Search Results (545)

Urban public spaces matter for young people, yet how youth visually engage with the spatial elements of Indian cities remains largely unstudied. This exploratory study uses screen-based eye tracking to examine how 43 design-discipline students (aged 18–29) allocate visual attention across urban public space scenes in Jaipur, India. Thirty photographic stimuli sampling five Lynch-derived spatial elements—edge, landmark, path, plaza, and transit node—across six public spaces were each analyzed through four semantic areas of interest (built form, human and vehicular activity, natural elements, and circulation), using fixation count, total fixation duration, time to first fixation, and visit count. Attention was allocated unevenly: built form and human activity dominated the youth gaze, while natural elements consistently drew less focal attention—interpreted as restorative background rather than low importance. Landmarks anchored attention most strongly and transit nodes least. Notably, socially active and visually complex elements did not capture the gaze earliest but held it longest, suggesting that what sustains youth attention is dissociable from what initially attracts it. Inferential tests are treated as exploratory given the repeated-measures design. As the first AOI-based account of youth visual attention in Indian heritage public space, this study offers a transferable protocol and preliminary, exploratory directions for youth-responsive design—including visual anchoring at neglected transit nodes and the use of greenery for ambient comfort rather than focal emphasis. Full article

The design of urban pedestrian–cycling routes is of great importance for the sustainable development of cities. Properly designed routes encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport. They also bring numerous environmental and social benefits. The study examines how greenery and spatial characteristics influence citizens’ aesthetic perception of pedestrian and cycling corridors. The Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) method was used to assess visual landscape quality based on users’ subjective evaluations. A total of 301 participants evaluated 20 photographs taken in Lublin, Poland, depicting different types of urban routes, including sidewalks, cycling paths, and park pathways, using a five-point rating scale. Statistical analyses (ANOVA, post hoc tests, and composite and differential variable analyses) were conducted to identify patterns in preferences. The results indicate that greenery is the dominant factor shaping landscape preferences across all age and gender groups. Age plays a stronger role than gender in differentiating evaluations: younger participants prefer more natural and greener environments, whereas older participants favor more ordered and less green spaces. Gender effects are limited and primarily relate to preferences for natural landscapes. An additional finding concerns the role of benches, which were most preferred by younger and middle-aged women, suggesting a broader social and functional interpretation of this element. Overall, the results highlight the importance of greenery in shaping the perceived attractiveness of urban routes. They also indicate the key spatial features that encourage people to use these routes, which affects the use of sustainable modes of transport as well as residents’ health. They also demonstrate the usefulness of the SBE method in planning, design and managing user-friendly and sustainable urban routes. Full article

Urban green-space provision depends not only on green quantity but also on how greenery is positioned relative to buildings as urban form evolves. However, most existing assessments aggregate greenery within predefined spatial units and rely on static snapshots, thereby obscuring both its distance-sensitive distribution around buildings and its variation across urban-development trajectories. This study develops a Supply–Form framework to examine this relationship across heterogeneous development trajectories. Using multi-temporal very-high-resolution imagery from Beijing and Tianjin, we introduce Quantified Green-Space Supply (QGS), a distance-weighted indicator that accumulates greenery around buildings over nested ranges of 5–2000 m. Building-expansion trajectories are then linked to evolution-stratified XGBoost models interpreted with consensus-grouped Partition SHAP, allowing recurrent morphological groups and their within-group contributions to be compared across contexts. QGS was more strongly associated with the selected urban-form variables than conventional green coverage ($R^2=0.717$ versus $0.633$). Both cities showed higher mean QGS in 2022 than in 2012, but their internal patterns diverged: Beijing developed more continuous central low-QGS clusters, whereas Tianjin’s central cold spots contracted and fragmented. Across 15 trajectory-specific models, building density was the leading morphological group in 12, while the importance of patch size, edge structure, aggregation–adjacency, and spatial configuration varied by trajectory. Nonlinear responses showed a stable positive association for building density, diminishing returns for edge density and dispersion, adverse effects at very high adjacency, and intermediate-range benefits for patch dominance and compactness. The framework advances green-space assessment from aggregate greenness mapping to a relational, trajectory-conditioned diagnosis of potential surrounding green-space supply, providing a basis for context-sensitive urban renewal. Full article

