Search Results (1,251)

Railway station buildings increasingly operate as civic landmarks, public interiors, and cultural interfaces as well as mobility infrastructure. This study asks how architectural design integrates transport performance, public-space formation, and cultural meaning. A qualitative multiple-case study examines St Pancras International (London, United Kingdom), Rotterdam Centraal (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Liège-Guillemins Station (Liège, Belgium), and Hong Kong West Kowloon Station (Hong Kong, China). Cases were selected for maximum variation in design logic and documented evidence. Official, heritage, practice, and scholarly sources were triangulated; documented features were deductively coded through a Node–Place–Narrative protocol and then compared across cases. Node captures movement and connectivity, Place captures public use and urban integration, and Narrative captures the meanings attributed to heritage, structure, materiality, landscape, and arrival. The analysis identifies four mechanisms: heritage reactivation, urban legibility, structural symbolism, and landscape-civic integration. Across the cases, transport performance is a necessary enabling condition, whereas cultural distinctiveness emerges when public-space and narrative strategies are spatially integrated. The study extends the node-place model at the building scale, clarifies the boundary between place performance and narrative interpretation, and offers transferable—but context-dependent—principles for culturally responsive transport architecture. Because the evidence is documentary rather than user-based, the framework supports analytical comparison rather than performance scoring. Full article

Shared bikes are frequently parked in disorder, resulting in low efficiency of manual collection and transfer and heavy workload for maintenance staff. Random parking across various areas forces shared bikes to occupy sidewalks and fire exits, damaging urban landscapes and disrupting traffic order. To tackle these industrial pain points, this paper develops an integrated intelligent robot system equipped with functions of multi-pose grasping, automatic transfer and fixed-point delivery of shared bikes, which can effectively address the drawbacks of low efficiency and high labor costs in traditional manual maintenance. This paper focuses on the completion of the robot’s overall mechanical structure design, stiffness–precision collaborative optimization model construction, finite-element static simulation verification, 1:7 scaled prototype development and performance testing. Firstly, the overall layout design of the multi-posture adaptive floating clamping mechanism, transfer-bearing frame, and Mecanum wheel omnidirectional mobile chassis is completed, and the structural parameters and assembly benchmarks of the core components are clarified. Secondly, a stiffness–precision coupling optimization model is established, and the static analysis under extreme load conditions is carried out through Abaqus finite-element software, which verifies the rationality of 45# carbon steel material selection and the safety of structural strength. Subsequently, a 1:7 scaled principle prototype is developed, and repetitive grabbing and transfer tests are carried out to verify the system operation feasibility, stability and grabbing accuracy. Finally, the statistical analysis of the test data and the horizontal comparison of similar schemes are completed. The test and simulation results show that the maximum stress of the system under extreme working conditions is 131.21 MPa, which is far lower than the allowable stress of 355 MPa of 45# steel, and the safety factor reaches 2.71. The maximum total deformation is 4.0552 mm, which is concentrated at the end of the front-end clamping mechanism, and is within the allowable stiffness deviation range of the transfer system. The average value of the single clamping positioning error of the scaled prototype is 0.476 mm, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.457–0.495 mm, which is converted to a positioning error of ≤3.4 mm for the full-scale prototype, which is far better than similar industry solutions. The average time of a single complete grabbing and transfer operation is 12.38 s, which is more than 45% higher than the traditional manual mode. The structural design, grabbing accuracy and operation stability of the robot designed in this paper all meet the requirements of actual working conditions of urban sidewalks, which can effectively reduce the intensity of manual labor and improve the operation and maintenance efficiency of shared bicycles. It has strong engineering application value and can provide reference for the design and manufacturing of intelligent collection and transfer systems for shared two-wheelers. Full article

