With rapid urbanization, urban green spaces play an increasingly important role—not only in improving environmental quality and addressing climate change, but also in promoting social interaction, enhancing public health, and strengthening community cohesion. As lifestyles evolve, demand for high-quality green spaces is growing. Enhancing their vitality and maximizing their ecological, social, and economic benefits have become a key focus in urban planning, landscape architecture, and social governance.

Vitality is a key indicator of a green space’s attractiveness and function, influenced by factors such as spatial layout, facilities, accessibility, behavior patterns, and management strategies. It directly affects the frequency of use, user experience, and ultimately the overall livability of a city. Yet systematic research and robust assessment frameworks require further development. Advances in big data, spatial behavior tracking, and AI offer new opportunities for quantitative assessment in this field.

This special issue, themed “Vitality and Value Assessment of Urban Green Spaces,” seeks to gather cutting-edge research from scholars worldwide, exploring spatial characteristics, structural patterns, usage behaviors, socio-economic value, and assessment methods, to provide scientific support for urban planning, landscape design, and policy-making.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1) Theoretical frameworks and quantitative methods for assessing green space vitality, including definitions and key influencing factors;

2) Usage patterns and spatial behaviors in green spaces through big data, spatial analysis, and social surveys;

3) The role of design, management strategies, and smart technologies in enhancing green space vitality;

4) Social, economic, and ecological values of green spaces, focusing on impacts on health, social interaction, property value, and ecosystem services;

5) International case studies and comparative analyses of vitality assessments and enhancement strategies in varied urban contexts.