Historic urban areas (HUAs) are visually and culturally sensitive environments where blue-green infrastructure (BGI) plays an increasingly important role in shaping spatial identity and environmental quality. While BGI's ecological functions are well documented, its influence on human visual perception, particularly within HUAs, remains largely unexplored. Addressing this gap, this paper proposes an integrative framework to assess how BGI affects visual experiences in heritage contexts, bridging methodological, perceptual, and user-group dimensions. By combining UAV-based photogrammetry with a three-layered perception model, the research integrates spatial analysis and empirical methods across seeing (eye-tracking), feeling (questionnaire), and understanding (interviews) layers. Street-level BGI exposure was spatially quantified and used to inform perception experiments involving both expert and general public groups. This multi-methodological, multi-layered, cross-group approach extends existing research by providing a comprehensive examination of BGI's visual impact at different cognitive levels, particularly within historic settings. Findings reveal that BGI enhances perceptual diversity, visual preference evaluation, and cognitive engagement across both groups. Although it may slightly divert attention from dominant heritage features, BGI fosters broader visual exploration and higher environmental ratings. Experts interpret BGI through more systemic and functional perspectives, while the public emphasizes emotional, aesthetic, and recreational values. Overall, this study presents a replicable framework integrating digital spatial modeling with layered perception analysis, offering new insights for evaluating and enhancing visual environments in HUAs. It supports more inclusive visual assessments and provides a basis for informed planning and selective design interventions in heritage contexts.

We are grateful for Darwish's interest in our paper, Fouad et al. (2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004883). In this reply, we show that Fouad et al. (2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004883) did not attribute building collapses in Alexandria solely to hydroclimatic factors, as stated in the comment. Instead, we emphasize that hydroclimatic drivers are presented as accelerators, with other anthropogenic influences explicitly stated in the original paper. Moreover, our response proves that Darwish (2026, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ef006885)'s simplistic statistical approach is physically incorrect and obscures absolute risk by normalizing actual building collapse rates to the total number of buildings within a city. Furthermore, our reply shows that the comment conflates the distinct measurement of soil relaxation using shallow isotope mapping at the city scale, as conducted in Fouad et al. (2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004883), with deep structural geotechnical assessments for foundation design of individual buildings. The utility and complementarity of both methods are already discussed in Fouad et al. (2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004883). We acknowledge that the statement on the “7,000 at-risk buildings” is only mentioned in the abstract and is inadvertently missed in the main text; however, the calculation leading to this result is detailed in our supplementary data set and methods. Accordingly, Darwish (2026, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ef006885)'s comment, while appreciated, misinterprets Fouad et al. (2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004883) and overlooks the contemporary literature on Alexandria's hydrogeological and coastal dynamic contexts and their implications for infrastructure instability.

Street view imagery (SVI) is widely used in urban visual analysis and often treated as equivalent to eye-level perception. Yet its limitations and contextual applicability remain underexplored. This paper conducts a diagnostic viewpoint-level comparison of an image-based SVI pipeline and a 3D model-based field-of-view (FOV) method to clarify their respective weaknesses, strengths, and how they can be combined in practice (rather than treated as interchangeable or numerically fused). Using the West Lake ring road in Hangzhou as a case study, we analyze 2140 panoramas at 1075 viewpoints. The comparison shows systematic differences: SVI produces higher green shares (+0.16 on average), while FOV yields higher paved ground (+0.13) and building shares (+0.08). Sky differs little overall, water remains minor, and cross-method consistency varies by segment; SVI displays greater local variability linked to canopy occlusion and near-field heterogeneity. A small perception survey validates these findings. Terrain relief and building height were recognized more consistently in FOV, while vegetation and water abundance aligned more closely with SVI. Participants also judged overall ambience more easily from FOV’s structural stability, even though SVI conveyed greater visual realism. These results reveal clear complementarities: FOV provides structure-aware metrics, SVI emphasizes appearance cues, and neither alone captures lived perception. On this basis, we propose a combination-oriented three-layer workflow, with perception as a required validation layer to support reliable applications in skyline and openness control, interface and character management, greenery maintenance, and equity assessment.