Urban green infrastructure (GI) is widely promoted for cooling, stormwater regulation, biodiversity support, and human health benefits; however, these benefits remain unevenly distributed across communities with different socio-economic status. Machine learning (ML) is increasingly used in GI planning and design through high-resolution mapping and demand and exposure modelling, enabling planners and landscape architects to explore scenarios and assess alternative solutions based on the benefits generated. However, ML risks generating or perpetuating spatial injustice through biassed training, opaque optimisation priorities, and epistemic exclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge when models are not developed and applied transparently and collaboratively. This perspective discusses recent GI and ML trends and debates to: (i) clarify how ML can support equity-oriented GI planning; (ii) identify technical and socio-economic risks; and (iii) outline ethical and governance pathways supportive of legitimate and accountable GI planning. We argue that ML should be treated as a component of socio-technical governance rather than a neutral technical tool and therefore should be applied through collaborative design and periodic re-evaluations. Full article

Therapeutic gardens are increasingly integrated into healthcare planning and design, supported by evidence showing that exposure to nature promotes health and well-being. As urbanisation and densification intensify, rooftop gardens offer a sustainable means of providing health-promoting green spaces in urban settings. This study aimed to deepen understanding of the EBD process behind a purpose-built rooftop garden at an urban Memory Clinic. It examined how the garden was experienced in terms of perceived successes and shortcomings and which design decisions or contextual factors were most influential. A POE was conducted through focus group interviews with healthcare professionals and an interview with the responsible landscape architect. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, producing five themes organised around three questions: How the garden turned out, why it turned out that way, and IF changes were desirable. Findings show that while the garden exceeded expectations regarding aesthetics, restorative qualities, and staff use, it was not used for patient-oriented therapeutic activities as intended. This divergence was linked less to physical design quality than to organisational change, the loss of key actors, insufficient documentation of design intentions, procurement disruptions, shifting clinical priorities, and maintenance arrangements. The study highlights “implementation drift” as a critical risk in EBD processes. Full article

Land-intensive high-density residential development often comes at the cost of compromised natural ventilation efficiency and reduced capacity for urban heat island mitigation, and such trade-offs are particularly pronounced in valley cities due to topographical constraints. Taking Lanzhou Yineng Huanghe Jiayuan as a case study, this research constructs a “Source-Flow-Sink” landscape ventilation efficiency measurement framework based on circuit theory and CFD numerical simulation. Combined with correlation analysis and multiple linear regression, the coupling mechanism between spatial morphology and ventilation efficiency is examined. The results indicate that: (1) The study area exhibits a ventilation pattern characterized by “Source” in the north, “Flow” in the middle, and “Sink” in the south; (2) The wind speed ratio in the residential area shows a highly significant negative correlation with vegetation coverage, and a significant negative correlation with building dispersion and average building height; (3) Based on three configuration modes of “Source-Flow-Sink”, differentiated micro-renewal strategies that do not alter the core indicators of land intensification are proposed, providing a scientific basis for climate-adaptive design of intensive residential areas in valley cities. Full article

While the influence of the urban built environment on public emotions has garnered extensive attention, existing studies predominantly focus on temperate climates or warmer seasons. As a result, they rarely extend their scope to winter-specific emotions in cold-region cities, thereby overlooking the complex human–environment emotional interactions under extreme climates. To bridge this seasonal research gap, this study develops an innovative analytical framework integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) with Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR). Drawing on social media data, this framework leverages the powerful zero-shot reasoning capabilities of LLMs to precisely quantify the two-dimensional emotional characteristics of Valence and Arousal. Concurrently, by incorporating the multi-scale spatial modeling strengths of MGWR, it thoroughly investigates the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of public emotions within the winter context of typical cold-region cities. The results indicate that, first, extreme climates do not lead to urban emotional suppression; instead, frozen rivers transform into vibrant emotional corridors, with the public demonstrating a high degree of thermal-psychological adaptability. Second, by incorporating winter-specific environmental variables, the research reveals a cold-region paradox of emotional valence. Specifically, under snow cover, lower winter Land Surface Temperature (LST) and winter Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) paradoxically evoke positive emotions by reconstructing the aesthetic experience of ice-snow landscapes. Furthermore, the impact of urban service facilities on emotional arousal exhibits a significant pattern of diminishing marginal utility. Overall, the LLMs-MGWR framework achieves a closed loop of high-throughput, multi-dimensional semantic decoding and multi-scale spatial interpretation, demonstrating exceptional cross-regional generalizability. Ultimately, this study not only provides a novel paradigm for understanding human–environment interactions in complex environments but also offers transferable planning guidelines for microclimate design, facility decentralization, and the reshaping of winter blue-green infrastructure in global cold-region cities. Full article

