The Influence of Urban Landscape Ecology on Emotional Well-Being: A Case Study of Downtown Beijing

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your work in this field.
You did a good job!
After extensive reading, I only have a few comments for the current version, which are not many but essential.
For revision details, please see the following:

 

[1] The article proposes a method based on landscape ecology to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of emotions, but it can further clarify how to quantify the concept of "emotion" and explain the specific operational process of data collection and analysis methods. This can help readers better understand the relationship between emotions and landscapes;

[2] For the relationship between landscape pattern indices (such as SIEI, LPI, etc.) and emotions, it is suggested to further explore how these indices specifically affect the formation of emotions, which may enhance theoretical depth through more background analysis;

[3] Although the article mentions the relationship between landscape elements and residents' emotions, different types of emotions can be further subdivided and their specific distribution in different landscape elements can be explored to provide more targeted guidance for urban design;

[4] The emotional hotspots and cold spots proposed in the article have guiding significance for urban design, but it is suggested to consider the differences between different cultural and social groups, which may affect their emotional responses to the landscape. Deeply discussing these differences can help design more inclusive public spaces;

[5] When analyzing the relationship between landscape elements and emotions, the article can further consider the issue of causality. We can explore how landscape factors specifically affect residents' emotions through psychological or physiological mechanisms, thereby enhancing the theoretical depth of research;

[6] For the optimization suggestions in the research conclusions, although they provide valuable ideas, it is worth considering discussing the challenges that different cities and regions may encounter when implementing these strategies, and proposing corresponding countermeasures to enhance the practical feasibility of the suggestions.

 

If my comments are properly considered and followed, I have no further comments on this manuscript.
Again, I have a high comment on your current contribution. 
All my upon-revision recommendations are intended to help this manuscript be more readable for readers.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer #1 Comments

Dear Reviewer,

We appreciate you for your precious time in reviewing our manuscript entitled “The Influence of Urban Landscape Ecology on Emotional Well-being: A case study of downtown Beijing” (Manuscript Number: land-3496190). It was your valuable and insightful comments that help us to improve our manuscript. We have carefully considered the comments and tried our best to address every one of them. We really hope that the revised version of the manuscript can meet your standards and approval. We welcome further constructive comments, if any.

Below we provide the point-by-point responses to the comments. All modifications in the manuscript have been highlighted in yellow and blue.

[General Comment]:  Dear authors,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your work in this field.

You did a good job!

After extensive reading, I only have a few comments for the current version, which are not many but essential.

For revision details, please see the following:

[Response]: Thank you very much for your positive feedback and for acknowledging the efforts put into our work. We are glad to hear that you found our article on analyzing the spatial distribution characteristics of emotions using landscape ecology methods to be of good quality.

[Comment 1]: [1] The article proposes a method based on landscape ecology to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of emotions, but it can further clarify how to quantify the concept of "emotion" and explain the specific operational process of data collection and analysis methods. This can help readers better understand the relationship between emotions and landscapes;

[Response 1]: Thank you. In response to your comment, we would like to address the two main points you raised:

1. Quantification of the Concept of "Emotion":

We have provided a detailed explanation of how we quantify the concept of "emotion" in Section "2.2.1. Face++ Platform for Emotion Recognition" of our article. Specifically, the relevant information can be found in lines 204 to 211, which are highlighted in blue.

2. Specific Operational Process of Data Collection and Analysis Methods:

The data collection and processing details are scattered throughout the specific data and methods sections of our article. The source of landscape pattern data is described in Section "2.1.2. Data Sources and Preprocessing", which comes from Baidu API (https://lbsyun.baidu.com/) and the geospatial data cloud platform (https://www.gscloud.cn/). This information can be found in lines 157-159, line 165, and line 169, all of which are highlighted in yellow. In Section "2.2.2. Landscape Pattern Indicators", we describe the process of calculating landscape pattern indices using the Fragstats software based on detailed land use type raster data. This part of the content is highlighted in yellow in lines 257-262.

The acquisition of image data is described in Section "2.1.2. Data Sources and Preprocessing" of the article, where the source of image data is Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/). This information can be found in lines 174-175 and lines 177-178, highlighted in yellow. In this section, we describe the use of the Face++ platform to process image data and obtain emotional values. This part of the content is highlighted in yellow in lines 222-231 and 236-242.

Regarding the analysis methods, there is a description of a specific process at the beginning of Section 2.2 in the article. This part of the content is highlighted in yellow in lines 185-201. Sections 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3 provide detailed descriptions of the data collection and analysis methods.

