At the local scale (Qianjiang District), cultural elements such as land use, and characteristic villages are selected to identify landscape character categories. At the site scale (Taiji Township), traditional settlements, collective memory, and other cultural and culturally related elements are selected to identify landscape character units and elements. At the same time, the surviving condition of the character elements is marked.

[Results] The complexity and cultural diversity of the geographic environment in the Chongqing section of the Wuling Mountain area provide an ideal background for character identification. A multi-scale mountainous rural landscape character identification system is constructed and successfully applied to different scales (Chongqing section of the Wuling Mountain area − Qianjiang District − Taiji Town), which provides a regional reference for the identification and protection of mountainous rural landscape character. The identification system identifies 10 rural landscape character zones in the Chongqing section of the Wuling Mountain area at the regional scale, 8 rural landscape character categories in Qianjiang District at the local scale, and 6 rural landscape character units in Taiji Towns at the site scale. Cases such as the memory of natural beliefs (land temple) and the memory of the construction of public facilities (academy ruins) reflect the deep coupling of landscape character and the collective memory of the villagers. At the same time, marking the surviving condition of the character elements (including the disappearing elements) helps to explain the historical development of landscapes.

[Conclusion] Mountainous rural landscapes have both natural and humanistic attributes, and public participation and raising awareness of the cultural value of landscapes is a key part of rural landscape planning. This research analyzes the theoretical framework, technical path and practical application of the identification of mountainous rural landscape characters at multiple scales, and draws the following main conclusions. 1) The technical process of LCA can provide a spatial anchor point for collective memory, while collective memory can inject an interpretive dimension into LCA, and the two are complementary to help understand rural landscapes in a more comprehensive way. 2) It realizes the deep integration of the quantitative analysis of LCA and the qualitative interpretation of collective memory, clarifies the path of memory carrier materialization, and solves the problem that narrative memory can hardly interface with LCA technology. 3) The case of Wuling Mountain area proves that the identification system can effectively integrate geographic diversity, cultural characteristics and villagers’ perception, and realizes precise identification of landscape character through the synergistic collaboration of top-down (systematic delineation dominated by LCA) and bottom-up (local cognition driven by collective memory) identification, and provides a tool support for the national rural landscape planning and protection. In the future, the results of character identification should be transformed into planning actions through differentiated planning decisions, dynamic protection mechanisms, participatory governance, etc., so as to respond to the real dilemmas of rural planning.

[Objective] The objective of current urban construction in China is to enhance and optimize the quality of the built environment in order to improve the people’s sense of well-being and sense of gain, which has become a top priority for urban development. As the public is the principal constituent of the built environment, it is of utmost importance to have a clear comprehension of the public’s sentimental demand for the built environment in order to achieve high-quality urban development and promote the public’s sense of well-being. This research aims to, by gaining a deep understanding of the public’s sentimental needs, steers urban planning and construction towards creating a more habitable environment that better satisfies the people’s expectations.
[Methods] The development of emotion research is first examined, including changes in emotion research theories and research methods. By virtue of the CiteSpace bibliometric analysis software, this research illustrates and scrutinizes the contemporary research development and salient aspects of public sentiment experience and built environment. By examining an extensive corpus of literature, the research extracts and elucidates the attributes of sentiment research from the three dimensions of data, content and method. To grasp the shifting dynamics of public sentiments more effectively, the research proposes a series of processes applicable to urban sentiment surveillance and discernment, thereby capturing the public’s sentiments in a more inclusive and systematic manner.
[Results] Sentiment classification theories can be broadly categorized into two main groups: basic emotion theory and emotion dimension theory. The theory of emotion, stemming from the accumulation of emotions, has evolved through the integration of landscape aesthetics, environmental psychology, and other significant theories in landscape gardening. Furthermore, in the context of multidisciplinary integration, the reciprocal exchange of research methods and theories across different disciplines has contributed to a more comprehensive perspective in the field of emotion research. With the advent of the 21st century, urbanization has ushered in both convenience and environmental degradation. It is crucial to recognize the dual impact of urbanization – the positive aspects of convenience and the negative consequences of environmental degradation. As cities evolve, the emphasis on creating sustainable and ecologically conscious urban spaces has become paramount. The shift towards garden cities and eco-friendly urban development reflects a collective recognition of the importance of preserving the environment amid rapid urban expansion. Despite these positive strides, there remains a notable gap in the design approach adopted for urban built environments. The prevailing focus on form and functionality, while essential, tends to sideline the emotional and psychological well-being of the urban residents. Furthermore, the spiritual connotations that an environment should embody are often neglected in the urban design discourse. The profound impact of surroundings on the human spirit and well-being is a crucial aspect that needs to be integrated into the design philosophy. Spaces should evoke a sense of belonging, cultural identity, and emotional resonance, thus contributing to a holistic urban experience. In light of these considerations, the call for emotional design becomes increasingly urgent. The research finds that the sources of data for sentiment research are primarily text-based, with relatively few direct analyses of image, speech or other forms of data. Furthermore, the research indicates that the current research mainly focuses on factors influencing positive sentiments, while paying less attention to negative sentiments. In terms of methodology, emotion recognition is a multimodal process, but there are significant variations in the quality and quantity of information available from different sources.
[Conclusion] The current research data on public sentiment research in urban built environment is characterized by a multitude of sources and types, however, the predominant data form is text data, and the direct analysis of such data forms as image and speech is relatively lacking. In the future, convolutional neural network (CNN) models can be employed to process information found on social media platforms, such as comments and photos, and delve into the hidden meanings of pictures, such as irony, humor, metaphor and exaggeration. Sentiment classification can be enhanced through machine learning, and the attention mechanism can be introduced to extract useful information in sentiment analysis, thus adding credibility to subsequent built environment evaluations. The classification of the influences of the research on built environment sentiment on various population groups and spatial elements in cities is yet to be improved and comprehensively organized. To achieve sustainable development and enhance people’s sense of well-being, it is important for researchers to focus on the relationship between positive sentiments and the built environment at multiple scales, and understand the sentiment influencing mechanisms and paths of various spatial structures, landscape elements, and design elements in future city planning. The application of the research on built environment sentiment is mainly limited by the content and type of research, with varying quality and quantity of information across different scales. It is suggested to utilize the synergy between multiple data forms, such as incorporating digital technology-assisted measurement methods to strengthen the practical application of virtual reality technology. This will provide richer methodological and technological support for the research on built environment evaluation, improving the reliability, validity, and generalizability of research findings. These recommendations will be beneficial for expanding the direction of landscape architecture research and promoting design innovation.

[Objective] As one of the major open spaces, urban streets not only carry the transportation function, but also promote social interaction and economic growth, while displaying the aesthetic, cultural and historical characteristics of the city. However, many new or regenrated streets have gradually lost their identity due to the compromise of large-scale construction and short-term delivery. It is important to explore ways to protect and optimize the locality of streetscape since street constituents the most direct impression of a city, which not only forms the identity of a city together with architecture, historical and cultural heritage, geographical characteristics and social life, but also serves as an independent carrier of local expression. The identification and optimization of streetscape locality can help protect the uniqueness of landscape, enhance urban identity and construct urban image, especially for historical and cultural preservation areas in modern cities, and can also work as an important step to retain urban memory and enhance residents’ sense of belonging.
[Methods] This research first establishes a theoretic framework for streetscape locality through a discussion based on literature reviewed. The research proposes that streetscape locality should include the physical, social, historical and aesthetic aspects, with relevant indicators being identified for the four aspects respectively. These indicators are then compared with streetscape characteristics that can be measured by current image analysis technologies. On this basis, a framework for identification of streetscape locality is constructed. Taking Shanghai Hengfu Historic and Cultural Preservation Area (hereinafter referred to as the “Area”) as an example, the research adopts the semantic segmentation method and an AI-based evaluation model to analyze the locality of the Area, with the specific process being visualized using the Geographic Information System (GIS). The current spatial expression of streetscape locality characteristics in the Area is then discussed considering factors such as land use on both sides of a street, architectural styles, and traffic hierarchies.
[Results] Results suggest that in the aspect of physical locality, the indicators of enclosing degree, green visibility and sky visibility are consistent in spatial distribution. Specifically, the distribution of sky visibility is basically opposite to green visibility, while enclosing degree is similarly distributed with sky visibility. In general, the enclosing degree of the Area is rated moderate, while the green visibility and sky visibility of streetscape are rated at a medium to low level. Streetscape in the northern and western parts of the Area is relatively open compared with other parts and the highest green visibility is observed in streets around Xujiahui Park located in the southwestern part of the Area. In the social aspect, safety is rated good overall, but the human scale is rated moderate and the imageability level is low. Streetscape with appropriate human scale is safer than others, which may be due to the fact that both the two human scale and safety characteristics can positively influence the comfort of perception. Overall, safety and human scale characteristics are poor in the central part of the Area around Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the intersection betwwen Huaihai Middle Road and Fuxing Middle Road, as well as Yan’an Middle Road in the north and Chongqing South Road in the east of the Area. Besides, the streetscape imageability of the Area is only rated high where unique landmarks exist. In the historic aspect, legibility of the Area appears to be better in the southern part while rated poorest in the central part and western boundary of the Area, especially in Jiangsu Road and Nanchang Road close to the north side of the Fuxing Park. Among the characteristics in relation to aesthetic aspect, visual diversity, coherence and permeability show no direct or indirect correlation with each other in spatial distribution. The visual diversity and coherence of streetscape are rated good in the research area, but the permeability of streetscape is less satisfied. The visual diversity of streetscape at the intersection between Changshu Road and Huaihai Middle Road and along Jianguo West Road in the south is poor, and the permeability is also quite poor. In addition, the roads with low traffic hierarchy such as branches and alleys are generally rated better than those with high traffic hierarchy in terms of human scale, coherence and permeability.
[Conclusion] This research may provide a reference for subsequent protection, optimization and development of urban streetscape locality, and may also inspire more large-scale analysis of landscape concepts derived from sociology, anthropology and other disciplines in the future. Constrained by the accuracy of the algorithm model adopted and the availability of the streetscape image data collected, there may exist slight error in the analysis results. However, the research in general has succeeded in quantitatively measuring and mapping the locality of streetscape within the research area.