Visual experience is a primary channel through which the values of tangible cultural heritage are perceived and governed, making visual evaluation and management central to conservation and to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.4. However, practice remains fragmented across scales, and many statutory toolkits lag behind advances in geographic information systems (GIS)-based visibility analysis, 3D visualization, remote sensing, and perception-based evidence. We compile, code, and cross-analyze a multi-level corpus spanning 26 international instruments, 293 national items from 112 countries, and 867 World Heritage properties. Using a four-dimensional framework (values, typology, visual-evaluation methods, and visual-management strategies), we apply k-medoids clustering with multidimensional scaling (MDS) at the national level, mask-aware association mapping at the property level, and cross-level diagnostics. Across levels, practice converges on a technical-spatial regime. At the property level, GIS-based viewshed and visual sensitivity analysis, verified visuals and 3D visualization techniques, and GIS-based spatial-historical analysis form a near-universal methodological core and are most frequently translated into zoning and spatial regulation and height or massing controls. Participatory and perception- or experience-based methods remain sporadic. Value framings are dominated by Historic, Social and Political, and Aesthetic emphases, while Ecological and Scientific are comparatively marginal. Cross-level coherence is strongest where governance frameworks are mature, and portfolios are coherent; it weakens where portfolios are heterogeneous or in federated or lower-capacity settings. National portfolios cluster into four method-strategy regimes that explain characteristic object-method-strategy sequences. In response, we outline operational bridges including tiered standards for visibility and 3D evidence, deployable perception protocols, participation modules linked to Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) or Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) triggers, and auditable communication packages. These are organized within a Global Peer Network aligned to portfolio archetypes and method-strategy regimes. The study contributes a reusable global dataset and map of visual-heritage practice and an integration framework that supports more transparent, comparable, and context-sensitive decisions across levels.

Urban agriculture is increasingly recognized as a multifunctional lever for urban sustainability, yet the mechanisms through which planning policies enable or constrain its integration into city systems remain poorly understood. This gap limits the development of evidence-based frameworks that can bridge policy intent and implementation practice. This study develops a transparent, multilingual content-analysis pipeline and a landscape-informed coupling framework to evaluate urban agriculture policy–practice alignment across three contrasting governance contexts: Havana (Cuba), New York City (USA), and Chongming Island (China). Using a PRISMA-ScR literature synthesis (n = 3145), we construct a five-domain, 40-keyword evaluation matrix and apply it to official policy corpora and flagship project documentation. Results show that human-centered approaches effectively translate social equity and food-provisioning aims but exhibit limited spatial integration; nature-based approaches advance ecological and morphological targets but underperform on participation; and the landscape-informed model achieves more balanced alignment across all five domains, though gaps persist in inter-layer connectivity. Situating these findings within the broader discourse on urban sustainability governance, we propose a multi-layered landscape framework spanning ecological, institutional, social, and spatial dimensions. This framework offers planners a structured diagnostic and prescriptive tool for embedding urban agriculture into integrated urban transitions.

Incremental urban and community expansion in rural heritage landscapes often produces cumulative visual impacts, yet planning rarely specifies a clear endpoint for acceptable change. This paper proposes an integrated Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) framework, aligned with SDG 11, to determine “when to stop” using stage-comparable evidence across past, present, and future conditions. The framework is organized in three modules. First, a point cloud-enhanced GIS module quantifies visibility and spatial change across development stages. Second, an enhanced Key Observation Point (KOP) module derives matched eye-level evidence from multi-temporal street-level panoramas and scenario visualizations, for example using Street View Imagery (SVI) time series and 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) rendering. Third, a decision layer integrates structured public acceptability from a questionnaire covering different respondent groups with in-depth expert interviews and synthesis, with virtual reality (VR) eye- and head-tracking used as supportive behavioral evidence. Applied to the Middenbeemster expansion in the Beemster Polder, the Netherlands, the framework yields a case-calibrated reference package for decision support: KOP-based construction intensity serves as the primary reference line for review, perception indicators serve as supporting guardrails, spatial character metrics act as case-specific reference checks to protect the polder framework, and visibility diagnostics remain a necessary screening layer. More broadly, the framework provides a transparent and replicable procedure that can be transferred and locally recalibrated for heritage-sensitive rural-urban fringes where change is incremental and cumulative, supporting a stage-comparable VIA approach.