[Comment 2]: [2] For the relationship between landscape pattern indices (such as SIEI, LPI, etc.) and emotions, it is suggested to further explore how these indices specifically affect the formation of emotions, which may enhance theoretical depth through more background analysis;

[Response 2]: Thank you for your comment. In response to this point, we have enhanced the theoretical depth of our paper by further exploring how landscape pattern indices specifically affect the formation of emotions. In the "1. Introduction" section, we have added a detailed discussion on the relationship between these indices and emotions, which can be found in lines 69-77, highlighted in blue. This addition provides a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms through which landscape patterns influence emotional experiences, thereby strengthening the theoretical foundation of our study.

[Comment 3]: [3] Although the article mentions the relationship between landscape elements and residents' emotions, different types of emotions can be further subdivided and their specific distribution in different landscape elements can be explored to provide more targeted guidance for urban design;

[Response 3]: Thank you for your valuable suggestion. The reason why this study did not further subdivide emotions into more categories is due to data and methodological considerations. Emotions are influenced by a multitude of factors, including random factors such as individual attributes. Therefore, we chose the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to analyze the impact of urban landscape patterns on emotions, in order to avoid the influence of gender as a random factor on the results. GLMM is capable of analyzing various types of data, including binary data, continuous data, count data, multi - category data, ordinal data, over - dispersed data, and non - normally distributed continuous data. For the 'Smile_value' data we obtained, binary data are the most suitable for this model. The rationale for model selection and the choice of emotion categories is explained in "2.2.3. Spatial Differentiation and Influencing Factors Analysis" of the paper. This content can be found in lines 311-313 and 316-320, highlighted in yellow.

Regarding your valuable suggestion, I will continue to conduct in-depth research in a more rigorous manner and with additional resources in the future research.

[Comment 4]: [4] The emotional hotspots and cold spots proposed in the article have guiding significance for urban design, but it is suggested to consider the differences between different cultural and social groups, which may affect their emotional responses to the landscape. Deeply discussing these differences can help design more inclusive public spaces;

[Response 4]: Thank you for your valuable suggestion. In response to this comment, I have included a discussion on the differences in emotional responses among different cultural and social groups in the "4.1. Spatial Clustering in Emotional Distribution" section of my paper. This discussion can be found in lines 507-517, highlighted in blue. I hope that this addition will enrich my research findings and contribute to the design of more inclusive public spaces.

[Comment 5]: [5] When analyzing the relationship between landscape elements and emotions, the article can further consider the issue of causality. We can explore how landscape factors specifically affect residents' emotions through psychological or physiological mechanisms, thereby enhancing the theoretical depth of research;

[Response 5]: Thank you for your valuable suggestion. In response to your comment, I have added content in the "1. Introduction" section of my paper regarding how landscape factors specifically affect residents' emotions through psychological or physiological mechanisms, thereby enhancing the theoretical depth of research. This content can be found in lines 44-52, highlighted in blue.

[Comment 6]: [6] For the optimization suggestions in the research conclusions, although they provide valuable ideas, it is worth considering discussing the challenges that different cities and regions may encounter when implementing these strategies, and proposing corresponding countermeasures to enhance the practical feasibility of the suggestions.

[Response 6]: Thank you for your valuable comment. In response to this point, I have added a discussion on the challenges that different cities and regions may encounter when implementing the optimization strategies, as well as corresponding countermeasures to enhance the practical feasibility of the suggestions, in the "5. Conclusions" section of my paper. This content can be found in lines 662-679, highlighted in blue.

Please find the revised version of our manuscript on the attachment. We really appreciate your work and thank you very much for your valuable comments for our manuscript improvements. We hope the corrections in this manuscript can meet your standards and approval.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear autors,

The overall concet, as well as structure and content analysis are clear and sound, present in a well defined matter.

The idea to investigate on the emotional quality of the urban landscape is extremely important for various discipline dealing with the urban development.

The methodological framework having two equally important platforms, one based on landusage and patterns and the other on a emotion measurement procedure is for praise. Usually its either one or the other that presends the analsys. Here your dedication to scientifically optimise both side of this see-sow is valuable.

Discussion part is particularly well presented giving the reader specific important theses of this relation between emotion and landscape patterns.

apart from the overall benefits of the outcomes I would pin point that the actual methodological quality is very important and its useability on other case study is more then just possible.

I would suggest few minor correction concerning primarely introduction part, title and conclusion, as well as some minor additions.

Addition concern some fotodocumentation showing the reader the exact Flick pictures, landscape petterns examples here and there just for other researcers to be in line with the sope and scale of the analysed.

Minor corections as follows

1. Introduction part needs to be segmented properly wwith some undertitles (no bullets needed) just separating topics that you introduce. I am also not sure about referencing USA exaples as culturaly and spatially it is completely different agenda, specifically as you do not use it in later sections not as a comparison, nor as a backup resource. Also give more space to landscape ecology or ecology of lurban landscape as it is not the same thing and in some respect it seems sometimes that it is more on the ecology of urban landcspe patterns then on the landscape ecology. Just critically think it through one more time.
2. title is explanatory but lack your vigor approach, ….. for instance The influence of emotions on the ecology of urban landscape: case study ……
3. In conclusion give stress on the possible copying this methodology on different case studies iits universality and general gramework.

