Search Results (204)

This manuscript creates a framework for decision support based on green urbanism to direct the sustainable development of Gamasa, an Egyptian seaside city. The paper aims to convert the concepts of green urbanism into a multi-criteria evaluation that can support strategic urban development and prioritize spatial interventions. Sustainable mobility, green and blue infrastructure, energy and resource efficiency, urban form and density, social livability and public space quality, and governance and implementation feasibility are the six dimensions that are defined. These dimensions are derived from international sustainability literature and tailored to Gamasa’s particular challenges. The study’s methodology combines a multi-criteria decision-making approach based on the AHP with spatial analysis of land use, street hierarchy, building shape, and green space distribution. Weights for these dimensions are determined by expert-based pairwise comparisons, which are backed by a SWOT analysis. To prioritize priority zones for green transformation, the weighted framework is applied to four important urban areas: residential districts, a large urban park, the waterfront, and the main urban corridor. The top priorities, according to the results, are climate-responsive coastal design, increased green and blue infrastructure, and sustainable transportation. For quickly urbanizing coastal cities, the method demonstrates how the AHP operationalizes green urbanism into quantifiable, context-sensitive goals. Full article

As urban waterfront public spaces have increasingly become important settings for residents’ daily leisure activities, there remains a lack of empirical evidence based on objective image data regarding how street-level visual environments influence different types of leisure activities. The existing studies have largely relied on macro-scale built environment indicators and paid limited attention to micro-scale visual perception from the pedestrian perspective. To address this gap, this study focuses on the core waterfront section of the Pearl River in Guangzhou. Behavioral observations were conducted across nine spatial units during different time periods on weekdays and weekends, yielding 54 samples of passive, active, and social activity intensity. Meanwhile, 109 street-view sampling points were established, generating 436 pedestrian-view images. Using Mask2Former with an ADE20K pre-trained model, visual environmental indicators—including the Green View Index (GVI), Sky View Index (SVI), built environment proportion, road proportion, and visual diversity (Entropy)—were extracted. Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression were applied to examine their effects on activity intensity. The results show that leisure activities are generally more active in the evening and on weekends, with social activities exhibiting the strongest temporal variation. Active activities remain relatively stable, passive activities show temporal dependence, and social activities display localized high-intensity clustering. Regression results reveal differentiated environmental responses: visual diversity has a stable positive effect on passive activities, active activities show weak associations with visual variables, and social activities are the most sensitive, with GVI, SVI, and built proportion showing significant negative effects, while visual diversity shows a significant positive effect. The social activity model also demonstrates the highest explanatory power (Adj. R² = 0.488). Overall, this study develops a street-view semantic segmentation-based method for quantifying waterfront visual environments, demonstrates the critical role of visual environmental composition in shaping activity patterns, and provides empirical support for the fine-grained and activity-oriented optimization of waterfront public spaces. Full article

Urban design that improves microclimate can significantly enhance the ecological livability of human settlements, while the climate-adaptive wisdom of applying local water-net landscapes to modern urban renewal requires further validation. To investigate the optimization mechanism of waterscape on microclimate comfort, this study focuses on the public space of Xinsheng District in the Suzhou water-net region. By integrating continuous incremental multi-scenario form design, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) multi-physics simulation, and climate sensation evaluation, we reproduce the spatial differentiation of microclimate and comfort gradients across multi-hour periods during hot summer daytime within the built-up environment involving waterbodies, vegetation, and buildings. Consequently, an indicator of comfort improvement efficiency (CIE) is proposed to measure the spatial effectiveness of per-unit-area water surface expansion on climate sensation. Results show that when controlling other morphological parameters and designing three incremental waterbody scenarios—no water surface, 50% water, and 100% waterscape—the relative comfort area expanded across all time periods as water increased. This implies that waterscape variations exert a positive effect on microclimate suitability. However, during the expansion of water area at each time, the CIE was higher in the 0–50% initial stage of water surface increase compared to the 50–100% later morphological stage. Therefore, this study reveals the stepwise nonlinear trend by which increased water area in the built-up environment improves the climate suitability of waterfront spaces. Furthermore, under constraints of equivalent area and other geometric forms, a more dispersed and networked waterscape was found to be a superior spatial strategy. This confirms the microclimate wisdom of the water-net landscape in the Jiangnan locality, providing form optimization guidance for ecologically oriented urban renewal design. Full article