Cultural landscapes are increasingly vulnerable to the compounded effects of potential risks, ecological degradation, and imbalanced heritage value perceptions under intensifying climate change and global urbanization pressures. However, there is a lack of framework that systematically integrates geographical hazards, ecological sensitivity, and both expert and public heritage value perceptions to guide differentiated conservation and development of cultural landscapes. This study proposes a Hazard-Ecology-Perception Landscape Planning (HEPLP) framework to provide a spatially explicit decision-support tool that unifies hazard, ecology, and perception dimensions for cultural landscape planning. HEPLP is evaluated in a case study of Chengde Mountain Resort. A GIS-based methodology is employed to characterize geographical hazards and ecological sensitivity by combining concept of entropy and Analytic Hierarchy Process. Expert scoring and large language model content analysis are used to map heritage value perceptions. Risk-based analysis and three-dimensional clustering revealed nine distinct clusters in cultural landscape, providing spatially grounded evidence for targeted conservation and development strategies. This includes many scenes where previously implemented landscape planning strategies have been designated for complete conservation, as well as clusters where trade-offs between ecological sensitivity and heritage value perception are carefully balanced. Unlike previous frameworks that focused on single or dual dimensions, HEPLP offers an integrative tool for sustainable cultural landscape conservation and development under environmental and social challenges.

Basisbegrippen architectuur, landschapsarchitectuur, stedenbouw biedt een introductie op zestien fundamentele begrippen voor de (toekomstige) ruimtelijk ontwerper. Basisbegrippen zijn de sleutel tot het verwoorden en verbeelden van ideeën en denkbeelden binnen de bouwkunde. Een goede beheersing van de veelgebruikte begrippen binnen de vakgebieden architectuur, landschapsarchitectuur en stedenbouw maakt het mogelijk om in een ontwerpproces te communiceren met vakgenoten, opdrachtgevers, (toekomstige) gebruikers en het grote publiek.

Basisbegrippen architectuur, landschapsarchitectuur, stedenbouw is samengesteld door het team ‘Grondslagen’ verbonden aan de faculteit Bouwkunde van de TU Delft. Het handboek bevat bijdragen van Klaske Havik, Willemijn Wilms Floet, Saskia de Wit, Gregory Bracken, Chris Woltjes, Robin Ringel.

Landgoed Haverleij is een eigenzinnige gebiedsontwikkeling op de overgang van stad naar land, waar wonen, natuur en recreatie op een bijzondere manier samenkomen. In een landschap van kastelen, lanen en waterstructuren is een nieuw woonmilieu ontstaan dat afwijkt van de standaard. Wat begon als een gedurfd idee, is 25 jaar later uitgegroeid tot een inspirerend voorbeeld van landschapsbewuste stadsrandontwikkeling.

Landgoed Haverleij laat zien hoe landschap als leidend principe kan functioneren in ruimtelijk ontwerp, en hoe samenwerking, ontwerpkwaliteit en lange adem bijdragen aan ruimtelijke waarde. Deze ontwikkeling vormt een unieke combinatie van ontwerp, gebiedsontwikkeling, landschap en wonen. Met reflecties op ontwerpstrategieën, proces, samenwerking en de praktijk van het wonen, biedt dit boek waardevolle inzichten voor iedereen die betrokken is bij de toekomst van stadsranden – ontwerpers, ontwikkelaars, beleidsmakers en bewoners.