Urban–rural fringes within contaminated regions frequently exhibit severe socio-environmental fragmentation and territorial stigmatization. This study evaluates the implementation of a Successional Agroforestry System (SAFS) in the “Land of Fires” (Southern Italy), which is conceptualized as a multifunctional socio-ecological infrastructure. Adopting a six-year longitudinal case study design (2019–2025), the research utilizes the Gioia methodology to triangulate retrospective field records and systematic monitoring with iterative qualitative narratives. Semi-quantitative and retrospective ecological evaluations indicate that the established multi-layered vertical stratification improved proxy indicators of structural complexity and soil functionality. Estimated soil surface coverage increased from 5.0 ± 1.2% to 85.0 ± 4.3%, while proxy vegetation density rose from 4.8 ± 1.2 to 36.4 ± 4.7 plants/m² (p < 0.001). Beyond these biophysical trends, the intervention catalyzed a “narrative inversion,” transitioning the site from a stigmatized wasteland to a socio-ecological hub that fostered a significant increase in community engagement (from 6.2 ± 1.4 to 34.8 ± 6.5 participants per event). By integrating agroecological practices with the EcoFoodFertility framework, the project highlights the potential of localized interventions to support primary environmental prevention strategies aligned with a One Health paradigm. The findings suggest that this SAFS represents a scalable model for territorial re-signification, offering transferable insights for aligning ecological restoration with social innovation in degraded peri-urban landscapes in accordance with Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) and European Green Deal objectives. Full article

Decommissioned airfields are increasingly recognized as strategic sites for ecological regeneration, climate adaptation, and the creation of new public spaces. However, research on their transformation has predominantly focused on the environmental performance of Nature-based Solutions (NBS), often overlooking the role of inherited spatial morphology in structuring regeneration processes and outcomes. This paper proposes an AI-assisted, morphology-based proto-ontological framework for analyzing and designing post-airfield architecture. The framework was developed through the inductive and comparative analysis of a corpus of 32 urban post-airfield regeneration projects, from which recurrent inherited morphologies, transformation actions, spatial devices, and NBS were identified and structured into a relational sequence. The framework was then applied to two contrasting case studies: Maurice Rose Airfield Park (Frankfurt) and Xuhui Runway Park (Shanghai); these were selected for their different transformation logics. The results show that similar airfield morphologies can generate markedly different climatic, ecological, social, and memory-related outcomes depending on how they are transformed and linked to NBS. The study demonstrates that inherited airfield morphologies are not passive remnants but operative spatial structures, and that NBS should be understood as spatially embedded and form-generating design components. The proposed proto-ontology offers a transferable analytical model and a basis for future computational and generative design applications. Full article

Rapid population ageing in China urgently demands improved attention to elderly friendly community green space design. Despite national efforts toward community renovation and urban regeneration, existing projects often overlook the systematic optimisation of green spaces explicitly tailored to elderly residents, leading to environments that inadequately support their physical, psychological, and social needs. Given that home-based care remains the predominant preference for elderly populations in China, creating optimised community green spaces is essential to facilitate healthy ageing-in-place effectively. This study systematically investigates the discrepancies between elders’ observed usage patterns and their stated landscape design preferences in two residential communities in Suzhou, China. By integrating year-round observational data with subjective interviews, the research identifies critical mismatches between elderly individuals’ actual behaviours and expressed preferences, highlighting significant deficiencies in current landscape designs. Comparative analyses reveal that prioritising microclimate comfort, accessible pathways, and targeted seating arrangements significantly enhances elderly usage frequency and satisfaction. Ultimately, this study provides practical, policy-aligned recommendations for designing climate-adaptive, elderly centric community green spaces, effectively contributing to sustainable urban renewal and the Healthy China 2030 initiative. Full article