Urban waterfronts are vital public spaces that contribute to urban sustainability by providing residents with opportunities for recreation, social interaction, and nature experiences. Understanding user perceptions in these environments is essential for evidence-based design. Taking Taiyuan Fenhe Park in China as a case with local residents as respondents, this study investigated how objective audiovisual characteristics are associated with tourist loyalty through perceptual dimensions, while also examining interactive associations between visual and auditory elements. Data were collected at 539 spatial samples spaced at five-minute walking intervals. Methods included on-site acoustic measurements, panoramic imaging, computer-based visual and auditory quantification, and questionnaire surveys, yielding a total of 1768 valid responses. Visual features were quantified using semantic segmentation, object detection, and depth prediction, whereas the auditory environment was characterized by physical acoustic and psychoacoustic indicators. Three perceptual dimensions—environmental restorativeness (ERS), spatial vitality (SVS), and environmental controllability (ECS)—were extracted and tested as mediators within the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework. Results indicated that ERS, SVS, and ECS function as three parallel mediating constructs in the statistical model, with SVS showing the strongest statistical association with tourist loyalty. In addition, fluctuation strength exhibited a significant direct effect on tourist loyalty independent of these three perceptual dimensions. A total of 17 significant audiovisual interactions were identified, revealing both synergistic and antagonistic effects. These findings contribute to theoretical frameworks of multisensory integration and provide practical guidance for sustainable waterfront design. Specifically, zoning strategies and carefully selected audiovisual combinations are relevant to enhanced user experience and may contribute to long-term social well-being. Full article

Waterfront brownfield urban public parks (WBUPPs) are complex regeneration projects that require comprehensive assessment of environmental remediation, climate resilience, urban connectivity, and social well-being. This study proposes a structured GIS-based spatial analysis protocol that operationalizes key attributes of brownfields, waterfronts, public parks, and sustainability, with the aim of examining how digital tools can support WBUPP planning processes. Using free and open source resources and datasets (QGIS and OpenStreetMap), the approach produces eight core thematic maps that spatially organize 39 of 50 criteria identified from the literature and classified under economic, environmental, and social sustainability dimensions. This mapping protocol streamlines navigation for planners through complex datasets and offers researchers a foundation for thematic spatial analyses aligned with these literature-based criteria. The protocol is illustrated with Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City—an 85-acre waterfront redevelopment that demonstrates heritage conservation, ecological restoration, and financial viability. The results highlight identifiable spatial patterns such as dual zones (urban buffer and recreation), winding pathways, and clustered amenities. At the same time, the analysis underscores the importance of data validation, as inconsistencies in volunteered geographic information require cross-referencing with multiple sources and field verification. The analysis shows that WBUPPs require tailored approaches that integrate land–water mobility, heritage adaptation, nature-based solutions, and equitable service distribution. This criteria-driven protocol offers adaptable guidance for future waterfront brownfield regeneration, while emphasizing that digitalization enhances the process, but it cannot replace hybrid analytical methods that combine quantitative spatial analysis with qualitative evaluations. Full article

Revisit intention is increasingly recognized as a key indicator of sustainable heritage tourism, as it reflects long-term visitor engagement rather than one-time consumption. However, limited attention has been paid to how tourism preferences shape perceived heritage quality and subsequently influence revisit intention, particularly in industrial heritage contexts undergoing urban regeneration. This study develops a structural model linking tourism preferences, perceived quality, and revisit intention, using Shanghai’s waterfront industrial heritage as an empirical case. Based on 335 valid questionnaires, structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed to examine the relationships among environmental preference, cultural and social sustainability preferences, situational perception, and behavioral intention. The results indicate that preference for a sustainable public space environment significantly enhances both physical and atmospheric perception, which in turn positively affects revisit intention. In contrast, social sustainability shows limited influence, suggesting that visitors’ behavioral responses are more strongly driven by environmental quality and experiential engagement in regenerated industrial heritage settings. This study contributes to sustainable heritage tourism research by integrating preference-based perception mechanisms into revisit intention analysis. It also provides practical implications for enhancing long-term attractiveness through experience-oriented adaptive reuse strategies. Full article

