While green landscapes are known to influence drivers' visual attention, the optimal configurations for enhancing driving safety and performance remain unclear. This study employed eyetracking technology to investigate eye fixation and gaze behaviors of 24 drivers during a 90-minute simulated urban highway driving task across six distinct landscape conditions across three primary Areas of Interest (AOIs). Within-subject analysis of variance (ANOVA) comparing barren, turf, and woody landscapes revealed that increased greenness significantly directs drivers' eye movements towards greenery. Comparative analysis of the six landscape conditions suggested that shrub landscape settings achieved the most balanced distribution of visual attention across AOIs, preventing drivers from excessively focusing on either natural or artificial features. Moreover, the ANOVA examining two shrub settings and two tree settings revealed a trade-off effect between landscape greenness and complexity. This study provides crucial empirical evidence for a balanced configuration of greenness and complexity in landscape design, confirming its critical role in achieving optimal visual perception outcomes. Finally, it proposes a triangular theoretical framework linking visual perception, mental states, and driving performance, offering theoretical support and practical reference for future research and design of healthy and safe driving environments.
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.
With the global number of people with cognitive impairment continuing to rise, there is an urgent need to create supportive environments that can both improve quality of life and slow the progression of symptoms, as cognitive disorders pose major challenges to public health and care systems. To systematically sort out the research trends and hotspots of dementia-friendly environments, this study combines a systematic literature review with CiteSpace-based knowledge mapping. It systematically retrieved Chinese- and English-language literature published between 2009 and 2024 and finally included 80 articles. The keyword cluster analysis in this field identified ten major hotspots: mental health, living alone, older people, neuropsychological assessment, bodily response, neighborhood economic disadvantage, mobility, architecture, dementia friendly, and urban/rural differences. Over three stages of development, the scholarly focus has shifted from disease and quality of life to the interaction mechanisms between cognitive function and the built environment, and more recently to application-oriented research emphasizing risk identification, accessible design, and community support. On this basis, the paper proposes three key directions for future research: 1) advancing interdisciplinary integration and in-depth application of quantitative research; 2) building intelligent, responsive dementia-friendly environments supported by multi-stakeholder collaboration and digital technologies; and 3) paying closer attention to individual and regional differences to enhance the adaptability and cultural sensitivity of dementia-friendly environmental design. The findings of this systematic review provide theoretical references and practical insights for creating more adaptive, sustainable, and culturally-sensitive dementia-friendly environments.
Identifying ecological conservation priority areas (ECPAs) for key terrestrial wildlife species is vital for advancing biodiversity protection. However, existing studies often focus on a single taxon, overlooking the holistic features and interrelationships of biodiversity. This research centers on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the GBA) and targets 32 primary terrestrial wild species. By integrating the MaxEnt and Zonation models, this research predicts the ECPAs for these species and overlays the results with existing nature reserves to identify the conservation gaps, thereby proposing optimization strategies. The results show that: 1) Precipitation seasonality has a significant impact on the potential distribution of the species, and the suitable areas are mainly concentrated in areas with abundant precipitation and strong water retention capacity. 2) The ECPAs are mainly located in the northern and central mountainous and forested areas of Zhaoqing; the coastal areas of Jiangmen; the central to southern coastal areas of Zhuhai; the central and northeastern parts to coastal areas of Zhongshan; the central to coastal areas of Huizhou; the southeastern Dongguan; the central, western, and coastal areas of Shenzhen; the northern and southern Macao; and the coastal area of Hong Kong. 3) The ECPAs predicted by Zonation overlap with most of the established nature reserves, but there are still gap areas in the eastern and southern coasts of the GBA. These findings offer valuable references for ecological conservation in other regions and underscore the importance of incorporating dynamic variables such as climate change and human activities into future conservation planning. It provides effective approaches to biodiversity protection and scientific support for decision-making in nature conservation management.
The scientific prediction of future urban flood risks has become a critical issue in urban planning. Shenzhen, a high-density city severely affected by typhoons, storm surges, and extreme rainfall, is facing escalating flood risks and urgently needs to enhance its urban resilience. This study couples the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model with the PLUS model to forecast land use changes and urban flood risks in Shenzhen for the years 2040, 2060, 2080, and 2100 under business-as-usual, planning-guided, and ecological conservation scenarios, based on key factors derived from Global Climate Models (GCMs). This research further identifies the driving factors of flood risks and proposes strategies to optimize land use in urban renewal. The results indicate that built-up areas are exposed to significantly higher flood risks than blue and green spaces under the long-term trends of rising temperatures and precipitation. However, development under the ecological conservation scenario can effectively reduce urban flood risks, with the area of high-risk zones decreasing by 7.29% and low-risk zones increasing by 18.79% by 2100 compared with 2020.Meanwhile, land use type and elevation are identified as the main factors affecting flood risks. This research provides a scientific basis for enhancing resilience and optimizing green infrastructure in the context of urban renewal.
