章 俊華

Beijing’s royal gardens represent the highest artistry in the artificial modification and utilization of natural hill and lake landforms. They also encompass the most concentrated ancient Chinese royal architectural heritage complexes. Their sustainable development has drawn significant attention, particularly in detecting and identifying areas of land subsidence and analyzing its influencing factors, which are crucial for preserving Beijing’s royal architectural heritage. This study employed time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology to collect 148 SAR datasets from 2019 to 2023. It compares the persistent scatterer (PS)–InSAR and small baseline subset (SBAS)–InSAR techniques for cross-validation analyses to systematically assess the spatial characteristics of land subsidence of the most valuable architectural heritage complexes in the four most representative Beijing’s royal gardens. The study identified several areas with concentrated subsidence. Further analysis of the types of ancient building locations reveals that buildings situated in hilly areas (Type C), waterside buildings (Type A1), and near-water buildings (Type A2) are more significantly affected by land subsidence. Through an analysis of the causes of subsidence, it was found that, affected by the “excavating lakes and piling hills” landscape modification method and the utilization of natural hilled terrain approach, the subsidence observed in most Type C architectural heritage complexes within the study area may be associated with the Holocene sediments in the underlying soils beneath the shallow foundations of architectural heritage, localized bedrock instability caused by exposure and weathering, and slope instability. Type A building complexes’ subsidence and localized uplift may be associated with Holocene sediments beneath their foundations. The cross-comparison between SBAS-InSAR and PS-InSAR provides a reference framework for exploring land deformation research in architectural heritage sites where detection methods are constrained.

Owing to lifestyle changes since COVID-19, new needs for various usages and spatial experiences of open spaces have become apparent. Suburban parks and green spaces are thought to be suitable uses. This study used structural equation modeling to examine the direct and indirect effects of diverse usages and experiences on the desirability of three proposed park plans for a major park in City A, near Tokyo, based on questionnaire survey data. The findings highlight the importance of “Nature, Passive, and Healing” usage, including nature experiences and small-group activities. “Nature, Passive, and Healing” is negatively affected by “Gathering and Active” but positively by “Multifunctional and Borderless”. A potential for significant improvement in park desirability was also found by linking “Nature, Passive, and Healing” to “Multifunctional and Borderless”. For those aged 60 and older, the indirect effect of “Multifunctional and Borderless” via “Nature, Passive, and Healing” was large and significant, whereas its direct effect was not. “Multifunctional and Borderless” park usage was also been proven to have the greatest impact on female users, whereas, for males, “Nature, Passive, and Healing” had the largest impact. These results emphasize the importance of designs that balance diverse usages and ensure appropriate distancing to meet new needs.

The presence of small green spaces throughout high-density urban areas is essential for enhancing thermal comfort and combating the urban heat island effect. Extensive research has been conducted on plants, which play a key role in cooling green spaces. However, the majority of research focuses on trees, overlooking the efficiency of vertical plant configurations, especially shrubs. Hence, this paper selected a typical small green space in Tokyo’s high-density urban area and employed scenario simulation to examine how various vertical plant configurations impact the microclimate and thermal comfort of small green spaces, with a particular emphasis on quantifying the efficiency of shrubs. The research primarily discovered four findings. First, trees significantly outperform shrubs in improving thermal comfort, especially during periods of strong sunlight during the day, leading to a direct modification of the thermal comfort levels. Second, while shrubs (height < 2 m) usually do not make a substantial difference in the overall thermal comfort levels of small green spaces, they are effective in reducing areas classified as “hot” and “very hot” during the day, with their cooling effect becoming more pronounced in the late afternoon. Third, when small green spaces combine trees and shrubs in their plant configuration, taller shrubs (within 0–2 m) exhibit a more pronounced cooling effect and improvement in thermal comfort. The conclusions of this study could offer guidance for the planning, design, and renovation of small green spaces in high-density urban areas.