[Objective] The theory of natural aesthetics emphasizes the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, focusing on the aesthetic value and ecological significance of the natural environment. This aligns closely with the goals of landscape design for urban waterfront spaces. As a critical intersection between urban and natural environments, urban waterfront spaces must not only fulfill functional requirements but also prioritize the natural experience, embodying natural aesthetics to enhance people’s aesthetic enjoyment. Based on the theory of natural aesthetics, this research takes urban waterfront spaces as the research object, focusing on public perception of the naturalness of autumn landscapes. The research aims to explore evaluation methods for naturalness perception, in hope of providing theoretical support for the planning and design of autumn landscapes in urban waterfront spaces. The research seeks to clarify the relationship between naturalness perception and ecological perception, quantitatively assess perceived naturalness, and identify key indicators influencing public perception of the naturalness of autumn landscapes in urban waterfront spaces.

[Methods] This research focuses on the Huangpu River waterfront space as the research subject. The literature review method is initially used to screen indicators influencing naturalness perception. A questionnaire survey combined with real-scene photographs is conducted to gather public opinions on the influence of different landscape elements on naturalness perception tendencies. The evaluation results of naturalness perception in typical sample sites are used as research support. Correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis are employed to determine the characteristics and extent of influence of landscape elements on public naturalness perception. First, the literature review method is used to preliminarily screen factors influencing the perceived naturalness. Through literature research and expert scoring, 21 landscape element characteristics across three categories that might influence public naturalness perception of autumn landscapes in urban waterfront spaces are identified. These elements include vegetation types, water characteristics, and artificial structures, covering visual, ecological, and functional dimensions. Second, a questionnaire survey is conducted to score typical sample sites, with the mean method adopted to calculate perceived naturalness for representative photographs of each site. The questionnaire incorporates public ratings of the naturalness of landscapes and subjective descriptions of impressions, aiming to capture public tendencies toward naturalness perception of autumn waterfront landscapes. Simultaneously, subjective tendencies of naturalness perception are surveyed to compare subjective impressions with objective statistical results, ensuring comprehensive and accurate data. Finally, the landscape elements in representative photographs of typical sample sites are identified and quantified, and regression analysis is performed to develop a well-fitted naturalness perception regression model. Through correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis, the influence of each landscape element on public naturalness perception and its significance are determined.

[Results] The research finds that the most significant indicator promoting public naturalness perception is the proportion of deciduous tree (PDT). When this element is in the medium range, perceived naturalness significantly increases. The most significant indicator weakening public naturalness perception is the proportion of bare wall (PBW), as perceived naturalness decreases with its increase. Other indicators that promote naturalness perception include the proportion of yellow colored tree (PYCT) in the lower range, the proportion of colored shrubs and grass (PCSG) in the medium range, the PDT in the higher range, the proportion of aquatic plant, and the overall proportion of plants (PP). The research identifies seven key indicators directly influencing naturalness perception. Among them, the PDT has the most significant positive influence on perceived naturalness, increasing it by 0.704. In contrast, the PBW has the most notable negative influence, with a regression coefficient of −4.400, causing perceived naturalness to decrease as it increases. These findings provide a scientific basis for the design of autumn landscapes in urban waterfront spaces, helping designers better balance natural and artificial elements to enhance public natural experiences.

[Conclusion] Based on the quantitative analysis of naturalness perception, design strategies can be optimized to promote public naturalness perception, providing theoretical and technical support for the design of autumn landscapes in urban waterfront spaces. This contributes to achieving the goal of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature in landscape design. However, this research is based on empirical research conducted in the central urban section of the waterfront space of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, a highly urbanized area with distinct regional characteristics in vegetation and artificial elements. Therefore, the conclusions may not be universally applicable to all urban waterfront spaces. Additionally, the naturalness perception evaluation system constructed in this research primarily focuses on visual perception, without considering other sensory factors such as natural scents and sounds. Natural elements like floral fragrances, earthy smells, bird songs, and the sound of flowing water are also integral to natural aesthetics. Future research may incorporate multi-sensory analysis methods to build a more comprehensive naturalness perception evaluation system, and may expand the sample scope to include more types of urban waterfront spaces to validate and extend the conclusions of this research. Furthermore, combining psychological experiments and in-depth interviews may help explore the emotional experiences and psychological needs of the public in natural landscapes, providing more human-centered guidance for landscape design.

Objective This research examines the spatiotemporal distribution, evolutionary mechanisms, and sustainability of cultural heritage in the Liao River Basin, located in Northeast Asia. The focus is on the transitional zone between nomadic and agrarian civilizations, with the aim to: 1) Explore the geographic selectivity of cultural heritage distribution under environmental constraints; 2) quantify phased transitions driven by the interactions between climatic and institutional factors; 3) identify spatial clustering anomalies linked to ecological fragility; 4) develop a framework for cultural heritage conservation in ethnic convergence corridors. The research investigates how geographical, climatic, and institutional factors have shaped heritage landscapes and reveals how the interactions between these factors inform modern conservation practices. Methods A geospatial database has been utilized, encompassing 11,151 heritage sites across six categories such as ancient ruins, tombs, and buildings, as well as five historical periods ranging from prehistoric period to modern period. The data are analyzed using spatial statistical techniques and historical mapping, with the primary methods being described as follows: spatiotemporal analysis employs standard deviation ellipses and kernel density estimation to analyze distribution and density ; spatial autocorrelation analysis utilizes Global Moran’s I and Local Moran’s I to assess spatial clustering and dispersion; environmental modeling incorporates elevation and slope buffers as well as DEM-derived landforms to assess the influence of natural geography on the spatial distribution of heritage sites; historical layering analysis focuses on policy maps to track how institutional changes and infrastructure development influence the distribution of heritage sites. Multivariate regression and path analysis are used to quantify the effects of climatic and institution on the heritage evolution . Results 1) Distribution determinants: The majority of heritage sites (95.2%) are located in optimal environmental conditions: elevation: below 500 m (mean value: 217.3±134.8 m); slope: less than 6° (84.7% ranging from 0° to 3°); distance to river: within 7 km. Buffer zone analysis reveals that 63.9% of heritage sites are concentrated in areas with an elevation of 200–400 m, a slope of 2–5°, and a distance to river of 3–5 km. Neolithic sites cluster along the Xiliao River Valley (42.5°N), with kernel density peaking at 2.8 sites/km², reflecting favorable conditions for millet agriculture and early settlements.2）Phased Transition: Cold-Dry Shift (post-1000 CE): Climate deterioration led to a temperature drop of －1.2 °C and a 15% decline in precipitation, compressing agricultural margins and shifting cultural heritage cores from 42.5°N to 41.5°N. This reflects how human settlements adapted to changing climate conditions. Institutional Catalysts: The Yuan Dynasty’s postal network expansion along the 123°E longitude line increased heritage site density by 180%, lowering ethnic dissimilarity indices from 0.68 to 0.41, indicating greater ethnic integration through institutional support. Polarization: Modern industrialization concentrated 74.3% of heritage sites in the Liaodong Plains, with a Moran’s I value of 0.32 (z=92.61). In contrast, regions like the Horqin Sandy Land had site densities below 0.2 sites/km², highlighting significant cultural and environmental decline. 3）Clustering Dynamics: Global Moran’s I four distinct of clustering: initial aggregation, dispersion, re-aggregation, and strong polarization. 4）Institutional Drivers: The Qing government’s “Zhanchi” land reform system promoted agricultural expansion and helped overcome climatic constraints. This institutional innovation facilitated the movement of cultural heritage sites southward during the transitions from Liao to Yuan and Qing, underscoring the interaction between environmental stress and institutional responses. The expansion of imperial infrastructure, such as the postal network, also supported the concentration of heritage sites along major transport routes, highlighting the synergy between governance and heritage development. Conclusion The heritage landscape in the Liao River Basin demonstrates three key synergies. Eco-Institutional Coevolution: In history, the interactions between climatic thresholds and institutional innovations (e.g., Yuan postal network) shaped spatial patterns of ethnic integration and cultural heritage development, and climate change set the stage for policy adaptations that promoted ethnic convergence. Transitional Zoning: Based on the findings above, a tripartite conservation framework is proposed, comprising core reserves in the Liaodong Plains, ecological buffers along the Horqin fringe, and cultural corridors associated with historical postal routes. This framework aims to protect the region’s cultural heritage from the perspectives of both ecological degradation and modern industrial pressures. Validation of Pluralistic Unity: The basin-scale Global Moran’s I index suddenly rebounded to 0.157, empirically validating the theory of pluralistic unity, revealing nested clusters of Han-majority and ethnic-minority heritage that contribute to the formation of a shared national identity. This research introduces a dynamic conservation paradigm that integrates ArcGIS-based monitoring with adaptive governance, essential for the long-term sustainability of heritage sites in China’s borderland regions. The research’s findings also emphasize the importance of preserving the Liao River Basin’s heritage within a broader global context, offering a valuable insight for cultural heritage management in multi-ethnic, ecologically sensitive regions.