Recreational vitality is widely recognized as a core metric for assessing the quality of human settlements. Elucidating the relationship between recreational vitality and landscape characteristics is crucial for guiding the optimization and quality enhancement of urban waterfront spaces. This study takes the micro-scale waterfront space of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal (Hangzhou section) as its research object, systematically analyzes the correlation between waterfront landscape attributes and recreational vitality, and formulates specific optimization strategies for enhancing recreational vitality. A total of 310 representative sampling sites was established. The study integrates machine learning-driven semantic image segmentation to achieve refined quantification of waterfront landscape metrics and employs anonymized mobile phone signaling data to dynamically characterize the spatiotemporal distribution of recreational vitality. Through correlation analysis and regression modeling, it quantifies the effect size and functional mechanisms of key landscape metrics on recreational vitality, and further proposes adaptive strategies for recreational vitality enhancement tailored to different urban functional zones. The key findings are as follows: (1) Recreational vitality is significantly higher on holidays than on workdays. High-vitality areas are concentrated in commercial functional zones, with an overall spatial gradient of “low in the east and high in the west, low in the north and high in the south”. (2) High-level Green View Factor (HGVF) shows a stable positive correlation with vitality, whereas the Sky View Factor (SVF) and the Enclosure Interface View Factor (EIVF) correlate negatively. (3) The influence of landscape metrics is strongly moderated by functional zone type: in residential functional zones, HGVF has strong explanatory power; in commercial functional zones, it shows complex nonlinearity; in ecological conservation zones, its explanatory power is generally weaker. (4) Tailored enhancement strategies are proposed for each functional zone. This study clarifies the link between core waterfront landscape attributes and micro-scale recreational vitality, and provides a scientific basis for evidence-based design and sustainable enhancement of urban waterfront spaces. Full article

This article presents an integrated design studio pedagogy for flood-resilient urban waterfronts that employs groundscape strategies, treating the ground as an active design medium to generate hybrid structures integrating landscape, architecture, and infrastructure. Implemented at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design (Fall 2024), the studio challenged students to transform North Little Rock’s flood-vulnerable riverfront by replacing conventional levee infrastructure with ground-based public architectural interventions. The study adopts a pedagogical case-study approach, examining a studio cohort in which all projects were developed under shared site conditions, design constraints, and instructional frameworks. Five assignments progressed from collaborative precedent analysis to individual technical development, integrating computational modeling, performance simulations, and expert consultations across structural, envelope, MEP, and site engineering. Student work is analyzed through comparative sectional diagrams and selected in-depth project studies to evaluate how groundscape functioned as a shared solution type for multiscalar integration. The results show that groundscape operates productively when tested against specific site constraints rather than deployed as a generalized esthetic. In response to flood elevations, degraded ecology, and limited public access, students developed distinct ground-based operations—such as embedding, lifting, and integrating flood walls as spatial thresholds—demonstrating architecture’s capacity to mediate between civic space, environmental performance, and flood protection. By situating groundscape within a problem-oriented pedagogy, the study consolidates modernist, postmodern, and contemporary groundscape discourse and demonstrates how architectural education can engage productively with climate-adaptation challenges. Full article

The psychological benefits of waterfront public spaces have become an important topic in environmental design and architectural research. However, existing studies have primarily focused on the direct relationship between physical environmental attributes and user satisfaction, with limited attention to the psychological mechanisms through which architectural design influences residents’ well-being. This study examines waterfront concert halls as a type of cultural architectural space and develops a theoretical model integrating environmental restoration theory and place attachment theory. In this model, waterfront design perception is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct including water visibility, water accessibility, water harmony, and water interactivity, while perceived restorativeness and place attachment are treated as mediating variables, and residents’ well-being as the outcome variable. Based on questionnaire data collected from 1345 urban residents across six Chinese cities and seven waterfront concert hall cases, and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling, the results show that waterfront design perception has a significant positive effect on residents’ well-being. Perceived restorativeness and place attachment both play mediating roles and jointly form a sequential pathway through which environmental perception is translated into psychological and emotional benefits. These findings extend the understanding of waterfront design from objective spatial attributes to subjective experiential processes and provide empirical support for the design of waterfront cultural architecture aimed at enhancing the well-being of urban residents. Full article