Rapid urbanization, climate change, and biodiversity loss are intensifying environmental pressures on arid coastal cities through extreme heat, water scarcity, salinity intrusion, and increasing flood risks. Despite substantial investment in urban green spaces across the Gulf region, many public parks provide limited ecological functionality and climate adaptation benefits. This study evaluated the ecological performance of three coastal parks in Muscat, Oman Sarooj Beach Park (23,080 m²), Ghubrah Beach Park (34,818 m²), and Al Athaiba Beach Park (17,370 m²), to identify opportunities for more resilient landscape design. The assessment revealed that although green space occupied 76.8–82% of park areas, tree canopy cover remained low (8–12%), limiting thermal comfort, habitat provision, and ecological performance. Based on these findings, a Functional and Climate-Responsive Planting Strategy (FCRPS) was developed by integrating the 10–20–30 biodiversity guideline with performance-based planting criteria tailored to arid and saline environments. The framework was applied to the proposed Majis Beach Ecological Park in Sohar, Oman, to demonstrate the implementation of ecological urbanism and nature-based solutions in a hyper-arid coastal environment. The resulting design incorporates biodiversity-enhancing planting, blue–green infrastructure, wetland restoration, and climate-responsive spatial planning. The study demonstrates how multifunctional landscapes can enhance biodiversity, improve thermal comfort, strengthen stormwater management, and support community well-being while providing a transferable framework for resilient public park design in arid coastal cities. Full article

Aquatic ecosystems are under severe stress from a diverse combination of contaminants, including heavy metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and microplastics, driven by rapid industrialization, intensive agriculture, and urbanization. Globally, 80% of wastewater remains untreated, and conventional systems often fail to address emerging contaminants. Consequently, toxic heavy metals like lead and mercury can persist in water sources for decades. In response, phytoremediation has emerged as a scalable, eco-friendly, nature-based alternative. Among phytoremediation agents, duckweeds are increasingly recognized for their rapid growth, simple morphology, and continuous water-column contact. This review outlines the landscape of duckweed-based remediation, detailing molecular detoxification pathways and the synergistic role of associated microbiomes in enhancing environmental cleanup. Evidence indicates that contaminant removal is often supported by plant-microbe interactions. Despite extensive laboratory validation, field-scale implementation remains constrained by environmental complexity, pollutant mixtures, and variable climatic conditions. Furthermore, while duckweed systems hold promise within circular bioeconomy frameworks, converting wastewater into nutrient-rich biomass, contaminant accumulation in plant tissues raises concerns about biomass utilization and contaminant carryover. Addressing these challenges requires an integrative approach that links molecular detoxification, ecological interactions, and engineered system design to realize the full potential of duckweeds for sustainable aquatic pollution management. Full article

Previous research has primarily focused on the restorative effects of environments on the general population, often overlooking the specific restorative capacity of urban settings for the disabled population. There is a lack of comprehensive investigation into the interaction between accessibility elements and urban restorativeness. This study, conducted in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, categorizes streetscape accessibility elements for the disabled population and develops a recognition system based on an enhanced DeeplabV3+ framework. Semantic segmentation of streetscape accessibility elements was performed using 201,860 sampling points and 807,440 street view images. This study employed a combination of TrueSkill scoring, sentiment semantic analysis, LDA topic modeling, and LAB color clustering to quantify and visualize urban restorativeness. The impact of accessibility elements on urban restorativeness was explored using the XGBoost-SHAP model. Results indicate significant effects of architectural space constraints and high-density motor vehicle distribution on the safety of the disabled population’s mobility. The low pixel ratio of accessibility facilities and signs indicates insufficient infrastructure, while high landscape recognition rates exhibit significant spatial coverage heterogeneity. Detection rates for the disabled population in street views are nearly zero, highlighting a severe lack of inclusivity in pedestrian environments. Urban restorativeness exhibited a pattern of being higher in the south and east, and lower in the north and west. Among the accessibility elements, public green spaces (PGS) contributed the most to urban restorativeness, accounting for 25% of the impact, and the study elucidates the mechanisms through which various elements affect urban restorativeness. This absence stems from spatial competition, missing co-design, threshold effect conflicts, and color interference mechanisms. This research breaks away from traditional linear analytical frameworks and reveals the complex non-linear relationship between accessibility elements and urban restorativeness through the XGBoost-SHAP model, providing a quantitative decision-making tool for planning accessible environments in high-density cities. Full article