[Objective] With the rapid advancement of urbanization and the rising expectations of citizens for high-quality living environments, the Beijing Municipal People’s Government officially promulgated the Special Plan for Beijing Garden City (2023−2035) in May 2024, in response to these emerging needs. This comprehensive urban planning initiative outlines the strategic objective of achieving “overall colorization” centered around the development and enhancement of urban parks. The policy emphasizes the central role of flowers in landscape construction, ecological restoration, and promoting livable, beautiful, and culturally vibrant urban habitats. Beyond their ecological and visual value, flowers also serve as cultural symbols and contribute to residents’ emotional well-being. However, the effectiveness of floral landscape construction depends heavily on public perception, which influences the usage of these green spaces. This research investigates public perceptions of floral landscapes in urban parks across the central urban area of Beijing, with a view to identifying key themes, species, and perception patterns across different park types, thereby offering practical insights for improving landscape planning and supporting the broader goals of garden city development.

[Method] Taking 78 urban parks in the central urban area of Beijing as the research objects, this research uses Python to collect annual reviews for each park from dianping.com in 2023, yielding 13,657 valid entries, and a combination of content analysis (CA), latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling and importance − performance analysis (IPA) is employed to examine and evaluate public perceptions of floral landscapes in urban parks across Beijing. The specific process involves the following steps: Constructing a customized lexicon and segmenting the review data; establishing a flower plant perception corpus and performing CA and word frequency analysis to assess the overall perception of flower plants; applying the LDA model to extract thematic clusters and corresponding keywords, and summarizing the perception themes in alignment with the Garden City planning framework; evaluating the importance and satisfaction levels of the identified perception themes using the IPA method; and finally, categorizing and discussing the findings to propose strategies for enhancing public perception of floral landscapes.

[Result] A list of the top 15 flower plant species based on public perception is compiled, and four flower perception themes are identified. Significant differences are found in public perceptions across different park types. 1) In terms of overall perception, there are considerable differences in the degree of public perception and spatial distribution among various types of parks. Time patterns are clearly defined, with perception levels peaking primarily between March and May and September and November. A wide variety of flower species are employed, with lotus (2,250 mentions), peach blossom (1,376 mentions), and cherry blossom (1,335 mentions) being the most prominently perceived by the public. Additionally, 17 parks host flower-related cultural activities. 2) In terms of perception themes, the multiple functions of flower experiences (63%) are most prominent, followed by the aesthetic use of flower species (19%), the livelihood benefits of floral resources (14%), and the cultural value of floral attractions (4%). Public perception is more focused on functional aspects, such as photography and outings, while cultural values receive less attention. Among the three park types, the aesthetic use of flower species (22%) ranks second in historical parks, but is low in comprehensive and community parks, showing a negative correlation with livelihood benefits. In comprehensive parks, the multiple functions of flower experiences (68%) are more prominent, whereas in community parks, the livelihood benefits of floral resources (39%) are most noticeable. 3) In terms of the perception importance − satisfaction performance, advantageous flowers vary by park type, and the perception performance of various flower plant species is generally good. Lotus and chrysanthemums in historical parks are highly satisfactory, sunflowers in comprehensive parks are recognized, while chinese rose and peach blossom in community parks need to be upgraded. Besides, some flowers are highly rated while failing to attract enough attention, and limited resources need to be optimized. The perception theme performance of different types of parks varies greatly. The perception theme performance of historical famous parks is generally high. For comprehensive parks, the “multiple functions of flower experiences” stand out (68%), but the perception satisfaction is relatively low and in urgent need of enhancement. The overall satisfaction of each perception theme in community parks is relatively low.

[Conclusion] This research clarifies the primary species, thematic dimensions, and public performance evaluations related to floral landscapes across different types of urban parks in Beijing. It demonstrates that floral landscape design must be tailored to park functions, public usage patterns, and seasonal cycles to enhance user satisfaction and fulfill the goals of the Beijing Garden City initiative. The proposed perception evaluation model, not only aids local government and planners in refining floral landscape strategies but also provides a scalable methodological framework for evaluating similar projects in other cities pursuing green and livable urban transformations. Moreover, by highlighting gaps in satisfaction and underutilized floral resources, this research offers targeted recommendations for improving biodiversity, cultural engagement, and ecological value in urban landscape planning.

[Objective] Based on the paradigm transformation of China’s urban development stage in the new period, and the orientation adjustment of the landscape architecture discipline, this research aims to expand the landscape architecture body of knowledge oriented to the regeneration of urban built environment, and to further promote the core areas of the landscape architecture body of knowledge based on the practice of landscape planning and design.
[Methods] At the theoretical level, this research combines field theory and landscape urbanism. Field theory can be regarded as a new model of urban theory, which translates the theoretical framework of field theory into “symbolic space”, “social space”, and “physical space”. Field theory provides a dynamic framework for understanding social structure and power. The elements of “field” for regenerating urban built environment include both material placemaking and non-material urban systems. Landscape architecture needs to expand its body of knowledge in two ways: First, focus on the underlying multidimensional elements; second, explore the operational mechanisms among the elements of urban built environment. Then, this research points out three major shifts in the new paradigm for regeneration of urban built environment: 1) A shift in the perspective of the “field” relationship; 2) a shift in the path of urban regeneration; 3) a shift in the identity of designer. The shift in the perspective of urban regeneration has brought about a new path adjustment, which is specifically divided into three levels, namely regeneration mode, regeneration system and practice dimension. Landscape architecture should play a leading role in urban built environment with the background of urban regeneration, and landscape architects as the main body of design should gradually play the role of coordinator and harmonizer. In practice, relying on the construction of waterfront spaces and the comprehensive improvement of built environment along the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai and other major rivers nationwide, as well as a lot of practice in integration and landscaping of urban infrastructure, a “six-dimensional spatial regeneration system” targeting the regeneration of urban built environment has been developed. From the perspective change towards the regeneration of urban built environment, to the path change of urban regeneration, and to the identity change of landscape architect, a positive feedback loop of “macro – meso – micro” realms has been constructed, and the body of knowledge required for landscape architecture has been continuously expanded.
[Results] This research proposes to, by virtue of the advantages of the landscape architecture discipline, break through professional boundaries, break down departmental barriers, and integrate multiple resources to strengthen the influence of the theoretical and practical levels on the expansion of the landscape architecture body of knowledge, which involves the following six aspects. 1) Systematic knowledge of placemaking. The basic framework for the expansion of the body of knowledge towards the regeneration of built environment is constructed. For spatial construction regarding the regeneration of built environment, it is necessary to combine with urban design thinking to strengthen the comprehensive, holistic, systematic and three-dimensional integration of multiple elements. 2) Cultural knowledge of historical context. The “mixed nature” of built environment is actually the external manifestation of the richness of the city, and in the face of the complex conditions and information of the city, it is a challenging task to sort out and continue the “cultural genes” of the city, and it is necessary to take into account the historical landscape and urban life, and realize the combination of the physical environment and living scenes. 3) Integration knowledge of infrastructure. Under the stock development mode, the integration and landscaping of infrastructure is an important trend in the regeneration of urban built environment, especially in the coupling of urban infrastructure and public space, which can realize multiple benefits. 4) Constructive knowledge of scene nodes. The creation of scene nodes is indispensable for systematic spatial construction, which leads to the comprehensive enhancement of a larger area, so that different nodes together constitute a scene that serves the daily life. 5) Ecological knowledge of environmental restoration. Ecological restoration in high-density built environment faces unique environmental conditions and often faces more constraints, and landscape architecture has great potential in ecological restoration. 6) Artistic knowledge of public space. It suggests to shift from city beautifying by art to city shaping by implementing art, to give full play to the value of landscape architecture in “aesthetic education”, to implement art and culture into daily life, and to improve the quality of urban public space through comprehensive means for spatial construction.
[Conclusion] Advocating the cross-border design and multidisciplinary integration, the “whole design” concept may help optimize the path for expanding the landscape architecture body of knowledge in the context of paradigm shift, and promote the community of landscape architecture to create new values and paradigms for the regeneration of urban built environment.