Auteurs, samenstelling en redactie: Steffen Nijhuis, Tom Daamen, Rob Plooij. Met bijdragen van: Eric van Winsen, Aris van Galen, Willem van der Made, Sjoerd Soeters, Paul van Beek, Mariëlle Kok, Jan Nijhof, Jutta Hinterleitner en Paul van den Bragt.

Landgoed Haverleij laat overtuigend zien hoe een landschapsbewuste benadering stadsranden kan transformeren tot waardevolle overgangsgebieden waar wonen, natuur en recreatie samenkomen. De ontwikkeling bewijst dat een sterk landschappelijk raamwerk, waarin bodem, water en bestaande structuren het ontwerp sturen, niet alleen ruimtelijke kwaliteit oplevert maar ook maatschappelijke en ecologische meerwaarde creëert. Uit Haverleij komen duidelijke lessen naar voren. Allereerst blijkt dat het landschap daadwerkelijk als drager van het ontwerp moet worden ingezet, en niet als sluitpost in de gebiedsontwikkeling. Een helder en onderscheidend concept zorgt vervolgens voor richting en samenhang, en maakt het mogelijk om gedurende langere tijd consistent te blijven in ontwerpkeuzes. Ook blijkt dat langdurige en hechte samenwerking tussen publieke en private partijen essentieel is om ambities overeind te houden, zeker wanneer marktomstandigheden veranderen. Daarnaast laat het project zien dat een ontwerpende manier van werken helpt om complexe belangen te verbinden, om richting te geven en om draagvlak te creëren bij betrokkenen. Ten slotte maakt Haverleij duidelijk dat groen een strategische waarde vertegenwoordigt: het versterkt ecologie, leefkwaliteit en klimaatadaptatie, maar draagt ook bij aan de economische waarde van het gebied. Samen laten deze lessen zien dat stadsranden geen probleemzones zijn, maar juist een grote oplossingsruimte kunnen bieden voor de ruimtelijke uitdagingen van vandaag, mits het landschap vanaf het begin serieus en integraal wordt meegenomen.

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.

Urbanization, biodiversity loss, and climate change demand new approaches to sustainable development. This article presents landscape-based regional design as a “landscape first” strategy that places ecological and cultural systems at the foundation of urbanization. By understanding landscape as a dynamic socio-ecological system, this approach integrates design with nature, people, and history across scales. Through transdisciplinary collaboration, research through design, and the use of regional visions, adaptive strategies, and pilot projects, landscape-based regional design enables climate-adaptive, nature-inclusive, and socially equitable urban development, linking long-term regional ambitions with concrete local action

The development of information technologies and the advent of extensive digital data since the 21st century have enabled more profound explorations and interpretations of the relationship between humans and the urban environment. This study systematically reviews the application of emerging data-driven methods in measuring human-environment interaction in urban spaces. The synthesis of 242 studies reveals a diversified application landscape of data-driven methods, employing street view imagery data, social media data, positioning data, physiological data, and video data, each carrying distinct information and addressing various research inquiries. We also review the new insights generated by their application, which offered evidence for analyzing and evaluating a wide range of established frameworks and classic theories concerning human perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects in urban spaces. Based on these findings, we describe the trends, advancements, and limitations of this rising research field, and make recommendations for future researchers adopting data-driven methods to understand relationships between humans and environments in urban spaces.