Abstract Heritage gardens represent the cultural heritage pride of many nations, and their sustainable preservation has garnered widespread academic attention globally. Despite numerous qualitative reviews, a comprehensive quantitative analysis of heritage garden preservation literature from 2004 to 2024 is lacking. This study examines the dynamic evolution of heritage garden conservation (2004–2024) through bibliometric analysis, focusing on Research Activity and Impact, Cooperation Networks, and Knowledge Structure and Thematic Evolution. To achieve this goal, this study conducted a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science Core Collection database. Initially, 1,540 documents were retrieved. After excluding irrelevant categories and conducting a manual review of titles, abstracts, and keywords to ensure relevance, 774 articles were selected for analysis. The analysis utilized bibliometric software tools such as VOS viewer, CiteSpace, and Biblioshiny. The results initially reveal that the period from 2010 to 2021 marked a significant increase in publication volume within the field of heritage gardens, although only 2.4% of the papers were reviews. Landscape Urban Planning and Geoheritage emerged as the most influential journals, based on their high local citation counts within the field. Additionally, collaboration networks indicated that scholars from the United States and China published the most papers, with Canadian scholars’ works having significant impact. Influenced by the evolving concepts of technology, politics, and cultural heritage, the analysis of knowledge structure and theme evolution identified ecosystem services, user perceptions, and cultural landscape impacts as recent hot topics. Future research on the sustainable preservation of heritage gardens should focus more on balancing urban development, incorporating sustainable management, and digital restoration through quantitative methods. In summary, this study offers insights into the global evolution of heritage garden preservation from 2004 to 2024, providing a valuable resource for future research and policy-making.

Abstract Mental disorders affect many different groups around the world, and disadvantaged groups are often more severely affected. Neighbourhood green spaces (GS) can improve mental health, especially in disadvantaged groups. Many countries address social inequality and inequity through GS interventions. However, current evidence shows inconsistencies, which may result from the study site, research design, socio-demographically diverse samples, inclusivity considerations, and the different metrics used to quantify GS exposure and mental health benefits. Few conceptual models explain how neighbourhood greenery can act as a structural intervention. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method and retrieved 5559 documents from eight databases to examine whether neighbourhood GS can modify mental health associations in disadvantaged groups. We found that neighbourhood GS had substantial protective effects on the mental health of disadvantaged groups. However, disadvantaged people are more influenced by GS quality than by other GS exposures, such as GS usage, distance, and accessibility. Improvements in subjective well-being were most pronounced in terms of mental health outcomes. Mechanistically, neighbourhood GS improves mental health mainly through increased social cohesion and, green visibility, and young people receive further benefits from physical activity (PA). These findings offer a comprehensive understanding of the associations and mechanisms between neighbourhood GS and the mental health of disadvantaged groups, addressing health equities that are induced by the unfair distribution of GS, and thus promoting health-oriented environmental planning and policies.

Small urban green spaces are abundant in densely populated urban areas, but little is known about their impact on the urban heat island effect and thermal comfort. Therefore, this study selected as research sites four small urban green spaces in a typical high-density built-up area, Chuo Ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ENVI-met software 5.1.1 simulation method was used to analyze these sites’ microclimate and thermal comfort conditions. The following are the results: (1) Small urban green spaces significantly reduce urban air temperatures, particularly during hot weather, with temperature reductions ranging from 2.40 °C to 2.67 °C, consistently lower than the highest temperatures in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, mainly between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. (2) Thermal comfort analysis indicates that small urban green spaces can significantly improve urban thermal comfort during the day, particularly around noon, by reducing one or two thermal comfort levels compared to typical urban street blocks. However, these differences gradually diminish throughout the evening and night, and thermal comfort inside and outside green spaces becomes more uniform. (3) Green space size is not the only factor influencing thermal comfort; the layout of plants within the green space and the layout of the surrounding buildings also have an impact. Despite their small size, even small green spaces can significantly enhance comfort. This study highlights the need to promote urban sustainability through the extensive integration of small green spaces in dense urban environments. Small green spaces can serve as a high-frequency, low-cost solution for environmental sustainability by addressing the increasingly severe urban heat island effect as well as environmental challenges that in the urbanization process.

Urban Tourism Green Spaces (UTGSs) in Okinawa are the most frequented areas by tourists and are an important part of the area’s unique tourism image and brand value. This study selected 40 UTGSs in Ishigaki City, Okinawa, for comparative analysis before the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2009–December 2019) and during the strict control period (January 2020–December 2021). Data on tourist reviews were collected in Python. Correlations were collated through Pearson correlation tests. Text-mining methods were used to examine tourist reviews to characterise changes in tourists’ use and experience of UTGSs amid the extreme hardship experienced by tourist cities during the pandemic. Visitors expressed positive emotions towards the green space, particularly in post-pandemic times, despite disruptions and uncertainties caused by travel restrictions. Rather than focusing on water activities as before, visitors preferred exploring the island’s hinterland areas with low crowd density and seeking spiritual comfort in open public spaces. This highlights the potential of these areas to be developed as a new tourism resource. This study’s findings will provide valuable insights for urban planners and tourism operators in developing effective crisis response strategies and guiding the development of urban tourism areas towards more appealing and sustainable destinations.