[Objective] With the shift of urban development mode from “incremental expansion” to “stock renewal” in China, the renovation of urban historic districts has become the main work of urban planning and landscape architecture. Urban historic districts are primarily composed of high-density buildings. However, due to the hybridity of architectural styles and puzzling characters of historic districts, the past renovation usually uses a certain traditional architectural style to regularize all spaces, which destroys the rich historic connotation and potential of tourism development of urban historic districts. Accurately extracting the architectural characters and delineating the zoning of historic landscape characters of urban historic districts is an important basis for subsequent planning and design.
[Methods] With historical layering as a clue, this research proposes a technical system for the renovation of high-density urban historic districts, which combines landscape gene theory, historic landscape characterisation (HLC) and urban historic landscape (HUL). Based on this, this research optimizes the landscape gene theory for the buildings of urban historic districts by: 1) Strengthening the historic layering analysis of architectural gene; 2) adjusting the identification principles of architectural genes by not only adding a new principle of geographical representation, but also justifying the weight between principles; 3) implementing the binary identification of both architectural genes and recessive genes; 4) establishing a general classification system for architectural genes and recessive genes, with the new classification system involving three levels, of which the architectural genes and the recessive genes are respectively divided into six and seven subitems; 5) strengthening the correlation analysis of the binary genes. By this way, recessive genes, which do not have spatial attribution, can be mapped into space. Then the research utilizes K-means clustering algorithm to optimize the zoning method for historic landscape characters. Finally, the research takes the Pun Tong Historic District in Guangzhou as an example to test the effectiveness of the optimized method mentioned above.
[Results] The research shows that the the Pun Tong Historic District consists of four historic layering, namely the traditional rural period (from Tang Dynasty to 1840), the traditional township period (1840 – 1911), the modern township period (1912 – 1948), and the contemporary township period (from 1949 to the present). The Pun Tong Historic District is identified with a total of 38 architectural genes and 23 recessive genes. The research establishes four incidence relations for the Pun Tong Historic District: 1) The incidence relation between architectural genes and architectural styles; 2) the incidence relation between architectural genes and historic layering; 3) the incidence relation between recessive genes and historic layering; and 4) the incidence relation between dominant genes and recessive genes. Through K-means clustering algorithm and manual verification, the Pun Tong Historic District is divided into 5 historic landscape character sub-zones (A – E Zones) in combination with the types and historic layering tendency values of local buildings. Zone A, in which the Renwei Temple is located, has the most prominent characters of the traditional rural period and the township period; Zone B, which is located on the west side of the research area, has the most mixed historic landscape characters from all the aforesaid periods; Zone C, which is located on the northwest side to the Renwei Temple, has the most prominent characters from the period around 1980s; Zone D, which is located on the north side of the research area, is dominated by the characters after 2000s (later contemporary township period); and Zone E, which is on the east side of the research area, mainly shows the characters before 1980s (early contemporary township period).
[Conclusion] The optimized method proposed in this research can effectively extract the architectural characters of urban historic districts, and deduce the distribution of historic layering tendency values and recessive gene tendency values according to the distribution of architectural genes, so as to realize the zoning of historic landscape characters of high-density urban historic districts. This method provides a new cognitive perspective and an improved technical method for renovation of urban historic districts, and can further be combined with HUL method to contribute to the preservation and development of urban historic districts. The practical application of this method in Pun Tong Historic District has tested the operability of the method. In the future, the method can be extended to the general urban historic districts by superimposing the distribution of natural elements and other faceted elements to achieve a more comprehensive landscape character assessment.

[Objective] Under the background of the optimization of urban construction stock, the improvement of street space quality has become an important leverage for urban quality and efficiency enhancement. Although the importance of human-centered street space quality enhancement has been widely recognized at theoretical and cognitive levels, there is still a lack of practical guidance and operational frameworks in actual design practice. Existing research mainly focuses on measuring street space elements and analyzing their influence weights, but still lacks the refined determination of the optimal threshold intervals for street space indicators. This gap makes it difficult to translate theoretical findings into specific spatial design standards and interventions. Additionally, current guidelines provide limited guidance on street space elements, with broad or missing element intervals and insufficient support from evidence-based practice. Therefore, this research, rooted in human perception, employs VR and wearable biosensors for embodied perception experiments to refine the threshold intervals of street space elements, thus enabling more precise and operational improvements in street space quality.

[Methods] In this research, based on classical research and current guidelines, 4 functional types, 2 classification levels, 4 key elements, and their corresponding guidance thresholds for street spaces are identified. Then, 8 typical streets are used as spatial prototypes, and 251 virtual reality scenes are constructed based on the threshold of each key element, 185 participants are recruited to conduct an embodied, evidence-based perception experiment integrating subjective preferences and wearable biosensors. Based on measurement data, the analysis begins with assessing psychological comfort of key street space elements using a grouped scatter plot from ChiPlot. This helps to verify the validity of the experimental data and optimize the empirical guidance intervals in the current guidelines, providing a reference for eliminating physiological data outliers and determining effective physiological threshold intervals. Then, the window-based change point detection algorithm is used to process the physiological data, and the threshold intervals of the key elements of different types of street spaces are further determined. Finally, the physiological threshold intervals are compared with the guidance intervals to evaluate the influence of physiological data on the refinement of threshold interval.

[Results] In psychological dimension, different street types have similar comfort intervals in terms of interface permeability and utility area width, and sidewalk width threshold exhibits “moderate effect”. Physiological analysis shows that sidewalk width threshold is not significantly affected by cycle parking, and the difference is between 0.6 − 1.2 m for most street types. The sidewalk width interval in traffic streets is significantly affected by road grade, with the main road ranging from 4.2 m to 5.1 m and the secondary road ranging from 2.4 m to 3.2 m. Participants have a higher demand for sidewalk width and interface permeability on main road in commercial streets. People generally feel more comfortable when the utility area width is between 3.7 m and 4.1 m, and interface permeability is between 74% and 86%. Finally, through the embodied evidence-based perception experiment, the research reveals that the quantitative results of physiological data are highly consistent with the participants’ subjective perception. Furthermore, physiological data can refine and supplement the guidance thresholds for elements in the current guidelines, with the threshold range contraction reaching 20% − 80%.

[Conclusion] This research proposes a systematic framework for analyzing the threshold interval of street space elements. Compared to previous analyses, this method refines the quality utility intervals of street space elements, breaking through the inherent paradigm of traditional research which is limited to the perception comfort measurement of street space quality. Additionally, this research combines virtual reality and wearable biosensor technologies to establish a comprehensive and easily applicable measurement framework. With this method, the rapid refinement of measurements for existing representative street types and the threshold intervals of spatial elements is achieved. This research also formulates specific design strategies and index recommendations from a quantitative perspective, thereby providing scientific basis and practical support for the accurate improvement of the built environment quality and design guidance and control.

【目的】健康老龄化是世界卫生组织（World Health Organization, WHO）提倡的一项优先政策，旨在创造能够支持老年人健康积极生活的环境，提高老年人的健康水平。目前，学界对自然干预措施（nature-based interventions, NBIs）的研究方兴未艾，NBIs日益受到科学家和学者的关注。【方法】采用范围综述的方法探讨针对社区老年人的NBIs类型及其理论框架。运用史蒂芬斯数据库（EBSCOhost）对Academic Search Premier、Art & Architecture Complete、CINAHL Complete、Education Resources Information Center（ERIC）、GreenFILE、MEDLINE 6个数据库进行检索。检索文献的语种涵盖中、英文，但仅检索到英文文献，最终共纳入22篇文献进行分析。【结果】关于老年人NBIs类型的研究成果较为多样化，但仅有3篇文献探讨了理论框架。尽管健康老龄化已被WHO列入全球国家政策议程的关键优先事项，但是检索到的文献都聚焦于个体健康，没有一篇侧重于老年群体的健康促进。【结论】老年人是一个特殊群体，随着年龄的增长，身体机能会逐渐下降，然而他们有着个性化的需求，因此在为老年人制订健康促进计划时需要特别注意。研究人员和从业人员需要把握当前形势，以宏观、系统的视角来审视健康问题。

[Objective] Scenic spot titles are one of the constituent elements of Chinese classical gardens and an indispensable part of garden construction activities. The temporary palaces for emperor’s inspection tour belongs to royal gardens, and Qing Dynasty witnessed the largest number and largest construction scale of temporary palaces. The current research mainly focuses on the historical background, site selection, layout, and architectural form of temporary palaces, with less emphasis on scenic spot titles, which, however, serve as a recording window for travels and experiences of emperors in Qing Dynasty, and are exactly the most intuitive part of the expression of imperial culture and spirit by temporary palaces. Although there are various research perspectives, which are not yet sufficient to reflect the similarities and differences in the composition and spiritual expression of scenic spot titles between temporary palaces and other types of gardens. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to comprehensively sort out the scenic spot titles of temporary palaces.

[Methods] Text analysis is a method based on mathematical statistics and computer linguistics, aiming to obtain the internal relationships and patterns of text data based on the information retrieval technology. With high literary value, scenic spot titles are mainly composed of single or multiple words, presenting concise text easy to process. This research selects 14 typical temporary palaces for emperor’s inspection tour in Qing Dynasty as the research objects. To ensure the wide and representative selection of temporary palace, the research involves 7 regions, 5 types of inspection tour routes, and 3 scales, namely large, medium, and small scales. The physical remains of temporary palaces in Qing Dynasty are relatively rare after undergoing changes, for which literature research is the most basic research method. This research collects historical materials and selects effective information related to typical palace cases, and sorts out 187 scenic spot titles and 196 representative imperial poems and essays. On this basis, text analysis is used as a quantitative method, and ROST CM6 software is used as an analysis tool to input all the 187 titles and 196 imperial poems into the text document. Such titles and poems are analyzed from multiple perspectives including word frequency analysis, and semantic network analysis.

[Results] 1) From the basic composition, 64% of the titles are written by Emperor Qianlong, 23% by Emperor Kangxi, and the rest cannot be confirmed due to missing records. The titles adopt a three character grid as the mainstream form. Each functional space is indicated by its title that is corresponding to its artistic conception, with the number of titles in sightseeing spaces being the highest. 2) From the perspective of category composition, the titles can be divided into the two categories of natural landscape and cultural landscape, with more natural landscapes reflecting the careful consideration of landscape environment in the selection of palace sites. Among them, the northern and eastern tour routes are mostly described as natural landscapes, while the western and southern tour routes are mostly described as cultural landscapes, reflecting the differences in the areas and purposes of the tour routes. The elements of “cloud, pavilion, hall, stone, zhai, qing, and mirror” appear most frequently. 3) From the perspective of theme composition, the four types of themes present a “center – edge” radiating correlation, that is, “mountain & forest wild interests” and “scenic buildings and structures” are concentrated in the center area, while “waterscapes set off by glittering ripples” and “historical religious sites” are scattered in the edge area. Among them, the themes of “mountain & forest wild interests” and “waterscapes set off by glittering ripples” mainly describe different elements from various scales, with such elements integrated as a scenic spot map. The construction of scenic spots is combined with nouns and adjectives for various constructions. The allusion fairyland highlights the purposes of emperor’s inspection tour in Qing Dynasty, namely review of the past and reflection on the present, history-based introspectiona, respect for Confucianism, and culture-based country governance. 4) Scenic spot titles can directly prove the palaces’ shouldering the mission of inspection tour and symbolizing the imperial power. Led by inspection tour activities, each type of inspection tour route has its own emphasis on spirit expression, which can be summarized as praising the prosperous times of peace, establishing the image of benevolence and filial piety, and practicing self-cultivation, diligence, and self-reliance.