Global water scarcity is mainly due to climate change, population growth, excessive use of water resources and inadequate water management. Alternative sources such as reusing greywater are promising in urban environments. In this context, phytoremediation, the direct use of plants to remove soil and water pollution, could be an encouraging alternative nature-based solution to traditional reuse methods. While constructed wetlands are the most common method for greywater phytoremediation, their limited feasibility in cities makes green roofs and walls a practical urban alternative. This review examines studies conducted over the last 20 years. The combination of greywater treatment through phytoremediation with urban greenery would help close the water cycle as well as make cities more sustainable. However, for this solution to be viable, several challenges must be addressed, including limited roof or wall surface area compared to traditional systems, the precise volume of water to be managed, and the selection of suitable substrates and plants essential for effective phytoremediation. This work reviews the main mechanisms and factors that drive the phytoremediation process in constructed wetlands, and based on this knowledge, delves into the challenges of applying this process to the urban context through green roofs and facades on buildings. Full article

In high-density urban areas, pedestrian route choice behavior is influenced differently by the attributes of the objective environment, depending on the purpose of the trip. To explore this issue, this paper first constructs the traditional Path Size Logit (PSL) model to perform baseline estimation of the effects of objective attributes such as path distance, intersections, number of lanes, greenery, and commercial facilities. It then introduces a hierarchical Bayesian framework to build the Hierarchical Bayesian Path Size Logit (HB-PSL) model, using the No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) for posterior sampling to quantify parameter uncertainty and capture inter-group heterogeneity. The model achieves inter-group information sharing through a hierarchical prior structure and uses Automatic Differentiation Variational Inference (ADVI) to provide rapid approximate estimation. An empirical analysis shows that different importance is given to objective environmental attributes for different travel purposes. Furthermore, this paper proposes the “Equivalent Distance (ED)” index, which transforms the preference of different groups for different environmental attributes into an actionable spatial length. For shoppers, the greening level increases by one level for every 100 m, which is equivalent to shortening the path by about 31.31 m; commercial facilities increase by one for every 100 m, which is equivalent to shortening the path by about 76.63 m. The results provide behavioral support for the formulation of differentiated walking strategies in high-density urban areas: priority should be given to strengthening the green coverage and commercial facility layout in commercial blocks to synergistically improve walking efficiency, safety, and comfort. Full article

From a Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) perspective, varying conservation intensities and statutory boundaries may create “zonal differentiation” within historic districts. However, conventional homogenized renewal strategies frequently overlook this heterogeneity, affecting physical townscapes and human perception. This study analyzes 1714 panoramic street-view images from the Core Protection Zone and Construction Control Zone of Jimei School Village. Eleven objective visual features and six model-predicted perception dimensions were examined, with locally experienced participants providing contextual validation. Integrating K-Means clustering, Random Forest modeling, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) feature attribution, the study investigates nonlinear, model-based contribution patterns across the two zones. Results reveal significant but non-binary differences in objective features and predicted perceptions. Street-view typologies show zonal tendencies while also indicating within-zone diversity and cross-zone overlap. Feature attribution shows that color composition, greenery, building interfaces, and vehicle presence are more prominent in the Core Protection Zone, whereas greenery, spatial openness, and road-space organization play stronger roles in the Construction Control Zone. This study establishes an interpretable street-view-based framework for historic-district assessment, providing empirical support for differentiated and human-oriented zonal renewal. Full article