We employed publicly available user-generated content (UGC) data from the website Tripadvisor and developed an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model using the R language to analyze the seasonality of the use of urban green space (UGS) in Okinawa under normal conditions and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The seasonality of the use of ocean-area UGS is primarily influenced by climatic factors, with the peak season occurring from April to October and the off-peak season from November to March. Conversely, the seasonality of the use of non-ocean-area UGS remains fairly stable throughout the year, with a relatively high number of visitors in January and May. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted visitor enthusiasm for travel, resulting in significantly fewer actual postings compared with predictions. During the outbreak, use of ocean-area UGS was severely restricted, resulting in even fewer postings and a negative correlation with the number of new cases. In contrast, for non-ocean-area UGS, a positive correlation was observed between the change in postings and the number of new cases. We offer several suggestions to develop UGS management in Okinawa, considering the opportunity for a period of recovery for the tourism industry.

Understanding the relationship between environmental features and perceptions of urban green spaces (UGS) is crucial for UGS design and management. However, quantifying park perceptions on a large spatial and temporal scale is challenging, and it remains unclear which environmental features lead to different perceptions in cross-cultural comparisons. This study addressed this issue by collecting 11,782 valid social media comments and photos covering 36 UGSs from 2020 to 2022 using a Python 3.6-based crawler. Natural language processing and image recognition methods from Google were then utilized to quantify UGS perceptions. This study obtained 32 high-frequency feature words through sentiment analysis and quantified 17 environmental feature factors that emerged using object and scene recognition techniques for photos. The results show that users generally perceive Japanese UGSs as more positive than Chinese UGSs. Chinese UGS users prioritize plant green design and UGS user density, whereas Japanese UGS focuses on integrating specific cultural elements. Therefore, when designing and managing urban greenspace systems, local environmental and cultural characteristics must be considered to meet the needs of residents and visitors. This study offers a replicable and systematic approach for researchers investigating the utilization of UGS on a global scale.

Chinese Traditional Gardens (CTGs) are an important part of China’s cultural inheritance from the past. Today’s China has experienced rapid urbanization, raising the need for a new form of contemporary gardens intended to satisfy peoples’ need for traditional culture. Garden paths are important in CTGs; they are designed to show visitors changing views with each step, and to lead them to secluded, quiet places via winding paths. This enhances the ornamental interest of the gardens. Based on plane graphics, this study evaluates the characteristics of three types of garden paths in fourteen traditional gardens and a contemporary antique garden, the Daguan Garden in Beijing. The analysis uses correlation and factor analysis to integrate 28 quantitative path indicators into five aspects of average, scale, network, wide, and aggregation. The 28 indicators can be expressed by six simple indicators: average connection length, number of path sections, alpha index, average width, average tortuous angle, and concentration degree. The results show small variations of garden paths between traditional gardens, but a considerable difference between the contemporary garden and traditional gardens. The research proposes a framework for the quantification and comparison of garden path features that can be applied before and after garden path construction, for both ancient and modern garden styles. This framework generates garden path feature values and theoretical values of six indicators, and is not constrained by the garden scale. Therefore, it provides an accurate and efficient design tool for garden designers.

Urban green spaces (UGSs) can meet the spiritual and cultural needs of citizens and provide various ecosystem services. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the utilization of UGSs has been affected in various countries worldwide. This study considered 13 UGSs in Guangzhou, China, as examples. It obtained user check-in data by sampling the check-in pages of Sina Weibo locations using a Python-based web crawler program. The study was conducted for 731 days from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2021, during different phases of the pandemic. Based on automated Chinese corpus recognition technology, statistical results were obtained after periodization and sentiment calculation. The study assessed the pandemic’s impact on the use of UGSs by analyzing the time, frequency, and emotions of residents visiting UGSs. The study concluded that the emotions of UGS users during COVID-19 tended to be positive. They tended to choose UGSs with low expected population density and visited UGSs on weekdays. Additionally, the religious attributes of UGSs also influenced their utilization.