[Conclusion] The rich content and comprehensive spiritual expression of the titles of scenic spots in temporary palaces in Qing Dynasty, present a complexity different from other types of gardens, making them unique in the scenic spot titles of classical garden. It is evident that the purpose of the emperor inspection tour and the nature, history, and culture along the tour routes have a significant impact on the composition of the titles of scenic spots in temporary palaces. As an important component of royal gardens, the temporary palaces in Qing Dynasty have great historical and cultural value. The comprehensive research on scenic spot titles can help deeply understand the important political activities and ruling means in Qing Dynasty, such as emperor inspection tour. Furthermore, the rich and unique composition and spiritual expression of scenic spot titles have certain inspiration and reference value for the titling of scenic spots in modern gardens.

[Objective] Megacities are generally characterized by serious urban scale expansion and dense population, which has resulted in increasingly prominent problems such as insufficient green space and uneven spatial distribution. In order to better solve these problems, at the beginning of 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the Notice on the Pilot Work of Opening and Sharing of Urban Parks and Green Spaces, which encourages localities to break new ground in the opening and sharing of parks and green spaces in a pilot manner, so as to meet the new needs and expectations of the people in the new era. Since then, all parts of the country have begun to open and share urban parks and green spaces. However, currently, such opening and sharing in China is still in the stage of free exploration without sufficient theoretical research or practical experience. As a benchmark for other large, medium and small cities, megacities are of great practical significance in exploring new paths for opening and sharing parks and green spaces in a balanced, efficient and scientific way, in order to enhance the multiple service functions of parks and satisfy the people’s aspirations for a better life. Therefore, it is urgent to think about how to realize the long-term development of innovative means and implementation paths for the opening and sharing of parks and green spaces in megacities. [Methods/process] Megacities, as a higher-order form of urban development, have the most excellent allocation of resources for parks and green spaces, while also facing greater construction pressure and severe problems than small cities, such as uneven distribution of green space resources and limitation of park service scope. By sorting out the current implementation of park opening and sharing in megacities and analyzing the deep-rooted internal reasons, which are crucial for promoting the pilot opening and sharing of parks in the future, this research summarizes the following four problems. 1) Green space layout problem: Uneven distribution of green space for the implementation of park opening and sharing in megacities. 2) Green space utilization problem: The open and shared park green spaces in megacities are inefficiently utilized. 3) Green space operation and maintenance problem: The open and shared park operation mode of megacities keeps to the beaten track. 4) Green space management problem: The park management system of megacities is inefficient, random and extensive. In such egacities as Singapore, London, Tokyo and New York , the research and practice of park opening and sharing have been carried out for a relatively long period of time, gradually giving birth to a perfect top-level design approach, an efficient and feasible planning system, a multi-party operation mode, and a scientific and reasonable later-stage management and operation mechanism in the specific implementation of park opening and sharing, which can provide certain inspirations for the opening and sharing of China’s parks. By analyzing the practice of park opening and sharing in the four international megacities in combination with relevant policy and legislation, planning idea, operation system and management mode, the research systematically summarizes the characteristic highlights and successful experience in park opening and sharing of the megacities from the following four aspects, respectively. 1) Inspiration from Singapore’s experience: Strengthen top-level design and insist on government leadership. 2) Inspiration from London’s experience: Prepose grading and classification under the guidance of macro-planning. 3) Inspiration from Tokyo’s experience: Clarify park operators and diversify participants. 4) Inspiration from New York’s experience: Ensure flexible management and maintenance, and rational utilization of resources. [Results/conclusion] This research systematically sorts out the development paths of parks in foreign megacities to realize high-quality opening and sharing, summarizes their characteristic highlights and successful experiences in park renewal and reconstruction, and puts forward the opening and sharing model of parks and green spaces in China’s megacities that is oriented by realistic problems, guaranteed by policies and regulations, guided by macro-planning, and based on fine management, so as to promote the standardization, scientification, and rationalization of the opening and sharing of urban parks and green spaces, and provide certain reference for deepening park opening and sharing in the future. Moreover, the research also provides some reference suggestions for the implementation of park opening and sharing in China from the following four aspects, respectively. 1) Improve the policies and regulations on park opening and sharing, and strengthen the governmental top-level design. 2) Regulate the layout of green space under the guidance of macro-planning, and build a hierarchical classification system following the principle of preposition. 3) Attract social organizations to highly participate in park operation, and establish an efficient multi-party cooperation mechanism. 4) Improve the long-term mechanism of park management, and strengthen the ability of fine management. The park opening and sharing work of China is a concrete implementation and embodiment of the “people-centered” development concept, well responding to the people’s urgent demand for urban green public space. In the future, the opening and sharing of urban parks in China will make steady progress and achieve long-term development.

[Objective] With the development of urbanization and industrialization, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, and the issue of global warming has attracted more and more attention. Actively responding to the issue of climate change, China has put forward the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals for carbon emission reduction. Landscaping trees play an important role in increasing urban natural carbon sinks and neutralizing urban anthropogenic carbon emissions. To maximize the carbon sink of the limited urban green spaces, it is necessary to choose landscaping tree species with high carbon sequestration capacity. Beijing is facing various environmental problems, such as severe urban island heat effect caused by vast greenhouse gas emission, and air pollution. The low-carbon landscaping construction practice in Beijing can not only alleviate urban problems, but also improve the human settlement environment, making people live healthier and happier. Furthermore, such practice in Beijing, the capital city, can set a significant example for other cities. Therefore, the research on carbon sequestration capacity of common landscaping tree species in Beijing is of great importance, especially considering that relevant research is still not sufficient and complete at present.
[Methods] According to the principles of ecological adaptability and representativeness, this research mainly considers tree species seldom involved in the current research (Vitex negundo var. heterophylla, etc.), while highly recommended in Beijing in recent years (Chionanthus retusus, etc.), and then takes 30 common landscaping tree species in Beijing urban green space as the research object. The research selects 5 standard plants for each specie. All the selected plants are located in the open spaces (without shade) of urban parks in Beijing, which are far away from water bodies and buildings and have similar habitats. The photosynthetic physiological parameters were monitored with Li-cor 6400 portable photosynthetic analyzer in four seasons in 2022 and 2023. Based on the monitoring results, the average daily photosynthetic rate in different seasons is calculated. According to the assimilation amount method, the annual carbon sequestration per unit leaf area, per unit land area and per plant are calculated respectively. Moreover, the carbon sequestration capacity of tree species is graded by cluster analysis, and the differences in carbon sequestration capacity between tree species with different life forms are tested by independent-sample t.
[Results] Among the tested tree species, the daily average photosynthetic rates of evergreen and deciduous tree species in different seasons follow the same order: Summer > spring > autumn > winter. According to the indicators of annual carbon sequestration per leaf area, annual carbon sequestration per land area and annual carbon sequestration per plant, the tested tree species can be divided into levels I, Ⅱ and Ⅲ (from high to low), respectively. The carbon sequestration capacity of Ulmus pumila is outstanding, which belongs to level Ⅱ and above in all the three indicators. The comprehensive carbon sequestration capacity of the tested tree species is evaluated based on annual carbon sequestration per unit land area and per plant, and the performance of Salix matsudana (among all the tested arbors) and Prunus tomentosa (among all the shrubs) is the best. Among all the tested tree species, the annual carbon sequestration per plant of arbors is significantly higher than that of shrubs, but there is no significant difference between the two in terms of both the annual carbon sequestration per unit land area and the annual carbon sequestration per unit leaf area. The reason why there is no significant difference in the annual carbon sequestration per unit land area between arbors and shrubs may be related to the application forms.
[Conclusion] In the practice of low-carbon landscaping in Beijing, the application of landscaping tree species should be comprehensively considered from multiple perspectives, including ecological adaptability, ecological benefits, aesthetics, etc. On the basis of fulfilling other functional needs, from the perspective of carbon sink, landscaping tree species with high carbon sequestration capacity should be fully applied. The arbors such as Salix matsudana, Ulmus pumila, Paulownia tomentosa, Eucommia ulmoides, Aesculus chinensis, and shrubs such as Prunus tomentosa, Vitex negundo var. heterophylla, Viburnum opulus subsp. calvescens and Rosa xanthina are highly recommended. Future research is supposed to further discuss the differences in carbon sequestration capacity between the colored-leaf plant species and its original plant species, and carbon budget in the whole life cycle of landscaping tree species, which can further provide a scientific basis for the construction of low-carbon landscape in Beijing, thus helping achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

[Objective] As the national capital of China and a megacity, Beijing urgently needs to explore new pathways for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature to achieve high-quality development. Against this backdrop, advancing the Garden City initiative has become a critical strategic task. To translate the goals of Garden City development into actionable and measurable practices, establishing a scientific and context-appropriate evaluation framework is imperative as fundamental support. Currently, there is a lack of specialized systematic assessment tools for evaluating Garden City initiatives. This gap hinders the ability to effectively guide implementation, monitor progress, and precisely quantify nature’s contribution to public well-being. Therefore, the core objective of this research is to develop a dedicated indicator system for Beijing’s Garden City development, and establish a set of quantifiable indicators integrating critical dimensions.

