Urban River Transformation and the Landscape Garden City Movement in China

How Do Ecological and Recreational Features of Waterfront Space Affect Its Vitality? Developing Coupling Coordination and Enhancing Waterfront Vitality

People are increasingly concerned with natural environment quality (NEQ) as well as recreation services (RS) as the popularity of natural experiences grows. Specifically, public spaces in ecologically sensitive areas must achieve coordinated eco-recreational development. Waterfront spaces fall into this category, providing a high-quality natural environment and facilitating various recreational activities. This paper uses two waterfront spaces, Foshan New City Riverfront Park and Nanhai Qiandeng Lake Park, as sample sites, divides 22 waterfront space samples into specific research objects, introduces dual variables for RS function and NEQ, and uses mathematical and statistical methods, such as Pearson correlation analysis, coupling coordination degree calculation, and redundancy analysis, to investigate the influence of different waterfront spaces on RS function and NEQ. Finally, we propose an optimization strategy for coupling and coordinating the development of the RS function and the NEQ of waterfront space. This paper found the following: (1) RS (number of public facilities) and natural environment quality (shoreline curvature) are the dominant factors in the vitality of waterfront space; (2) optimization of RS function will restrict the development of NEQ to a certain extent; and (3) the coupling and coordination of NEQ and RS function are positively related to the vitality of waterfront space. This study can be valuable for government officials and waterfront space planners as they develop social-ecological synergy models.

Links between the pandemic and urban green spaces, a perspective on spatial indices of landscape garden cities in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably changed people's lifestyles and demands for urban green space and public open space. The National Landscape Garden Cities in China (NLGCC) policy is one of the key development models in China aimed at building sustainable cities and society. In this paper, the development of the study's selection criteria and the significance and benefits of the NLGCC policy are first summarised. 391 cities were chosen from the NLGCC list to analyse the spatial distribution and construction of driving factors. The results show that the NLGCC's selection criteria have shifted from a focus on quantity to overall habitat quality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, city resilience has been examined more closely. The NLGCC policies have boosted to address ecological and environmental crises and enhanced urban disaster preparedness. The spatial distribution analysis shows that the NLGCC is spatially unevenly distributed and has a clustering trend. A total of 54.96% of the NLGCC is concentrated in China's eastern and central regions. The natural environment and socioeconomics are two main categories of driving factors. This study provides significant value to the understanding of the spatial pattern of the NLGCC offers a reference for decision-making about the construction of urban environments worldwide.

Analysis of the Artistic Effect of Garden Plant Landscaping in Urban Greening

At present, China is at an essential stage in the progress of social civilisation. At the same time, China's current economic level is developing rapidly and the level of urbanisation is also increasing. However, the uncontrolled development of urban space and excessive consumption of land resources have led to many urban ecological and environmental problems. As a result, there is an urgent need to improve the urban habitat. Plant landscaping is an important part of the urban environment. In addition, plant landscaping is also a crucial part of the visual arts and plays a key role in the shaping of urban spaces. In the context of the urban construction boom, people are increasingly demanding quality in the urban environment. Spatial scale, as a vital factor influencing the visual effect of planting, is gradually becoming a focus of landscape design. Urban greening based on plant landscape can not only improve the urban ecological environment and enhance people's quality of life but also resolve the contradiction between the demand for urban green space and the continuous reduction of urban greening land. Therefore, plant landscaping is recognised as a key step towards global sustainable development. However, according to current research and application practice, the development of urban greenery is limited and hindered by the value of plant landscaping and its applications. In addition, no comprehensive theoretical system has yet been established at the plant scale. In other words, there are still problems of scale in plant landscaping, such as unreasonable density, disproportion, and unclear hierarchy. Therefore, this paper begins with the definition of plant spatial scale in the city and analyses plant spatial types and scale characteristics from multiple perspectives, so as to establish an overall knowledge of plant landscaping. After that, through a study of the current situation of plant landscaping in cities, a quantitative analysis of the visual scale of plant space in urban squares is carried out to address the issues of plant scale design in this research. The focus of the analysis is on the scale of plants in relation to related elements. Furthermore, this study explores the influence of visual aesthetic scale and psychological scale on planting based on the functional scale of plant elements. Finally, the above quantitative analyses are applied to derive some relative data criteria and to summarise the design strategies for the spatial scale of planting in the city. The findings of this study can provide some guiding suggestions and references for the future construction of urban greenery, thus promoting the orderly development of plant landscaping in cities.

