Historical streets are an important component of urban form and embody urban culture. A detailed quantitative analysis of visitors’ spatial perception in historical streets is crucial for enhancing the spatial quality of streets. Focusing on Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, this study proposed a physical-physiological-psychological research framework for spatial perception by constructing a 3D virtual geographic environment. Based on environmental behavior theories and five dimensions of street design quality, it assessed the spatial features of historical streets, visitors’ eye-tracking and physiological sensing data, and psychological perception, summarized the mechanisms of how historical streetscapes influence visitors’ perception, and finally proposed corresponding streetscape optimization strategies. The main findings are as follows. 1) Spatial features of historical streets, including architectural style, layout of commercial spaces, spatial scale, and interface transparency, directly affect visitors’ visual experience and preferences. 2) Visual attention is significantly positively correlated with the historical streets’ imagery, openness, transparency, and complexity, and significantly negatively correlated with enclosure; among these factors, street openness, vitality, and lighting are key factors influencing visitors’ physiological responses. 3) The physical-physiological-psychological interaction mechanisms show that the visual attractiveness and emotional stimulation of the streetscapes can significantly influence individual perception and behavioral decisions, which confirmed the “physical environment-eye-tracking fixation-emotional arousal” mechanism of visitors’ visual preferences. Finally, spatial perception optimization strategies for different types of streets are proposed to inform decision-making for historical street renewals.

Effectively enhancing park service effectiveness is a pivotal pathway for advancing the construction of Park Cities. However, it has currently witnessed issues such as the misalignment between park management research and the actual deficiencies, a lack of connections from evaluation results to deficiency diagnosis and optimization recommendations, and the insufficiency in timeliness and continuity of research outcomes, which collectively fail to adequately support for park managers’ decision-making in service effectiveness enhancement. This study, addressing the entire workflow, proposes an “evaluation-diagnosis-decision-making” framework for the enhancement of park service effectiveness underpinned by new technologies. Initially, by leveraging multi-sourced data to expand the investigation dimensions of park service effectiveness, it conducts indicator evaluations with intelligent algorithms; subsequently, constructing knowledge graphs to achieve precise deficiency diagnosis and optimization recommendations; and finally, utilizing templates and intelligent technologies for automatic report generation, and introducing an intelligent question-and-answer service supported by the large language model, thereby offering refined evaluation, diagnosis, and decision-making assistance for enhancing park service effectiveness. With an empirical case study on the evaluation of park service effectiveness in Beijing, the article demonstrates the application effectiveness of this framework, which can provide a new perspective and an operational tool for the improvement of urban park management services.

Outdoor green walls are gaining popularity for enhancing building aesthetics and promoting healthy and sustainable urban environment. However, concerns about their high water consumption in the context of ongoing water crises highlight the need for alternative water sources, such as recycled water. This research investigated the effects of recycled water irrigation and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) on four plant species for green walls in Mashhad, Iran: Festuca ovina, Ophiopogon japonicus, Aptenia cordifolia, and Carpobrotus edulis. Over nine months (March to December 2022), researchers conducted experiments using three water types (graywater, wastewater, and urban water) as the main factor and four bacterial treatments (Mix B1, Mix B2, Mix B3, and a control) as the sub-factor, with three replications of split-plot layout based on a randomized complete block design. Results showed significant differences in aesthetic qualities, with optimal visual quality achieved by applying Mix B2 or B3 with wastewater for Aptenia cordifolia, Carpobrotus edulis, and Festuca ovina; and Ophiopogon japonicus performed best with Mix B1 and graywater. The research highlights the potential of using Aptenia cordifolia with Mix B3 and wastewater irrigation for outdoor green walls, especially in arid and semi-arid climates.

The 2024 Climate Design Summit, held on October 29, 2024, emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in tackling climate change challenges. Experts from architecture, engineering, and environmental science gathered to discuss sustainable solutions for mitigating climate disasters like floods, wildfires, and droughts. The summit advocated for cross-disciplinary solutions that integrate Nature-based Solutions as catalysts for climate resilience and are essential for long-term sustainability, and stressed that no single technical solution can address the complexity of climate issues. Successful case studies were highlighted as examples of how design can address both climate resilience and socio-economic challenges. The gathered insights and discussions on this summit reinforced that achieving climate resilience requires a holistic approach that blends scientific innovation, sustainable design, and community empowerment, and underlined the need for collaboration across disciplines and sectors to build resilient cities and infrastructures.

Urban green-blue infrastructures (GBIs) are increasingly gaining attention in the pursuit of carbon neutrality, particularly within residential areas. With this background, this study established an integrated quantitative framework to assess both direct and indirect carbon reduction benefits of urban GBIs, by leveraging Life Cycle Assessment approach to precisely calibrate the carbon sequestration benefits of three typical urban GBIs (green roofs, sunken green spaces, and rain gardens) under three different scenarios and building a carbon sequestration database that includes 36 local plant species in Shanghai. The research results indicate that GBIs have a reducing effect on carbon emissions in urban residential areas. If extrapolating the simulation results to the city scale, the preliminary estimation suggests that the construction of GBIs within residential areas in Shanghai can achieve a carbon sink of approximately 540.54 million tCO₂eq per year. This level of carbon sequestration is equivalent to 32% of Shanghai’s annual carbon emissions. It is evident that the construction of GBIs possesses significant potential in carbon reduction benefits and for achieving urban carbon neutrality strategies.