[Methods] This research positions the future value of Garden City from a historical perspective. By reviewing the evolution of relevant indicator systems, the research identifies the iterative process and development trends of urban-nature indicator systems. Subsequently, the research combines the needs of Beijing’s urban planning and management to discuss the approach and characteristics of constructing Beijing’s Garden City Indicator System.

[Results] Since the 1990s, city – nature evaluation frameworks and indicators have continuously evolved, playing an increasingly significant role in optimizing urban natural systems and advancing sustainable development. Globally, there is growing emphasis on promoting city – nature evaluation systems, with urban biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people becoming critical dimensions for measuring future urban progress. Reviewing the evolution of specific indicators within the aforesaid city – nature evaluation frameworks reveals that the focus on city – nature relationships has shifted: From emphasizing green quantity to quality; from concentrating on ecosystem services to caring about nature’s contribution to human’s well-being, and from objective indicators for quantitative evaluation to indicators valuing residents’ actual experiences and perceptions. There is a growing emphasis on assessing the interactions between urban residents and nature. These trends, particularly the focus on natural well-being and human-centered considerations, align with the future value of the Garden City. The key challenges that require further innovation and exploration in establishing the evaluation system for Beijing’s Garden City include how to more systematically highlight this future value of Garden City while building on these trends, how to showcase Beijing’s unique characteristics, and how to ensure the system aligns with practical management needs. In 2024, Beijing formulated the “Beijing Garden City Special Plan (2023 – 2035)”, which includes Beijing’s Garden City Indicator System constructed by this research. The indicator system highlights the core future value of the Garden City, namely enhancing public well-being based on nature, and encompasses 29 evaluation indicators. It concretizes the future value of Beijing’s Garden City across six aspects: Enhancing habitat quality in natural spaces, highlighting the capital’s landscape artistry, providing green ecological recreational experiences, creating publicly shared green spaces, strengthening climate-resilient urban adaptability, and fostering integrated production – living – ecological urban scenarios.

[Conclusion] Beijing’s Garden City Indicator System aligns with international trends by centering assessments on urban human – nature interactions, and fully integrates Beijing’s specific conditions, characterized by a strong value orientation, the ease of assessment and management, the reflection of the capital’s distinctive features, and a focus on shared benefits for all citizens and tangible experiences. This system will support the planning, construction, and development of the Garden City under the ecological civilization framework. Future development of Beijing’s Garden City should be grounded in the core value of “enhancing public well-being based on nature”. Building upon current foundations, city-nature relationships must be iteratively advanced and the indicator system leveraged to promote symbiotic development. Critical focus areas include urban biodiversity conservation, presentation of mountain-water cultural heritage, enhancement of residents’ recreational experiences, public participation in shared governance, climate adaptation through nature-based solutions, and integration of natural elements with urban renewal scenarios. Compared to global explorations during the 20th-century industrial civilization era, China’s ecological civilization system provides stronger institutional support for Garden City development. Beijing’s Garden City Indicator System holds significant potential to renew urban-nature symbiotic relationships and contribute innovative models to global practices.

[Objective] The quality of pedestrian environments is a crucial component of campus planning for comprehensive universities. As contemporary higher education increasingly emphasizes interdisciplinary communication, well-designed pedestrian environments can help foster interaction, strengthen campus identity, and promote active mobility. However, a great deal of research has identified the pedestrian-unfriendly conditions of university campuses in China, particularly those constructed in recent decades. Most empirical research has focus on sidewalks in campuses, while overlooking the characteristics and qualities of pedestrian spaces within squares, green spaces, and void spaces, revealing the limitations of quantitative evaluation. The lack of systematic characterization in existing studies also limits their applicability as practical guidances for campus pedestrian planning, in which urban design plays an integrative role. Therefore, a systematic spatial and design analysis of exemplary cases is needed. Singapore stands out for its well-developed pedestrian networks that effectively respond to tropical climatic conditions, support placemaking, and integrate with campus and urban systems. These qualities are particularly evident in its two comprehensive universities: the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). This research examines the spatial and design characteristics of pedestrian spaces in NUS and NTU, aiming to extract strategies applicable to campus regeneration. The research first establishes a framework through a literature review that synthesizes key factors related to campus pedestrian environments and distinctive characteristics of Singapore’s pedestrian planning. Building on this framework, the research combines quantitative spatial analysis with qualitative mapping, on-site observation, and design analysis to identify the configurational and design characteristics of pedestrian spaces in the campuses of the both universities mentioned above. The findings further inform a discussion on design and management strategies for improving pedestrian environments in other universities.
[Methods] This research employs a mixed-methods approach for analyzing the design characteristics of pedestrian spaces. First, the research establishes an analysis framework based on a literature review. The review summarizes key spatial factors related to pedestrian on the campus from the perspectives of international research and distinctive characteristics of Singapore’s pedestrian system. The framework comprises four dimensions: overall spatial layout, public space design and placemaking, landscape integration, and infrastructural application. Second, on-site observation, spatial analysis and design analysis are conducted to unpack the characteristics of the campuses of the both universities. Specifically, observation comprises photography, measurement, hand sketching and mapping. Design characteristics are summarized in an inductive approach, according to the four-dimensional framework. In particular, to analyze the overall spatial layout, comprehensive mapping and configurational analysis are conducted. Mapping overlays walking spaces with campus functional layout and transportation systems. Based on the space syntax theory, a configurational analysis is conducted to measure the spatial relationships between one pedestrian space to another. This research employs two classical parameters, integration and choice, to measure to-potential and through-potential of each pedestrian space in relating to other spaces at local (400 m radius) and district (2,000 m radius) scales.
[Results] The analysis reveals that both NUS and NTU develop comprehensive pedestrian systems characterized by the above four aspects, overall layout, public space, landscape integration, and infrastructural application. First, continuous networks of covered walkways connect academic, residential, and service functions, as well as public transport nodes. The compact built form of the campuses of the both universities shortens pedestrian distance, promotes pedestrian activities, and makes pedestrian systems more efficient. Public transport routes are accessible to the campuses and share stops with campus shuttle, well-connected with covered walkways. Major covered walkways are laid out effectively to support local pedestrian activities, shown by high 400 m Choice values. While campus roads are supportive to the public transport for accessing to the campuses, shown by 2,000 m Choice. Besides, special attention should be paid to relations between multiple types of pedestrian spaces and campus roads and the configurational legibility of pedestrian spaces. Second, pedestrian spaces at NUS and NTU are characterized by their public space design and placemaking, which extend pedestrian nodes into multifunctional places that support studying, social interaction, and leisure. These node spaces are equipped with diverse forms of seats, lights, plants and equipment for better thermal comfort, encouraging encounter and stay. In particular, maintaining pedestrian spaces, both paths and nodes, at a human scale is crucial not only for users’ comfort while staying, but also for minimumizing impact on nature. Third, landscape integration balances aesthetic design with ecological and environmental performance. Shaded corridors, rain gardens, and terrain-responsive pathways enhance thermal comfort, support stormwater management, and strengthen ecological sustainability, while preserving the natural terrain and reinforcing campus identity. Fourth, infrastructure application comprises pedestrian-friendly elements and climate-responsive design. Natural ventilation, canopies, and semi-open transitions enhance microclimatic comfort, while durable materials, modular drainage systems, and traffic-calming measures improve accessibility, safety, and long-term maintainability. Despite these strengths, challenges persist, such as narrow pedestrian routes and limited connectivity with adjacent neighborhoods. Nevertheless, the two Singapore examples illustrate how progressive infill and adaptive design renewal can transform pedestrian systems into cohesive, efficient, and socially vibrant pedestrian environments.
[Conclusion] NUS and NTU demonstrate effective coverage of pedestrian spaces for core university functions with limited investment. Moreover, design strategies integrating pedestrian spaces with campus functions, public spaces, landscape resources, and transport systems can create walkable, vibrant, multi-functional and thermally comfortable pedestrian environments. Beyond spatial layout and design, the study offers more insights for universities subject to regeneration, particularly in China. First, despite different campus form, pedestrian space can be incrementally integrate with teaching and research spaces, amenities, and public transport. Second, creating vibrant pedestrian spaces and fostering placemaking of public space require accessible campus for pedestrian and open building public and transport spaces. A new Town & Gown relationship comprising accessible campus, shared facilities and open buildings means new management paradigms. Third, a compact building layout combined with human-scale public spaces forms the spatial foundation for active pedestrian space. This is achievable through the innovation of climate-response design elements, even under the current sunlight code of China. Fourth, digital analytical tools, such as behavioral tracking and environmental monitoring, can support participatory planning and performance evaluation. Successful campus pedestrian systems emerge from the coordination of spatial design, institutional management, and functional programming.