All the best

Regards

Reviewer

 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer #2 Comments

Dear Reviewer,

 

We appreciate you for your precious time in reviewing our manuscript entitled “The Influence of Urban Landscape Ecology on Emotional Well-being: A case study of downtown Beijing” (Manuscript Number: land-3496190). It was your valuable and insightful comments that help us to improve our manuscript. We have carefully considered the comments and tried our best to address every one of them. We really hope that the revised version of the manuscript can meet your standards and approval. We welcome further constructive comments if any.

Below we provide the point-by-point responses to the comments. All modifications in the manuscript have been highlighted in yellow and blue.

[General Comment] The overall concet, as well as structure and content analysis are clear and sound, present in a well defined matter.

[Response]: Thank you for your positive feedback. We are glad that you find the overall concept, as well as the structure and content analysis of our manuscript, clear and sound.

[Comment 1]: The idea to investigate on the emotional quality of the urban landscape is extremely important for various discipline dealing with the urban development.

[Response 1]: Thank you for recognizing the significance of our study on the emotional quality of the urban landscape. We appreciate your positive feedback.

[Comment 2]: The methodological framework having two equally important platforms, one based on landusage and patterns and the other on a emotion measurement procedure is for praise. Usually its either one or the other that presends the analsys. Here your dedication to scientifically optimise both side of this see-sow is valuable.

[Response 2]: We are glad that you value our methodological framework. We strive to provide a comprehensive analysis by integrating both land usage and emotion measurement.

[Comment 3]: Discussion part is particularly well presented giving the reader specific important theses of this relation between emotion and landscape patterns.

[Response 3]: Thank you for your kind words about the Discussion section. We aimed to highlight the important relationship between emotion and landscape patterns.

[Comment 4]: apart from the overall benefits of the outcomes I would pin point that the actual methodological quality is very important and its useability on other case study is more then just possible.

[Response 4]: We are pleased to hear that you find our methodological quality important and its applicability to other case studies feasible.

[Comment 5]: I would suggest few minor correction concerning primarely introduction part, title and conclusion, as well as some minor additions.

[Response 5]: Thank you for your suggestion. We have made the revisions as suggested. Please find the revised manuscript attached for your review.

[Comment 6]: Addition concern some fotodocumentation showing the reader the exact Flick pictures, landscape petterns examples here and there just for other researchers to be in line with the scope and scale of the analysed.

[Response 6]: Thank you for your suggestion. In response to your comment, we have added four Flickr Image Data Samples to Table 1 in the "2.1.2. Data Sources and Preprocessing" section of our manuscript, which are highlighted in blue. We believe this addition will help other researchers better understand the scope and scale of the analyzed data.

[Minor Comment 1]:1. Introduction part needs to be segmented properly wwith some undertitles (no bullets needed) just separating topics that you introduce. I am also not sure about referencing USA examples as culturaly and spatially it is completely different agenda, specifically as you do not use it in later sections not as a comparison, nor as a backup resource. Also give more space to landscape ecology or ecology of lurban landscape as it is not the same thing and in some respect it seems sometimes that it is more on the ecology of urban landcspe patterns then on the landscape ecology. Just critically think it through one more time.

[Response Minor Comment 1]: Thank you for your valuable feedback. We have carefully considered your suggestions and made the following revisions to the Introduction section of our manuscript:

• We have reorganized the Introduction section into several parts with appropriate subheadings to better separate the topics introduced.
• We have removed references to USA examples, as they are not relevant to the study and do not serve as a comparison or backup resource in later sections.
• We have given more emphasis to landscape ecology and the ecology of urban landscapes, clarifying the differences between them and ensuring that the focus remains on the objectives of our study.

We believe these revisions have improved the clarity and focus of the Introduction section.

[Minor Comment 2]: 2. title is explanatory but lack your vigor approach, ….. for instance The influence of emotions on the ecology of urban landscape: case study ……

[Response Minor Comment 2]: Thank you for your suggestion. We have revised the title to better reflect the study's focus and vigor: "The Influence of Urban Landscape Ecology on Emotional Well-being: A case study of downtown Beijing."

[Minor Comment 3]: 3. In conclusion give stress on the possible copying this methodology on different case studies iits universality and general gramework.

[Response Minor Comment 3]: Thank you for your suggestion. In the '5. Conclusions' section, we have emphasized the universality and general framework of the methodology used in this study. We have highlighted its potential application in different case studies, providing valuable insights for urban planning and design. This content can be found in lines 645-649 and 680-686, highlighted in blue.

Please find the revised version of our manuscript on the attachment. We really appreciate your work and thank you very much for your valuable comments for our manuscript improvements. We hope the corrections in this manuscript can meet your standards and approval.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I have no further comments.