Climate change has significantly increased the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, posing significant challenges to the hydrological ecological security of rural settlements in mountainous areas. There is an urgent need for research that predicts the flood risk of mountainous villages under future climate scenarios. Taking the mountainous area of the Yongding River Watershed in Beijing as an example, this study uses CMIP6 data and the Delta statistical downscaling method to predict precipitation with return periods of 20-a, 50-a, and 100-a under the SSP126, SSP245, and SSP585 scenarios at the end of this century. A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model combining SWMM and HEC-RAS has been employed to simulate the flood risks of the villages in the watershed. The results show that: 1) overall flood risk is higher for the villages located downstream of the Qingshui River and at the outlet of the Yongding River Gorge, with significantly increased inundation area ratio, maximum inundation depth, and the number of villages affected; 2) with the increase in radiative forcing values of the SSP pathways, the inundation area ratio increases by up to 8.22% by 2100, significantly increasing the flood control pressure on settlements in the future; 3) the correlation results between village spatial characteristics and flood risks show that the inundation area ratio is significantly negatively correlated with average river width and river sinuosity, and significantly positively correlated with river gradient and floodway proximity; the maximum inundation depth is significantly negatively correlated with average river width and significantly positively correlated with floodway proximity. Finally, this research suggests that it is necessary to integrate various spatial elements and resources from upstream and downstream areas by prioritizing the strategy of key area flood control and sustainable development, to reduce the flood risk to mountainous settlements under future climate change.
Watershed flood management requires a systematic assessment of disaster-related risks and the application of resilience-oriented design to reduce exposure and vulnerability. However, how to enhance basin resilience by integrating land use planning for stormwater regulation, while balancing the interests of upstream, midstream, and downstream regions, remains a key challenge. To address this issue, this study constructs a basin-wide flood-mitigation resilience framework considering allocation efficiency and equity. First, a two-stage data envelopment analysis model is established to evaluate the economic efficiency and runoff management efficiency, forming an efficiency-oriented stormwater allocation method. Second, near–far telecoupling relationships are identified and a multi-regional input–output model is used to examine regional development imbalances, thereby developing an equity-oriented method. Finally, the allocation proportions are adjusted according to decision-makers' preferences. The results show that: 1) under the efficiency-oriented scheme, the upstream region is required to undertake 88.80% of stormwater runoff; 2) under the equity-oriented scheme, the downstream bears 78.25% of the rainstorm runoff; and 3) when the decision makers' preference is set to 0.2 (i.e., indicating greater emphasis on equity), inter-regional allocation disparities within the basin are minimized. This study responses to the challenges of spatial runoff allocation and cross-regional compensation, providing a practical and instructive approach for improving basin-wide flood-mitigation resilience.
In urban planning, landscape and architecture design, designers and planners often confront intricate and multidimensional societal issues. To effectively address these challenges, this paper introduces a Morphological Analysis (MA) approach that systematically explores and aids generation of a variety of societal design solutions. MA involves constructing a matrix of subsystems and the corresponding options. It integrates both quantitative and qualitative factors and allows designers to explore concepts and to clarify the certainties or uncertainties of a problem at an early stage of the design process through arising evaluation. This paper further integrates MA with artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) to rapidly generate and evaluate design proposals, thereby enhancing the innovation and practicality of the design process. The proposed Society Optioneering framework improves the scientific and adaptability of solutions and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. This integration enables designers to explore problems from multiple perspectives, discover a broader array of solutions, and evaluate them effectively using systematic tools. Thus it can maintain flexibility and adaptability throughout the design process, continually optimizing and adjusting the design strategy. This study enriches design theory and provides practical tools and guidance for related fields.
Rapid socioeconomic development and recent public health crises have posed increasing challenges to both physical and mental health, with anxiety emerging as a prevalent concern. Although studies have linked urban green spaces to improved health conditions, the interactional mechanisms among landscape, behavior, and mental health remain insufficiently tested. This study selected five representative urban parks in Qingdao as research sites and collected data on users' perceived landscape quality, user behaviors, and anxiety states using a structured questionnaire and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory. The correlation analysis indicates that different landscape elements are significantly associated with distinct user behaviors. Moreover, certain landscape elements are significantly correlated with users' state anxiety, with clear gender differences. Specifically, water landscape is significantly negatively correlated with male state anxiety, while green landscape and public facilities are significantly negatively correlated with female state anxiety. Overall, the relationships among urban park landscape elements, user behaviors, and anxiety relief are characterized by associative and non-linear patterns rather than a unidirectional pathway. This study provides empirical evidence to support urban park design and regeneration, contributing to scientifically bringing out their potential health benefits.
Urbanization and single-purpose flood-control infrastructure have fundamentally restructured the hydrological regimes and canal networks in many delta cities, with Bangkok's diminishing canal networks serving as a key example of this transformation. Once vital for flood mitigation, irrigation, transportation, and cultural functions, Bangkok's canals have declined with the shift to land-based development and single-purpose flood control. This study draws on spatial and land-use change analyses of three representative canal networks, which exhibit varying levels of urbanization and canal morphology, to illustrate different patterns of canal loss, sub-canal fragmentation, and surrounding land-use transitions over time. The findings show that canal loss closely paralleled the expansion of impervious surfaces and land-use change, reflecting not only a shift toward rigid, single-purpose water management infrastructure but also a transformation in societal perceptions from water-based to land-based living. This dual shift has disconnected communities from their waterways, weakened urban flood resilience, and neglected the broader ecological and cultural value of canal networks. To address these challenges, strategies for restoring and reconnecting canal networks as multifunctional Blue–Green Infrastructure (BGI) are recommended, including reconstructing missing segments, enhancing lateral connectivity, and applying green engineering solutions. The study highlights the importance of incorporating historical canal data into hydrological models to support evidence-based flood mitigation strategies, and also identifies key research gaps concerning the socio-political feasibility of canal restoration and the integration of future climate scenarios into flood modeling. By reframing canal networks as critical infrastructure for urban sustainability, this study contributes to broader academic and policy discussions on adaptive water management in delta cities.