[Objective] Walking space is an important part of urban public space, and its spatial quality is a basis for the construction of walkable cities, which directly affects residents’ travel willingness and walking experience.
[Methods] This research takes relevant literature on walking safety screened from Web of Science and CNKI databases spanning the period from 1975 to 2022 as research object, and analyzes the distribution characteristics of literature related to the current research on walking safety and environmental influencing factors thereof, as well as such contents as research context and research hotspots.
[Results] Firstly, from the perspective of literature distribution, a large number of works of scholars in such fields as traffic engineering, public health and sociology have been cited in literature on walking safety, reflecting that pedestrians’ activity safety, traffic safety and security needs are important directions to promote the research on walking safety. At present, the research on walking safety in developed countries is more active and fruitful. The advanced urbanization process and prominent social contradictions make developed countries and regions more capable of investing energy and funds in walking safety research, exploring the safety issues faced by vulnerable road users, and deepening the degree of research refinement. Secondly, from the perspective of research evolution, the research has the following findings. 1) The analysis results of highly cited literature concerns show that walking safety and walkers’ safety perception dominate the development direction of relevant research. 2) Based on WoS database, the analysis of theme words shows that taking accident analysis as the core, taking pedestrian characteristics as the perspective and taking new technology as the guidance are the three major topics in the field of walking safety research. New data and technologies support the analysis of core environmental factors influencing walking safety. 3) Based on CNKI database, the analysis of keywords shows that domestic research focuses on the spatial quality of walking environment and the special needs of vulnerable walkers, and it is urgent to establish a walking safety environment evaluation system in China. In addition, the keyword analysis also shows that the impact of built environment on pedestrian safety accidents and pedestrian safety perception has become a focus of attention. Thirdly, from the perspective of research hotspot, it can be seen form the three dimensions of activity safety, traffic safety and security that, different levels of environmental elements such as neighborhoods, streets and intersections, have important influence on walking safety. In recent years, the extensive application of quantitative analysis and data calculation methods has brought new ideas and technologies to the research. Especially in the field of data mining regarding urban form and walkers’ psychological perception, new technologies are helpful for in-depth analysis of the influence of built environment factors on walking safety. Finally, the research trend of walking safety is reflected in three aspects: Research object, content and method. Research object has expanded from collision accident to walkers’ psychological perception, and researchers increasingly pay attention to the influence of the safety quality of walking environment on pedestrian psychology. As the urban built environment is facing more and more complex conditions, the research focus extends from the analysis of individual collision accidents to the comprehensive urban environment construction. Research methods have also been developed from single-specialty technical analysis to multi-dimensional integrated research, which promotes the comprehensive application of research methods from such fields as environmental psychology, traffic safety and road engineering in the research on walking safety.
[Conclusion] This research reveals the development direction, main context and research hotspots on walking safety and environmental influencing factors thereof, highlights the significant influence of multi-level built environment factors on walking safety and walkers' safety perception, and provides theoretical support for empirical researches on walking safety environment. In future research, it is necessary to conduct collaborative thinking on walking safety and pedestrian safety perception, promote the applicability of relevant research technologies, and pay attention to the influence of the development of emerging transportation technologies on the safety quality of walking environment.

[Objective] In the mid-to-late stages of China’s urbanization process, the high-quality development of existing urban areas has placed higher demands on the functions and benefits of park green spaces, making operations a new focus for the renewal and construction of urban parks. However, due to constraints such as construction scale, resource endowment, location and transportation, customer base, as well as external factors like public welfare attributes, funding sources, and policies, existing urban park operation strategies can hardly fully utilize the potential value of green spaces and achieve the ideal revenue capacity needed to support continuous park operation. The rise of sectors such as integrated transportation and tourism, and the low-altitude economy, highlights the opportunities that entertainment consumption and new technologies bring to the construction industry. As a dynamic form of the digital economy, video games are exerting a significant radiating effect on the consumer service and cultural tourism sectors. This research explores the use of gamification methods to provide new ideas for digital economy operation of urban parks, with a view to seizing these emerging opportunities and unlocking the diverse values of urban parks. [Methods] The positive value of games is gaining wider recognition and serving as an important cultural and artistic medium across more interdisciplinary fields. Game researchers have begun to use spaces like natural wilderness areas, archives, and art galleries as platforms for promoting the positive value of games. Urban parks also possess the potential to serve as carriers of the positive value of games. In game studies, landscape architecture has always been an important research subject, providing materials and support from perspectives such as art and landscape history. Gamification methods and related technologies have already been applied in various forms in the teaching, research, and new display media within the field of landscape architecture. [Results] Like landscape architecture, games carry leisure and recreational functions and profound cultural attributes, with their design and operation reflecting simulations of the real world. Based on these common characteristics, this research uses mainstream ontological thinking from game studies to establish a shared ontological model for both games and landscape architecture. The model includes three core elements: environment, people, and rules Using these elements as a framework, the research explores gamification applications in three aspects: design, service, and operation. The results identify three categories of methods: Interactive experience-oriented scene design, human-centered service based on co-creation relationships, and rules and operations for sustained revenue. These methods not only provide a conceptual framework for park operations but also offer support for other work related to urban parks. Based on this system of methods, an analogy and transfer approach is used to create a framework for the sustainable operation of gamified parks within the digital economy. This includes conservative and radical digital economy mode transfer approaches, value-added products and token systems, consumption service scenarios and event planning directions, as well as the construction of support and security systems. [Conclusion] The gamification methods derived from ontological thinking in landscape architecture cover potential gamified application scenarios in the design, service, and operation domains of landscape architecture, complementing existing application areas and supporting the construction of a gamified digital economy operation system for parks. This system is expected to promote the exploration of diverse values, including economic, data, and cultural aspects of park green spaces, such as value-added development, revenue enhancement, data collection, and cultural exploration and display. However, the above methods and systems require broader practical verification and attention to risks related to over-commercialization and cultural censorship. Gamification methods can also help landscape architecture professionals explore new paths for industry transformation in terms of spatial limitations, identity constraints, and cooperation mechanisms. Green spaces can also leverage their open and shared attributes to become spaces for promoting positive game values and game literacy development. Relying on innovation in interdisciplinary fields, this approach can support the shift of the planning and construction industry from the “finite game” seeking incremental growth to the “infinite game” seeking continuous renewals.

Objective The Wuding River is a key tributary of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and the Wuding River Basin has undergone rapid urban and township expansion since 1998, leading to increased fragmentation of its human settlement ecosystem. Over the past two decades, growing ecological concerns in the Yellow River Basin have driven extensive restoration efforts in the Wuding River Basin. While large-scale interventions have achieved notable results, sustaining these improvements remains a challenge. Given the basin’s fragile ecological environment, many existing projects fail to generate lasting cumulative effects, limiting their long-term impact. This research aims to develop an ecological security pattern for human settlements in the Wuding River Basin, while identifying critical ecological resources, corridors, and key restoration nodes essential for biodiversity conservation. To overcome the limitations of conventional restoration approaches, the research proposes a hierarchical and targeted ecological restoration strategy tailored to the basin’s unique environmental conditions. The goal is to balance urban development with ecological protection, thereby optimizing the security and resilience of human settlement ecosystems. Methods This research follows a structured approach based on the formulation of strategy for construction and optimization of ecological security pattern. The ecological security pattern is developed in three key steps. First, the research identifies ecological source areas through a comprehensive assessment of four core ecosystem functions — water conservation, soil and water retention, windbreak and sand fixation, and biodiversity maintenance. The Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) model is adopted to refine ecological source selection by incorporating landscape connectivity and spatial distribution characteristics. Based on this, the research maps ecological corridors and barriers by establishing a resistance evaluation system with 11 resistance factors and applying circuit theory to identify key spatial elements such as corridors, pinch points, and barriers, based on which a three-tiered “source – corridor – node” ecological security pattern is formed. Last but not the least, the research proposes a hierarchical restoration strategy: Point-scale restoration for ecological nodes, focusing on localized interventions; linear connectivity enhancement to strengthen corridor linkages and improve landscape connectivity; regional regulation at the ecosystem level to reinforce ecological functionality across larger spatial scales. Results In the Wuding River Basin, 32 ecological source areas have been identified, covering 9,533 km² and accounting for 31.50% of the total basin area. These ecological sources are predominantly concentrated in the southeastern region, where arboreal forests play a crucial role in maintaining ecological functions. In contrast, the southwestern region exhibits a more fragmented distribution of ecological sources, highlighting the need for targeted restoration efforts to improve connectivity. A total of 82 ecological corridors have been mapped, including 8 key corridors and 74 potential corridors, spanning approximately 1,044.8 km. These corridors serve to link ecological source areas, thereby creating a networked spatial structure that follows a distinct pattern: Denser in the north and sparser in the south. The research also identifies 31 ecological pinch points and 49 ecological barriers, which exhibit similar spatial distribution trends. These features are closely linked to corridor connectivity and are primarily concentrated in the northwestern region, especially in areas that bridge corridors and ecological source areas. Based on the established ecological security pattern for human settlements, a three-tiered “point – line – plane” ecological restoration framework is proposed. This framework extends westward and northward from the southeastern region of the basin, forming a hierarchical and interconnected ecological spatial structure that strengthens ecosystem stability and enhances service functions. The primary ecological restoration axis follows the mainstem of the Wuding River, acting as the backbone of the ecological corridor network. Additionally, there are also two secondary restoration axes extending westward and northward, each reinforcing the overall stability of ecosystem services. Finally, the research delineates three distinct ecological restoration zones within the basin: Key Restoration Zones, which require immediate intervention; Ecological Enhancement Zones, aimed at strengthening ecological connectivity; Controlled Protection Zones, designated for conservation with minimal disturbance. Each zone follows a structured hierarchy of implementation, ensuring that restoration and conservation efforts are precisely targeted. This zoning strategy serves as a guide for spatial management, providing a clear framework for future ecological restoration initiatives. Conclusion This research explores the ecological security pattern for human settlements in the Wuding River Basin by developing an ecological security pattern centered on ecological sources, corridors, pinch points and barrier points. This framework identifies key ecological restoration areas, and a three-tiered “point – line – plane” restoration model is introduced, forming a comprehensive ecological restoration system that spatially represents the ecological security pattern. These findings help overcome the limitations of traditional restoration approaches, promote the rational allocation of resources, and provide a scientific foundation for regional ecological protection and restoration. However, this research primarily focuses on the basin scale, establishing a mesoscale ecological security pattern for human settlements. While the three-tiered restoration framework offers general guidance, restoration strategies at the same hierarchical level must be tailored to local conditions. As a result, this research serves as a strategic guideline for overall ecological optimization within the basin, outlining key restoration and conservation priorities. Nevertheless, detailed ecological restoration strategies at the municipal, county, and village levels require further refinement, presenting a crucial direction for future research. Moreover, efforts should be made to further refine ecological restoration strategies across different spatial scales and regions to address the varied human settlement environments within the basin. At finer spatial scales — such as the municipal, county or village scale — it is essential to develop more precise and practical restoration measures in combination with local topography, land use characteristics, and socio-economic conditions. Future research should seek a more refined, dynamic, and coordinated approach to improve the scientific validity and practical implementation of the ecological security pattern in the Wuding River Basin.

