Uncontrolled urban sprawl intensifies socio-ecological pressures, demanding planning strategies that measurably enhance urban ecosystem services. Urban agriculture is a promising lever, yet its long-term ecosystem services contributions remain insufficiently quantified. This study addresses two critical questions: (1) How can suitability analysis guide the spatial integration of urban agriculture to optimize long-term ecological benefits? and (2) How can a landscape approach-based urban agriculture planning strategy be designed to align with ecosystem services enhancement goals? We develop a transparent, reproducible pipeline linking machine-learning suitability modeling (XGBoost with SHAP), deep-learning land use simulation, and monetary ecosystem services valuation. Using Rotterdam as a case study, we simulate three development scenarios for 2030 and 2050: Business-as-Usual (BAU), Suitability-Based Autonomous Transformation, and Suitability-Based Landscape Approach Transformation. Suitability-guided scenarios outperform BAU, with the landscape-approach scenario delivering the most stable multi-decadal outcomes for regulating and cultural services. However, provisioning services can plateau or even decline when ecological protection constraints limit intensive production, revealing the limits of land allocation alone. We conclude by offering thresholds and rules that translate suitability and scenario outputs into a transferable urban agriculture planning model, enabling planners to embed urban agriculture within a landscape approach as part of broader sustainable urban transformation.

Cities serve as both political and economic hubs. Sustainable development has long been acknowledged as crucial to the well-being of the environment, people, and society. In order to improve the current state of spatial affairs and attain long-term resilience, humanity is looking for reliable and sustainable urban planning approaches. Urban agriculture has received a lot of attention in recent years as an enduring and pervasive kind of landscape. Although the contribution of urban agriculture has been well documented in many studies on economic, social and ecological aspects, there has been little discussion of its practical value as a tool for spatial development. Additionally, the potential of urban agriculture as a landscape approach remains underdeveloped. In summary, current research and practice lacks a scientific framework for considering urban agriculture as a landscape approach to intervene in urban spaces. To this end, this paper explores the potential of urban agriculture as a landscape approach in sustainable urban planning and design through qualitative case study. Taking Songzhuang in Beijing as an example, we discuss and summarise the operational value and potential of urban agriculture from a design perspective. The findings suggest that landscape-based urbanism that includes urban agriculture can harmonise social, economic, environmental and ecological elements. Finally, in order to provide a generalised approach, this paper proposes a scientific framework for articulating a landscape approach to urban agriculture to guide future research and practice.

Urban agriculture is acknowledged as a multifunctional integrated concept capable of delivering various ecosystem services. Design-related empirical research which is regarded as crucial for introducing and exploring the transformation of design knowledge and practice. Despite the growing body of scientific evidence, operational guidelines for this topic are relatively scarce. The primary step in promoting practical value involves reviewing existing design knowledge and transformation status in empirical research. In conjunction with the existing design research findings, research through design is the only way to acquire and test design knowledge. Spatial design is acknowledged as a way to translate theoretical concepts into practical applications. This systematic literature review offers a comprehensive qualitative analysis of urban agriculture, ecosystem services, and design research. Additionally, it utilizes bibliometric visualization tools to clarify existing research gaps and propose reliable solutions. This paper reveals the imbalance of design research in delivering ecosystem services in urban agriculture through the review of 70 selected empirical research articles. The results suggest that the research for design approach is the most prevalent and offers abundant design knowledge. However, the relatively infrequent use of the research through design method obstructs the transition from implicit to explicit design knowledge, resulting in a shortage of available operational guidelines. Consequently, the study proposes a framework for systematic design knowledge of urban agriculture to catalyze the transformation of design knowledge. Finally, we outline the framework's composition and logic and elucidate its role in addressing research gaps.