Urban districts along major rivers are undergoing rapid transformation, yet long-term evidence on how redevelopment reshapes land cover and vegetation structure remains limited in post-socialist cities. This study examines the spatio-temporal evolution of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation dynamics along the Sava River corridor in Belgrade from 1990 to 2024. CORINE Land Cover (CLC) datasets were combined with Landsat-derived NDVI and MSAVI time series, while high-resolution Esri Wayback imagery was used for visual interpretation and qualitative corroboration of the detected land-cover and vegetation patterns. Beyond conventional NDVI/LULC assessments, the study integrates multi-decadal spectral trends with functional vegetation structure classification to evaluate canopy continuity and ecological configuration under contrasting redevelopment models. Results reveal a pronounced divergence between the two riverbanks. The left bank (New Belgrade) maintains stable land-cover composition and consistently higher NDVI and MSAVI values, indicating preserved green infrastructure and sustained canopy continuity. In contrast, the right bank (Belgrade Waterfront) experienced substantial land-cover conversion after 2006, with a statistically significant decline in vegetation greenness (NDVI −0.020 dec⁻¹, p < 0.001) and a marked increase in impervious surfaces. MSAVI-based functional classes indicate a shift from mixed low vegetation to predominantly sealed land, while tree canopy remained persistently low throughout redevelopment. The findings demonstrate measurable ecological simplification and canopy loss, even where nominal green areas remain present. By providing a rare multi-decadal, spatially explicit comparison of two contrasting planning paradigms within the same river corridor, the study contributes new empirical evidence on how governance and redevelopment models shape riparian ecological trajectories and sustainable urbanism in post-socialist cities. Strengthening blue-green infrastructure and restoring native riparian vegetation are essential for enhancing climate resilience and ensuring long-term riverfront sustainability. Full article

In the context of urban renewal, the spatial interface of historic commercial districts functions as both a carrier of historical character and a key setting for commercial activity, public life, and local cultural expression. To address the limitations of conventional studies that rely heavily on field observation and qualitative description, this study takes Xiaohe Zhijie in Hangzhou as a case and develops a multi-level street-view recognition framework for the quantitative analysis of spatial interface characteristics. Based on street-view image collection and standardized preprocessing, a sample database was established at the sampling-point scale. Semantic segmentation, automated commercial object detection, and manual interpretation were combined to identify interface elements, including buildings, sky, greenery, pavement, vehicles, pedestrians, and commercial objects, while commercial content was assessed in terms of locality and homogenization. The results show that Xiaohe Zhijie exhibits a building-dominated and relatively enclosed interface pattern, with greenery and pavement forming the basic environmental ground, weak vehicle interference, and localized enhancement of vitality through commercial objects and pedestrian activities. Significant differences were found among street segments in openness, commercial coverage, and local expression. Three interface types were identified: commercial–cultural composite, local life-oriented, and waterfront landscape–cultural composite. The main challenge lies not in commercialization itself, but in stronger visual locality than content locality and increasing homogenization, resulting in a pattern of “localized form but homogenized content.” Full article

Micro-scale waterfront spaces play a critical role in contemporary urban regeneration by supporting everyday activities and place-based experiences. However, existing studies often rely on linear evaluation approaches and insufficiently address the asymmetric effects of functional, environmental, and cultural attributes on residents’ landscape satisfaction. This study investigates the satisfaction structure of micro-scale waterfront spaces along the Grand Canal in Wuxi, China, with a particular focus on nonlinear demand mechanisms. A mixed-method framework integrating grounded theory, the Delphi method, and the Kano model was employed to identify key landscape attributes and classify their satisfaction effects. The results reveal a hierarchical satisfaction mechanism characterized by “basic–performance–attractive” attributes. Fundamental functional and environmental factors, such as accessibility, safety, water quality, and cultural authenticity, function as must-be attributes that primarily prevent dissatisfaction. Environmental comfort and social facilities act as one-dimensional attributes that linearly enhance satisfaction, while cultural narratives, memory-related elements, and ecological esthetics emerge as attractive attributes that significantly elevate emotional engagement when present. Sensitivity analysis further identifies priority intervention factors with the greatest impact on satisfaction improvement. These findings demonstrate the asymmetric nature of residents’ landscape satisfaction and provide a phased optimization framework for the sustainable regeneration of heritage-based micro-scale waterfront spaces, emphasizing basic reliability, experiential enhancement, and cultural resonance. Full article