This study aims to evaluate the comprehensive potential of cooling strategies in an old urban block in Xi’an, China, where the outdoor environment requires significant improvement. The Luomashi block is chosen as a case study. The strategies include cool pavement (CP) and facade (CF), green facade (GF) and roof (GR), tree-planting (TP), water fountain (WF) and mist (MR), and their combinations. The results show that most of the individual strategies can reduce the canyon air temperature and the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) at the pedestrian height of 1.5 m throughout the day. The combination of CP, CF, CR, TP, WF, and MR (CC1) can reduce the daily N–S and E–W canyon air temperatures by 1.4 °C and 1.0 °C, respectively. For the combination of CP, GF, GR, TP, WF, and MR (CC2), the reductions are 1.4 °C and 1.1 °C. Meanwhile, these two combination scenarios can reduce the daily mean PET by 2.71 °C and 2.87 °C, and reduce the daily cooling energy demand by 8.4% and 8.9%. The exploratory findings reveal the site-specific cooling potential of these particular mitigation configurations within the historical fabric of the Luomashi block, highlighting that the performance is highly dependent on the chosen baseline parameters and local morphological constraints. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) are vital for enhancing a city’s resilience and livability; however, their functionality is increasingly jeopardized by drought, particularly in water-scarce regions. This study evaluates drought impact on UGSs in Metropolitan Adelaide, Australia, a representative semi-arid urban system, using satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time-series data spanning 2000–2020. Vegetation dynamics were analyzed through Seasonal-Trend decomposition using Loess (STL), standardized anomaly assessment, lagged Pearson correlation, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, and Mann–Kendall trend analysis. To isolate climatically sensitive signals, 29 urban lawn patches were examined separately from mixed urban canopy, given their shallow root systems and direct dependence on surface moisture. NDVI declined by approximately 0.09 units during the Millennium Drought (2001–2009), with summer greenness deficits reaching 24% below the 20-year benchmark. Temperature was the dominant driver of lawn NDVI variability (r = −0.863, R² = 74.5%), substantially exceeding the effect of rainfall (r = 0.156, R² = 2.4%). El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles modulated vegetation responses, with La Niña years supporting recovery and El Niño years amplifying decline. Post-drought recovery remained incomplete, with NDVI deficits of 8–20% persisting through 2020; full recovery was observed only in 2017, coinciding with the highest recorded summer rainfall. No significant directional trend was detected over the full study period (Mann–Kendall τ = 0.005, p = 0.908). These findings demonstrate that heat, rather than water limitation alone, is the primary driver of vegetation stress in urban systems, highlighting the benefits of integrated management strategies that address both warming and moisture deficits to sustain urban green infrastructure under future climate conditions. We introduce the concept of “urban greenery drought,” referring to a form of vegetation stress in managed urban landscapes where greenness is reduced primarily by elevated temperature and atmospheric demand despite water availability. Full article

The assimilation capacity of the biosphere and the sustainability of the living resources are enhanced by the efficient and continued contribution of the vegetation from all ecoregions of the Earth. The urban greenery fulfills many regulatory ecosystem services (RES) as well. In this regard, the importance of urban green spaces (UGS) in helping to reduce the adverse impacts of overcrowding and changing climate is of pertinence. Lack of quantitative information from urban settings in different climatic regions seriously constrains the recognition of the important role UGS play in carbon storage and sequestration. To assess how the UGS is aiding the retention of carbon, which is photosynthetically assimilated into biomass and/or sequestered, relevant field parameters were collected from 4010 trees belonging to 34 different species, different hedge plants, and groundcover grasses spread in 24,991 m² area in three parks of Panaji city, India. Standard methods were followed to derive carbon stock and sequestration rates by trees, hedge plants, and groundcover. Notwithstanding wide differences between tree species, the weighted mean of CO₂ sequestered per tree averaged 55 kg y⁻¹ (ca. 78.82 tons ha⁻¹) in Panaji city. Accordingly, the CO₂ sequestration potential of trees, in the UGS of Panaji (by 76,751 trees) and Tumkur (with an estimated 38,152 trees) cities, respectively, was 4221.31 tons y⁻¹ ha⁻¹ and 2098 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ @ 55 kg tree⁻¹ y⁻¹. It is apparent from this first-time study that calculated tree carbon biomass and species-wise yearly carbon sequestration rates (CSRs) of 78.82 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and that of carbon production rates of 31.77 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ are far higher than the previously reported CSR estimates variously from 1 to 8 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ and carbon production rates 3.23 to 6.55 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. The hedge row carbon biomass averaged 13.18 tons ha⁻¹ and sequestration of 48.38 tons ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ CO₂. Similarly, occupying over 42% of the UGS, the groundcover carbon biomass averaged 14.69 tons ha⁻¹ with sequestration of 53.92 tons CO₂ ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. Combined CSP of existing trees, groundcover, and hedge plants in Panaji and Tumkur city UGS apparently neutralize carbon footprint of over 4550 and 2200 Indians at an annual per capita emission of 1.94-ton. It is thus undeniable that in our global fight against climate change, the addition of inputs and data from studies like these can aid in planning mitigation measure as well as in fulfilling local/regional sustainability plans and needs. Full article