[Objective] The landscape character assessment system is an effective tool to help people understand the history and current status of landscapes. Its results are widely used in land decision-making and spatial planning control. Landscape character assessment (LCA) and landscape personality assessment (LPA) are two different perspectives and systems. LCA has a certain research and practical foundation, forming a relatively mature methodology system, emphasizing the characterization of the current status of landscape. In contrast, there is relatively little research and practice related to LPA, although attention has been paid to the trend of landscape changes. In addition, there is a nested relationship in terms of value implications, landscape spatial carrier, evaluation index system, and practical application of results, and there is a certain degree of complementarity between LPA and LCA. Integrating LCA and LPA and constructing a multi-level nested framework for landscape character assessment can sort out the multi-level relationships of landscape character representation, better meet practical needs at different scales, and help people comprehensively understand the past, present, and future of landscape.
[Methods] Taking the landscape character assessment system as the research object, this research analyzes the concepts and connotations related to landscape character, and evaluates the shortcomings of existing LCA and LPA research and practice from the aspects of value dimension, indicator system, process characteristic, classification method, etc. There is considerable research and practical experience in the LCA research field, and scholars have also explored LPA. This research analyzes, evaluates, and horizontally compares relevant typical research and practical projects both domestically and internationally. The overall landscape carries the overall humanistic ecosystem, whose structurality and decomposability determine that landscape space is a complex composed of multiple relatively independent spaces, concatenation and nesting determine the multi-level nesting of the overall landscape space, and perceptibility and symbolism determine that identifying the characteristics of a landscape is a way to recognize the unique value of the landscape. Based on existing research content, the research summarizes the overall characteristics and future development trends of the two assessment methods, analyzes the differences and underlying connections between them, and explores possible integration methods for them.
[Results] LCA can describe what a landscape is, while LPA can explore why it is. Comparing the methodology of LCA with that of LPA, LPA and LCA have certain complementarity in research perspective, indicator system, classification method, and other aspects. LCA focuses on the objective description of elements and their combination level features, which can depict local landscape differences and is supported by quantitative analysis techniques; LPA focuses on the comprehensive effects in the dynamic process of resource combination, which can characterize the value and personalized characteristics of the overall landscape, but lacks quantitative classification techniques. Landscape personality is formed by highly condensed landscape character with inherent attributes that are perceived by humans, and LCA is the foundation of LPA formation. LCA and LPA have certain complementarity in different stages of landscape character assessment, and are two sets of local character representation ideas suitable for different scenes in the landscape character assessment system. The integration of the two can help optimize the landscape character assessment system in both theory and practice. Based on the overall characteristics of landscape and the nesting of landscape spatial units, integrating the perspectives and systems of LCA and LPA, a multi-level nested framework for landscape character assessment is proposed as a reference for understanding the multi-scale local characteristics and spatial systems of landscape. By combining multi-scale segmentation and spatial clustering techniques of deep learning, a technical path for multi-level nested landscape character assessment is constructed as a new idea for characterizing the local characteristics of landscape at multiple scales.
[Conclusion] In the process of developing landscape character assessment systems, there have been numerous methodological systems. The multi-level nested assessment framework and technical path integrating LCA and LPA can accurately grasp the local characteristics of landscape through quantitative assessment and spatial mapping using artificial intelligence technology at different scales of practical needs. This framework serves as a comprehensive framework in the landscape character assessment system, providing a holistic perspective for exploring the unique value of landscape. In addition, combining the integrated framework with digital technology analysis, a landscape character assessment approach that adapts to multi-scale practical needs is proposed, providing a technical path for analyzing the local characteristics of landscape based on different levels of landscape space. The landscape spatial unit system can be used as a carrier to characterize the characteristics of different levels of landscape places, and the assessment results can be integrated with applications at different scales, thus assisting in the practice of landscape planning and design, zoning control, and resource protection and utilization in different fields. The integrated framework and technical path for LCA and LPA can help future landscape character assessment research comprehensively understand the past, present, and future of landscape, systematically understand the local characteristics of landscape from both the local and overall perspectives, and combine practical needs at different scales of results.

[Objective] For urban street space, a main place for residents’ daily public activities, its greening structure plays a crucial role in influencing walking index, environmental assessment, residents’ health and economic benefits. Street greening can significantly enhance residents’ life satisfaction, especially in high-density urban environments. With the development of computer technology, it has become possible to combine visual analysis techniques to conduct a fine-grained research on urban street greening structure. Studying the spatial and temporal evolution of street greening structure not only helps understand the spatial experience and landscape changes of urban streets, but also has great significance in scientifically evaluating and optimizing urban street greening, and promoting the high-quality and sustainable development of urban street space. Urban street greening structure is a three-dimensional plant composition concept, which usually includes high-level trees, mid-level shrubs and herbaceous plants. Through historical research and analysis of street view images, the research shows that traditional street greening measurements cannot effectively reflect the three-dimensional visual experience of residents, and therefore new methods are needed to more accurately analyze the greening structure of urban streets. In summary, the purpose of this research is to propose a new research framework to finely analyze the change trends and influence mechanisms at the level of urban street greening structure. Taking the Chinese city Shanghai as an example, the research adopts advanced artificial intelligence technology and time series street view data to conduct an in-depth research on the greening structure of urban streets.

[Methods] At the data level, the road network is downloaded through OpenStreetMap, and street view sampling points are set at an interval of 50 m along the road network. Time series street view image data on the central urban area of Shanghai in summers during the period from 2013 and 2019 are collected via Baidu Map. At the model level, a self-annotated and trained deep learning model is used for semantic segmentation to identify green structures (trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants) in the street view images. Combining multiple data sources, the DeepLabV3+ model is trained and migration learning is performed to improve accuracy and generalization. At the analysis level, statistical methods are used to classify and analyze the green structures in the street view images, taking into account the frequency and distribution of the green structures. The greening structures of Shanghai streets are classified into five categories based on the type of greening, and the spatial distribution and changes of these categories are analyzed.

[Results] From 2013 to 2019, the urban street greening structure in the central urban area of Shanghai changed significantly. The results of the research show that the proportions of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants increased by 25.09%, 19.32% and 42.39% respectively during the period from 2013 to 2019. This increase reflects the enrichment of the urban greening structure in terms of plant species and distribution. In particular, the comprehensive greening area (cluster 1) increased by 23.99% in 2019 compared to 2013, and the change was particularly significant in Pudong and Yangpu districts. The cluster analysis of the greening structure of urban streets shows that the spatial distribution and quantity of each type of greening structure also changed from 2013 to 2019. For example, both tree-dominated greening areas (cluster 4) and herb-dominated areas (cluster 3) show an increase in quantity, suggesting that urban planning has made progress in promoting diverse greening and improving ecological quality. In terms of the spatial distribution of the city, comprehensive greening areas in most administrative districts increased in 2019, reflecting the city’s continued investment in enhancing the living environment for residents and improving ecological functions. Especially in Pudong New Area, the vegetation changes were particularly significant due to the late development of the area, showing the positive adjustment of urban planning and greening strategies.

[Conclusion] In conclusion, it is in line with the requirements of the urban construction era to study the evolution and optimization strategies of urban street greening structures. At the level of policy and greening impact, Shanghai has promoted the quality of urban greening through the implementation of policies such as the Shanghai Greening Regulations. The policies have not only enhanced the aesthetics and functionality of green spaces, but also protected them through legal provisions and promoted community participation and environmental protection awareness. At the level of socio-economic benefits of greening structures, street greening can indirectly enhance property values by providing recreational space and improving the urban microclimate, and reduce public health expenditures by increasing biodiversity and improving air quality. At the level of classification and application of street greening structures, different street types require different greening structures to meet their functional needs according to their user groups and environmental characteristics. The dimension of greening structures and urban ecosystems emphasizes that through rational design of greening structures, the ecological system of the city can be enhanced, the microclimate improved, the biodiversity increased and the ecological network formed. This research can provide urban planners and policy makers with a new perspective on how to improve the quality of urban environment and residents’ life through urban street greening. It also points out the challenges in the process of urban greening, such as financial constraints and technical difficulties, and suggests appropriate solutions.