In the context of Chilean Metropolises such as Santiago, Valparaíso, and Concepción, ecological and social fragmentation of cities lead to significant environmental disturbances, including alterations to the urban climate, loss of biodiversity, and the gradual suppression of ecological corridors and native habitats, ultimately heightening current and future risks, and degrading the quality of life for urban residents stemming from excessive urbanisation, ineffective planning, maladaptive design, and environmental management in critical natural areas. Although an abundance of general frameworks and principles already exist, they necessitate a more contextual and integral approach that considers the natural dynamics of the landscape (landscape logic) as a base for social and economic development. This research presented a landscape approach taking the city of Valparaíso, Chile, as a case study. A methodological framework utilising mixed methods, was developed to analyse and diagnose potentialities of the landscape for developing practical knowledge for planning and design, conscious of the community demands and capacities, its ecological system and its complex geomorphology, and the future applications and assessment in biodiversity terms and social impact. A design-related research opens the opportunity as a methodology that will make it possible to incorporate different types of expertise and work on various scales. This research provides a means for developing spatial guidelines and design principles to strengthen Valparaíso’s green/blue infrastructure at multiple scales. It will ensure water security, biodiversity conservation, safer and more inclusive spaces, and better integration of informal settlements while enhancing ecosystem services for the community. Additionally, by incorporating the natural dynamics of the landscape, this approach provides ways to reduce risk, promote adaptation, and build resilience.

Landgoed Haverleij is een stadsrandontwikkeling waarin het landschap vanaf het begin een sturend en structurerend principe vormde. Slechts een fractie van het 225 hectare grote gebied is bebouwd; het grootste deel bestaat uit landgoedbossen, natuurzones, waterstructuren, recreatieve landschappen en een golfbaan. Ontwerpers Sjoerd Soeters en Paul van Beek kozen voor een landscape-based urbanism-benadering: het bestaande landschap – met dijken, waterlopen, openheid, reliëf en historische structuren – werd benut als basis waarop nieuwe ruimtelijke lagen zijn toegevoegd. Niet de bebouwing bepaalde het raamwerk, maar de landschappelijke logica van bodem, water en zichtlijnen.

In deze gelaagde opzet liggen de compacte kastelen als zorgvuldig geplaatste elementen binnen een robuust groen-blauw netwerk. De landschappelijke uitgangspunten sturen de oriëntatie, positionering en beleving van het wonen, terwijl natuurlijke gradiënten zorgen voor ecologische waarde, klimaatadaptatie en een herkenbare overgang van stad naar land. Zo laat Landgoed Haverleij zien hoe ruimtelijke kwaliteit, biodiversiteit en woonmilieus kunnen ontstaan wanneer landschap niet als achtergrond, maar als ontwerpaanleiding en ordenend principe wordt ingezet in stadsrandontwikkeling.

Rapid urbanization and climate change are the driving forces behind changing the urban landscape and affecting natural resources and the environment, particularly in the megacities of arid regions. Many of these cities face an acute water crisis leading to over-exploitation of groundwater resources. This over-exploitation has led to the depletion of aquifers, land infertility, saline intrusion, land subsidence, and harm to hydrological ecosystems. Globally, numerous studies have documented the potential of groundwater recharge (GWR) using GIS and remote sensing techniques. However, its practical application in a landscape context for sustainable urban and regional development is underexplored. In this study, we developed the landscape-based GWR concept by conducting a case study of Karachi city (Pakistan). We took physical landscape (surface and sub-surface) features and groundwater recharge potential as a base for design and planning to improve groundwater recharge and urban landscape. Moreover, we highlighted the added values of this approach besides recharging the depleted ground hydrological conditions and improving the urban landscape condition (i.e., social–ecological inclusiveness, sustainable future development, and interdisciplinary collaboration). The results indicated a negative impact of urbanization on groundwater recharge, especially in the alluvial zones and river valleys, underscoring the need for a spatial approach to safeguard GWR and guide development. Through this study, we propose that landscape-based GWR can be one of the potential solutions not only for the critical water crisis faced by rapidly urbanizing arid megacities but also for improving the overall quality of life and urban landscape. Furthermore, this holistic approach toward groundwater recharge can guide future urban development patterns, preservation of high groundwater recharge potential sites, and evolution toward sustainable development in arid regions where groundwater is the most significant yet vulnerable resource.