Achieving carbon-neutral cities requires innovative strategies that integrate technological carbon capture, sustainable urban infrastructure, and proactive public engagement. While microalgae-based systems have shown promise for CO₂ sequestration and resource recovery, their scalability remains constrained by high costs and energy-intensive photobioreactor (PBR) designs. Here, we propose the retrofit of existing urban fountains into high-efficiency microalgae cultivation systems—microalgae-enhanced fountain landscapes—as an integrated solution that bridges ecological function and social outreach. This approach capitalizes on ubiquitous fountain infrastructure to minimize deployment costs, employs advanced fountain-style cultivation technology to enhance biomass productivity, and leverages strategic locations in high-footfall urban zones to actively elevate public carbon literacy and motivate low-carbon behavioral shifts through immersive engagement—a vital step toward city-wide participatory climate action. We critically analyze the feasibility of this system, highlighting its potential for multi-stakeholder value creation across developers, municipalities, and citizens. Furthermore, we synthesize recent advances in suspended microalgae cultivation, building-integrated PBRs, and microalgae-informed landscape design to contextualize the development pathway of fountain-based systems. By uniting technical efficiency with civic education, this work establishes a replicable framework for scalable urban deployment—simultaneously advancing carbon mitigation, public awareness, and circular resource flows in the transition toward climate-resilient cities. Full article

Urban street lighting remains a significant source of energy consumption in cities, largely due to static operation and limited responsiveness to real-time conditions. This inefficiency increases operational costs and environmental impact, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions. To address this issue, this study investigates IoT-enabled smart street lighting as an adaptive and data-driven solution within smart city frameworks. The work focuses on the growing body of research in this domain and examines its evolution, technical structure, and emerging environmental role. The study aims to provide a structured synthesis that connects research trends with system-level design, while highlighting the transition from energy-focused systems to multifunctional urban platforms. A bibliometric-driven and thematic review approach is adopted. A dataset of 151 publications was analyzed using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny tools to extract trends, collaboration patterns, and research themes. This analysis is complemented by a qualitative evaluation of system architectures, sensing technologies, communication models, and control strategies. The findings indicate a sustained annual growth rate of 14.87% and a highly collaborative research landscape, with an average of 3.97 authors per study. The results also reveal that energy efficiency remains the dominant focus, while environmental integration is emerging but still underrepresented. The study further identifies key gaps related to scalability, sensor reliability, and the lack of standardized evaluation metrics. The outcomes provide a comprehensive roadmap for future research and support the development of scalable, intelligent, and sustainable lighting systems. The proposed insights are applicable to urban environments globally, particularly in regions seeking cost-effective and energy-efficient infrastructure solutions. Full article

Urban ethnic enclaves are historically layered cultural landscapes whose public signage encodes community vitality, power relations, and cultural identity in ways that conventional land-use inventories cannot capture. Addressing the absence of scalable, longitudinal computational methods for monitoring such at-risk landscapes, this study develops a reproducible digital-mapping pipeline that operationalises linguistic-landscape analysis as a cultural-heritage monitoring tool for heritage-sensitive land-use planning. Taking Daerim-dong—Seoul’s primary Joseonjok (Korean Chinese) enclave—as a case, we process 38,640 Kakao Map Road View images across 17 annual cross-sections (2008–2024). The pipeline integrates four methodological components: a bounded Spatial Weighting Correction that adjusts for uneven historical coverage; zero-shot semantic sign-function classification using the Qwen2-7B-Instruct model; an exploratory Difference-in-Differences design probing the 2016–2017 THAAD geopolitical disruption; and a Boundary Permeability Ratio (BPR) for tracking enclave edge dynamics. The results document a three-phase trajectory—rapid bilingual expansion (2008–2016), stabilisation (2016–2019), and a COVID-period contraction (2019–2024)—and show that raw sign-count metrics can systematically overstate minority-language decline during economic crises once crisis-period signage is isolated. The BPR is presented as a candidate leading indicator of enclave contraction whose operational thresholds remain to be calibrated through multi-enclave validation. As a methodological proof-of-concept, the study illustrates how computational street-view analysis can support cultural-landscape governance, offering urban planners and heritage managers an actionable, transparent baseline for monitoring at-risk multicultural urban landscapes. Full article