City image links perceptions of urban form and environmental quality to place identity and sociocultural sustainability. However, city-scale research rarely integrates visible streetscape characteristics with visitor narratives. Using Wuhan, China, as a case study, this study integrates panoramic streetscape imagery with online visitor reviews. Semantic segmentation was employed to quantify nine streetscape visual indicators, such as building interfaces, visible greenery and water, color characteristics, and visual disturbances. High-frequency term extraction and thematic coding identified four dimensions of visitor perception: cultural, aesthetic, leisure, and scientific–educational perceptions. Statistical and spatial analyses were subsequently conducted to examine the relationships between the visual indicators and these perceptual dimensions. Leisure and aesthetic perceptions emerged as the most prominent dimensions. Color harmony, water visibility, and visible greenery were positively associated with cultural, aesthetic, and leisure perceptions. Dense building interfaces and visual disturbances were negatively associated with aesthetic and leisure perceptions but positively associated with scientific–educational perception. Hotspots of cultural, aesthetic, and leisure narrative intensity were concentrated in core Wuchang and the East Lake area, whereas scientific–educational perception showed weaker overall spatial clustering, with localized hotspots in central urban areas. These findings suggest that integrating street-view imagery with visitor narratives can help identify spatially differentiated relationships between visible urban environments and city image. The proposed framework may facilitate the identification of sustainability-relevant visual resources and provide diagnostic evidence that may inform urban design and public-space management. Full article

Urban green areas are essential for human well-being, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability. Although railway renewal projects are celebrated today, Italy pioneered the Flowery Stations Contest (FSC) in the early twentieth century. This study provides the first comprehensive synthesis of the FSC experience (1911–1915), investigating its historical evolution, organizational features, and botanical aspects. A systematic review of 81 historical documents was conducted to reconstruct the contest’s framework. To evaluate long-term impact, we surveyed 90 historically top-ranked stations via satellite imagery and investigated the case study of Ripafratta station (a fraction of San Giuliano Terme, Pisa, Tuscany). Results show the FSC involved up to 291 stations, prioritizing esthetic decorum and hygiene against locomotive soot. Although organizers recommended 64% non-native genera, stationmasters favoured local biodiversity, increasing effectively employed native genera to 43%. Nowadays, 54% of surveyed stations retain their gardens, mainly located in rural areas, yet 82% of these are neglected following the decline of the resident stationmaster’s role. We conclude that the FSC established a significant physical and cultural legacy. Recovering its model of decentralized stewardship could offer a strategic framework for modern urban regeneration, transforming stations into multifunctional hubs while preserving regional floristic identity, in alignment with contemporary European sustainability models. Full article

Urban greenery represents a crucial component of green infrastructure, influencing ecological stability, aesthetic quality, and the quality of life of urban residents. The aim of this study was to characterise the functional–spatial structure of urban greenery in the city of Nitra and to quantify the effects of selected urban, vegetation, and management factors on its aesthetic appearance and health status using an integrated statistical approach. The analysis was conducted on green spaces covering a total area of 1116.5 hectares, classified into 20 functional categories. The most dominant categories were residential greenery (31.47%), greenery at healthcare facilities (19.25%), and greenery at recreational facilities (15.72%). To identify the factors influencing greenery quality, statistical models were applied to assess the determinants of vegetation aesthetics and health status. The result demonstrated that maintenance intensity is one of the most significant determinants of greenery quality. An increase in maintenance level by one unit increased the probability of achieving a higher aesthetic rating by 112% and improved health status by 161%. The strongest positive effect on aesthetic evaluation was observed for the proportion of coniferous trees. Conifers species increased the likelihood of achieving a higher aesthetic rating by 3.7 times, while a positive effect was also observed for greater woody vegetation coverage. In contrast, the total area of green spaces did not represent a significant predictor of their quality. These findings confirm that the quality of urban greenery is determined primarily by vegetation structure and management intensity rather than by total green space area. They also highlight the need to move toward more targeted and scientifically based maintenance strategies consistent with nature-based solutions principles, integrating the ecological, aesthetic, and social functions of urban greenery. This study provides an empirical basis for more effective planning and management of urban greenery aimed at enhancing ecological functionality, aesthetic value, and climate change adaptability. Full article