Waterfront recreational spaces, as key urban ecological resources, are distinctive in their scarcity and ecological fragility. Their sustainable revitalization requires evidence-based spatial planning and design. The analysis of the vitality of waterfront recreational spaces, which are characterized by the interaction between space and experience, essentially explores how human, water, and the city can coexist and thrive together. Based on the dual characteristics of vitality, this study presents a space–experience interactive evaluation system for waterfront recreational places that incorporates multi-source data. The vitality evaluation results can then be cross-validated with intuitive representations of vitality quantified using pedestrian flow data. Furthermore, this can be used to accurately calibrate the vitality gradient, identify and analyze the anomalous units, and provide insight into influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of vitality. The empirical investigation of the waterfront recreational area of Suzhou Jinji Lake Scenic Area (JLSA) demonstrates that this method can accurately identify spatial vitality distributions and effectively characterize the key elements of vitality zones at different levels. It can precisely decode the vitality of waterfront recreational spaces, providing fresh perspectives on understanding the space–experience interaction in waterfront recreational spaces and directing actions for enhancing vitality. In addition to serving as a supplement to existing research, it provides a flexible, scalable evaluation framework for a variety of waterfront contexts, supports the implementation of human-centered urban design, and offers theoretical and practical support for the sustainable development of waterfront areas. Full article

Visual perception serves as a crucial interface connecting human psychology with the built environment. However, current studies on urban riverscapes often rely on static 2D imagery, failing to capture the spatial depth and immersive experience essential for ecological validity. Furthermore, the “black box” nature of traditional machine learning models hinders the understanding of how specific environmental features drive public perception. To address these gaps, this study proposes an innovative framework integrating high-fidelity 3D models, computer vision (CV), and interpretable artificial intelligence (XAI). Using the River Thames (London) and the River Seine (Paris) as diverse case studies, we constructed high-precision 3D digital twins to quantify 3D spatial metrics (e.g., Viewshed Area, H/W Ratio) and applied the SegFormer model to extract 2D visual elements (e.g., Green View Index) from water-based panoramic imagery. Subjective perception data were collected via immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiments. Random Forest models combined with SHAP were employed to decode the non-linear driving mechanisms of perception. The results reveal three universal principles: (1) Sense of Affluence and Vibrancy are primarily driven by high building density and vertical enclosure, challenging the traditional preference for openness in waterfronts; (2) Scenic Beauty is determined by a synergy of high Green View Index and quality artificial interfaces, suggesting a preference for nature-culture integration; (3) Sense of Boredom is significantly positively correlated with Viewshed Area, indicating that empty prospects without visual foci lead to monotony. This study demonstrates the efficacy of integrating Digital Twins and XAI in revealing robust perception mechanisms across different urban contexts, providing a scientific, evidence-based tool for precision urban planning and riverside regeneration. Full article

Ground-nesting shorebirds face growing pressure from recreational activities in coastal urban areas. We monitored the breeding success of Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) over six consecutive years (2020–2025) at the Promenade of Sablettes, a heavily visited waterfront in Algiers, Algeria. We combined field surveys with multi-sensor remote sensing analysis using Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Dynamic World data to quantify habitat change. A total of 105 nests were recorded across both species. Breeding success reached 70% during the COVID-19 lockdown period (2020–2021), when human visitation dropped sharply. In contrast, complete reproductive failure occurred in 2022 and 2023, coinciding with resumed tourism and unplanned construction activities. Remote sensing revealed that 80–85% of the study area experienced severe habitat degradation between 2020 and 2025, while suitable refuge zones shrank to less than 10% of the total surface. Fledged chicks consistently moved toward a less disturbed vegetated zone, highlighting its functional importance for brood survival. Our results show that human disturbance is the primary factor limiting breeding success at this site, operating through two pathways: direct disturbance of nesting birds and progressive habitat degradation driven by recreational use and unplanned construction. When disturbance was reduced during the pandemic, the habitat proved fully functional for both species. These findings suggest that simple management measures such as seasonal access restrictions and symbolic fencing during the April–July breeding period could restore breeding conditions without major habitat engineering. This study provides one of the first integrations of long-term field breeding data with landscape-scale remote sensing to document the effects of the anthropause and subsequent recovery on urban shorebird populations. Full article