Groundwater is a vital resource for ecosystems, with its recharge process influenced by climate change and urbanization. The transformation of natural and urban landscapes and the over-extraction of groundwater contribute to its depletion and degradation. Groundwater recharge and management are intricately linked to land use and the landscape. Despite this close connection, spatially integrating groundwater recharge strategies in the landscape context remains underexplored. This systematic review synthesizes state-of-the-art research at the intersection of spatial planning, landscapes, and groundwater recharge. We employed a combination of bibliometric visualization and thematic analysis and reviewed 126 studies published between 1990 and April 2024 from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Based on their objectives and outcomes, we found four prominent themes in these clusters: groundwater recharge potential studies, groundwater vulnerability studies, design-based studies, and participatory studies. When organized iteratively, these clusters can become potential building blocks of a framework for a landscape-based groundwater recharge approach. With interdisciplinary collaboration, spatial visualization and mapping, a co-creative design, and a feedback mechanism at its core, this approach can enhance stakeholder communication and translate highly specialized technical knowledge into adaptive, actionable insights. This study also highlights that including spatial design can help develop landscape-based groundwater recharge for long-term sustainable regional development.

Rapid urbanization poses major challenges to biodiversity, climate resilience, and social equity, as cities continue to expand into vulnerable natural landscapes. Addressing these pressures requires nature-based solutions that place landscape systems at the core of urban development. A landscape-based and regenerative approach works with natural processes, ecological networks, and cultural landscapes to guide sustainable urban growth. Through regional design, landscape logic is used to integrate nature, people, and history, enabling the regeneration of urban regions that support biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being. This approach aligns global sustainability goals with place-specific strategies, fostering resilient and inclusive urban landscapes.

There are complex landscape pattern and hydrological process (LPHP) interactions, which exhibit different coupling mechanisms across multiple temporal and spatial scales. However, in-depth understanding of the LPHP interactions is currently lacking. This research conducted a systematic review of 198 empirical studies to explore the LPHP interactions. The findings reveal that: 1) global LPHP research was concentrated in temperate regions, with tropical and cold regions underrepresented; 2) LPHP interactions showed temporal and spatial scales differentiation, with the majority of studies occurring at long-term local and regional scales, and the relationship between agricultural land expansion and surface runoff was a key point. This research proposed a dual-path driving model that captures both landscape pattern-driven hydrological processes and hydrological process-reshaping landscape patterns. In natural areas, high cohesion and aggregation patterns should be protected and enhanced. In urban areas, landscape fragmentation should be controlled and green infrastructure should be promoted to strengthen hydrological resilience. Additionally, soil erosion and floods not only alter the landscape composition but may also trigger dynamic changes in landscape configuration, forming feedback loops, which are particularly pronounced at the local scale. Identifying these key pathways enhances the understanding of the coupled human–nature system, facilitating more robust predictions and responses to future changes and challenges.

The concept of historic gardens has gradually expanded to encompass a broader range of landscape meanings. UNESCO's cultural landscape categories have significantly influenced land policy improvements in the context of globalization, with historic gardens being classified as Category 1 cultural landscapes. The other categories are organically evolved landscapes (Category 2) and associative cultural landscapes (Category 3). While existing studies have primarily focused on each of these categories individually, it remains unclear how to characterize a cultural landscape when all three categories coexist and influence each other, as seen in complex cases such as the Chengde Mountain Resort (CMR). Furthermore, strategies for improving sustainable land management based on this understanding are still lacking. This study uses landscape mapping to collect data, digitally reconstruct, and characterize cultural landscapes in the CMR based on four environmental factors: topography, accessibility, visibility, and land use changes. Based on this, we illustrate the evolution of the CMR through reconstruction, capturing four phases detailed in 144 scenes. From this, we identify six distinct groups of scenes with six targeted indicators, each reflecting specific spatial attributes of Category 1. Additionally, statistical and comparative analyses of land use changes illuminate various landscape dynamics of these scenes that correspond to Categories 2 and 3. The discussion presents a systematic sustainable pathway to characterize the interdependencies among UNESCO’s three cultural landscape categories. Based on these findings, this research proposes a three-level management model that connects dynamic authenticity and modern functionality, offering insights for urban policymakers navigating pluralistic cultural landscapes.