<p>This study aims to clarify the spatial composition and elements of traditional Korean Byeol-Seo Gardens through the field survey and the GIS analysis of topographical characteristics. The field research and survey were carried out on August and November in 2014 and November in 2015 at 9 gardens in Gwangju, Damyang region：MyunAngJeong, SongGangJeong, YeongGyeJeong, MoonIlJeong, KwanSooJeong, SikYoungJeong, HwanBuckDang, ChiGaJeong and MyuongOkHeon. Through creating the original contour maps by combining the field survey results with GIS data，the following aspects are consequently observed on the 9 gardens. (1) Byeol-Seo is considered to have spatial composition to be aware of the view from the Pavilion. (2) Topographical characteristics make spatial composition in Byeol-Seo and fall into two major categories. While prior researches focused on the meaning and philosophy of the gardens, this study, involving the quantitative analysis, elucidates the style of the spatial composition. This kind of analysis could be the basis of recognizing the morphological characteristics and the meaning of the spatial design of the traditional garden.</p>

<p>This study focuses on the spatial features of Old Summer Palace in China from the perspective of position relationship between hill-water and architecture. The 40 gardens in Old Summer Palace were divided into 4 groups according to the relationship with the surrounding, sight orientation and the location of hill and water. In Group A, these gardens have several space types and were surrounded by hills and waters which make the garden space separated from surrounding. These gardens in Group B form closed garden space by architectural which were closed to environment rather than the construction of hill and water. These gardens in Group C have opening garden space and multi-directional sight by few hills surrounded and opening architectural composition. The gardens of Group D were surrounded by a little hills and sight orientation which make them look opening appropriately. Overall, not only the composition of architecture, but also the construction of hill and water in Old Summer Palace were affected by the traditional geomancy culture, and the innovative techniques were also applied in this garden especially in the residence area.</p>

<p>This paper discusses the composition of the residential area, which was planned and built as an exclusive residential ar ea in the suburb of Nanjing, during the Period of the Republic of China, based on the analysis of the exterior space arrangement. First, there are 200 sites been chosen which are in a good state of preservation.Next, arrangement patterns are shown and clarifie d into 4 groups by studying the composition of exterior space and performing a cluster analysis. Then, characteristics of spatial a rrangement are described by examining the influence of each group upon the street construction, and compared with the spatial a rrangement of traditional Chinese residence and western residence. Finally, examine the feature of whole block through the distri bution character of those 4 groups. This residential area is composed by Western-style road system, mansion and garden, but cha racteristics of the territory and some feature of traditional Chinese residence can also be found in this area.</p>

<p>This study focus on the spatial feature in the Old Summer Palace in China from the view of architectural disposition. The architectural dispositions of 40 gardens in the Old Summer Palace were divided into 4 types with the cluster analysis method. In addition, the spatial feature of different kinds of garden were examined according to architectural disposition. As a result, a most important courtyard space was structured in order to emphasize the emperorship in the politics and ritual spaces. The central activity space was highlighted in most of religion spaces, and some of them were also shaped to blend in with the surrounding scenery. Most of living spaces adopt the closed quadrangle dwellings layout was adopted to create sense of privacy and safety, besides, some novel open spaces were created in order to integrate with natural scenery. Most of touring spaces strengthen the connection with surroundings, and some of them also highlight the royal noble status through the regular configuration. In conclusion, the garden spaces in the Old Summer Palace not only have conventional features for complying with traditional ethical codes, but also have some innovative features created by some distinctive architectural dispositions.</p>

This paper aims to clarify the character of mansions built during the Period of the Republic of China in Nanjing, by focusing on spatial composition and the exterior space arrangement of the main building. Based on the historical background of the Republic of China, historical textual research and on-the-spot investigation were carried out into the spatial composition of the mansions, 17 mansions are selected as study objects. Analyzing the two-dimensional composition of sites and the three-dimensional composition of attachments for the main buildings shows the character. The result of this research indicated that, the two-dimensional composition such as the position of mansion on its site, and the three-dimensional composition such as the position or type of attachments, not only imitates European and American residence, but also utilizes characters of traditional Chinese residence. The main building's position and plane figure of the site on the exterior arrangement, which can be seen as a combination of Chinese style and Western style, has changed.