Identification and Prediction of Wetland Ecological Risk in Key Cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt: From the Perspective of Land Development

Rapid urbanization aggravates the degradation of wetland function. However, few studies have quantitatively analyzed and predicted the comprehensive impacts of different scenarios and types of human activities on wetland ecosystems from the perspective of land development. Combined with the Habitat Risk Assessment (HRA) model and the Cellular Automata (Ca)-Markov model, this study quantitatively measured the impact intensity and spatial distribution of different types of human activities on the wetland ecosystem in 2015, simulated and predicted the ecological pressure on the wetland in 2030, and identified the ecological risk hotspots of the Yangtze River waterfront along the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The results showed that the ecological risk of wetlands in the study area was low in the urban core and high in the suburbs. Construction activities posed a greater risk to wetlands. The intensity of human activities in the ecological protection scenario will be significantly lower than that in the natural development scenario in 2030. The waterfront in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will face more ecological risks. The results of the study can provide theoretical and technical support for wetland conservation policy formulation and waterfront development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The Analysis of Urban Fluvial Landscapes in the Centre of Spain, Their Characterization, Values and Interventions

River areas are undoubtedly among the most valuable territorial areas in Europe, not only in terms of their eco-landscape and use but also, culturally. However, there is currently a sharp reduction in the extension and increase of deterioration of riverbanks around the world. A substantial part of losses and deterioration are associated with the artificialization of the territories, derived mainly from a less than respectful urbanization around these landscapes. Urban and peri-urban riverbanks are landscapes in expansion due to the continuous growth of built-up spaces. Therefore, they should be areas of preferential consideration, especially in territories with a marked tendency to dryness, like the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. This article aims to contribute to our understanding of these spaces through the study of four distinct cases in the centre of the peninsula, in particular: the river Manzanares running through the city of Madrid, the river Tagus in Toledo and running through Talavera de la Reina, and the river Henares in Guadalajara. Three of the four urban water courses analyzed are zones of special interest for waterfowl: they sustain a winter population that varies between 745 and 1529 birds and they provide a home to some globally threatened species. The density of the riparian birds is also very high during winter, these values oscillating between a mean of 141.16 and 240.12 birds/10 ha. It should be noted that the diversity of this group of birds in the four regions studies is also high (H > 2.4 nats). The article also examines the interventions and the urban planning criteria applied to these urban and peri-urban river spaces, inferring the need to reassess urban planning in river areas to ensure it is compatible with their operation, values and possible uses.

The Fit of Urban Waterfront Interventions: Matters of Size, Money and Function

Urban riverfront interventions are ubiquitous throughout the developed world, and increasingly also in the Global South. Many have failed spectacularly. We conducted a systematic review of failed riverfront interventions to draw lessons that could improve future projects. Learning from past mistakes may be more important than observing successes, because successful elements in one city may not be repeatable elsewhere, as the context and opportunity could be specific to that one city. Recognizing what did not work elsewhere may provide clues needed to improve future projects. Our results show that poorly designed riverfront interventions typically fail on several levels: a bad program, with the wrong budget and timing, no concern for local needs or context, results in an unattractive and costly intervention, with reduced to no social or environmental benefit. To create more successful interventions in the future, we should acknowledge the local context, the morphology of the river valley, the time and budget a set of solutions entail, and select uses and functions that work for a diverse crowd and provide multiple benefits, including good flood management performance and the restoration of the rivers’ natural connectivity.

The Influence of Multi-Dimensional Cognition on the Formation of the Sense of Place in an Urban Riverfront Space

Urban riverfront spaces and associated riverine landscapes play important roles in promoting human-river interactions and shaping the regional characteristics of a city. This paper explored the urban riverfront space from the material level of the riverine landscape to a multi-dimensional cognitive level and constructed a theoretical exploration model of the influence of three cognitive dimensions (sensual cognition, intellectual cognition, and rational cognition) on the ‘sense of place’ (SOP) in urban riverfronts. In addition, the measurement scales for different cognitive dimensions were explored and designed. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyse 329 valid survey questionnaires in June 2019 in Dujiangyan Yihu Park, China. The analysis of the case study results showed that the overall theoretical model had a good model fit. The sensual cognition, intellectual cognition, and rational cognition all had a significant influence on the SOP in the riverfront park, of which the intellectual cognition had the most significant influence. Strengthening the creation of a riverine landscape for intellectual cognition is expected to enhance the SOP in riverfront spaces more effectively and achieve more enriched interactions between people and rivers.

Temporal Characteristics of Waterfronts in Wuhan City and People’s Behavioral Preferences Based on Social Media Data

The appeal and vibrancy of urban waterfronts are catalysts for urban progress and sustainable urban development. This study aims to thoroughly explore the temporal characteristics of waterfront vibrancy and explore people’s behavioral preferences for various types of waterfronts at various times. On the basis of social media data, this study uses the seasonal index analysis method to classify waterfronts. Then, the kernel density estimation was used to analyze the spatial structure of different types of waterfronts. Finally, temporally weighted regression was used to indicate people’s preferences for various types of waterfronts. In general, results show the different temporal characteristics of users in waterfronts at different times and their behavioral preferences for waterfronts as the reasons behind these preface characteristics. First, on weekdays, people tend to visit daily waterfronts close to residences, and people find it convenient to walk after 18:00 and engage in recreational activities dominated by consumption and exercise, which reach a peak at 22:00–24:00. Second, on weekends, people prefer the weekend waterfronts with complete entertainment facilities and cultural themes. The natural seasonal waterfronts with seasonal landscapes attract people in various seasons, such as spring and autumn, whereas the social seasonal waterfront may be more attractive during high seasons, especially in March and June, due to big water events or nearby colleges and universities. Therefore, the government should improve the facilities of various types of waterfronts to satisfy people’s preferences at different times and help in proposing targeted suggestions with reference to future city waterfront planning and space design, contributing to the waterfronts’ vitality improvement, urban features, and promotion of urban sustainable development.