Urban traffic noise poses a critical environmental health burden; however, its mitigation via urban greenery is constrained by the limitations of conventional two-dimensional (2D) metrics. To address this gap, the Landscape Forest Space Density (LFSD), as a novel volumetric index quantifying the ratio of acoustically effective biomass to total canopy volume via geometric crown approximation, is introduced in this study. Field investigations were conducted along a 30 m transect perpendicular to a six-lane expressway in Nanjing, China. A-weighted sound pressure levels were recorded at 18 nodes (3 forest types × 4 distances, plus controls) under controlled meteorological conditions, with seasonal replication during spring (full-leaf) and autumn (leaf-off). Results indicate that deciduous coniferous forests delivered superior noise attenuation, achieving a peak insertion loss of 27.16 dB at 20 m depth in spring—exceeding evergreen broadleaf configurations by over 10 dB. Noise reduction followed a logarithmic growth pattern relative to roadside greenbelt width, reaching saturation beyond 20 m. Regression analysis identified LFSD as the dominant predictor of insertion loss (R² = 0.86, N = 864), substantially outperforming traditional 2D metrics such as canopy coverage (R² = 0.15) and optical porosity (R² = 0.42). While a bivariate model incorporating both LFSD and porosity yielded an adjusted R² of 0.89–0.94, the marginal incremental gain confirms that volumetric biomass packing, rather than planar void fraction, governs acoustic attenuation. Notably, even during defoliation, high-LFSD conifers maintained robust sound scattering through their fractal branch architectures. On the whole, a quantitative design threshold of LFSD ≥ 0.4 is recommended to achieve >15 dB attenuation in spatially constrained urban environments. Full article

Growing evidence suggests that urban greenery is associated with improved mental health, yet how eye-level exposure functions within specific socio-environmental contexts remains underexplored. This study presents an exploratory case study utilizing semantic segmentation of street-view imagery to quantify eye-level greenery (“open greenery”) across two contrasting community contexts: a densely developed area (Region 1) and a less developed area (Region 2) in Korea. Using interaction models reinforced by 5000-iteration bootstrap analyses, we identified the moderating role of greenery in the relationship between mental health (depression and cognitive function) and life satisfaction. Our findings indicate that the psychological benefits of greenery are highly contingent upon the interplay between individual vulnerability and regional context. Specifically, in Region 1, greenery moderated well-being for the low-cognitive function subgroup, while in Region 2, the moderating effect was most pronounced among individuals with depressive symptoms. Despite the inherent limitations of small subgroup samples, the stability of these patterns across repeated bootstrap iterations highlights meaningful “spatial intersections” where greenery plays a role in shaping psychological well-being. By adopting a case-centric approach, this study highlights that the benefits of street-view greenery are not uniform but context-dependent. These results underscore the necessity of context-aware green infrastructure strategies tailored to the specific environmental needs of vulnerable populations in diverse community settings. Full article

Current approaches to urban greenery often led to a certain uniformity of vegetation. The desire of residents to be able to grow plants according to their own preferences and to co-create the appearance of the surroundings of their houses therefore leads to the emergence of spontaneous initiatives. One of these phenomena is the narrow strips at the interface between the foundations of houses and the sidewalks of streets in continuous urban development, which are used for growing plants and are referred to as “Jardin de la Rue”. The assessment of street vegetation with “Jardin de la Rue” elements took place in the urban district of Saint-Genès, which is part of the city of Bordeaux in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. The description of the street vegetation with the “Jardin de la Rue” represents an important first step towards understanding the causes of their creation and the subsequent ecological and social interactions. The creation of these small green spaces is the result of the initiative of residents, and these areas are not part of the planned urban green space. Field surveys in selected streets took place in August–September in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Based on the analysis of the species composition, a total of 107 plant taxa were recorded in the streets. The most frequently recorded ornamental taxa include Lonicera japonica Thunb., Alcea rosea L. and Passiflora caerulea L. The most popular group of cultivated plants consists mainly of lianas, e.g., Akebia quinata (Thunb. ex Houtt.) Decne., Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth, Lonicera japonica Thunb., Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Siebold & Zucc.) Planch., Passiflora amethystina J.C.Mikan, Solanum laxum Spreng., Trachelospermum asiaticum (Siebold & Zucc.) Nakai, Trachelospermum jasminoides (Lindl.) Lem. and Wisteria sinensis (Sims) Sweet. The most frequently represented taxa belong mainly to the weed group, e.g., Amaranthus deflexus L., Taraxacum sect. Taraxacum F.H.Wigg., Paspalum dilatatum Poir. The vegetation of the “Jardin de la Rue” elements is a manifestation of the cultural function of plants. The free choice of cultivated taxa allows residents to express their preferences and relationship to the place. Respect for these spontaneous green spaces and their vegetation composition by the city administration is a manifestation of mutual cooperation and at the same time a means of strengthening the ties of residents to their place of residence. These elements may deserve greater consideration within contemporary approaches to construction, architecture and urban planning. Full article