With its early start in urbanization, Europe has accumulated a wealth of practical experience in urban agriculture (UA), exploring various development models. This paper compares and analyzes the characteristic patterns of UA in Europe and China through theoretical research, academic frontier exploration, and case analysis. In order to investigate and analyze theoretical developments and the current state of academic frontiers in a systematic, accessible, and comprehensive approach, the methodology of bibliometric analysis has been utilized. A bibliometric method is applied to analyze relevant data from the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database and 2230 CNKI publications. The case study section conducts separate field research on nine representative European practices of urban food gardening and urban farming. Additionally, the study scrutinizes UA research development and its implementation in Hangzhou, China. Based on the findings of this study, the authors recommend that European approaches to the development of UA in China’s future UA practice be taken into account, in particular their methods and strategies for realizing social and cultural benefits. It is imperative to integrate UA projects into urban green space system planning and to rationalize their construction types. Simultaneously, Chinese scholars are encouraged to explore the socio-cultural functions of UA, with a particular focus on urban agricultural heritage conservation.

In the development of modern urban gardens, delving into visitor experience perception to address homogenization issues is a crucial means to enhance garden space characteristics and meet diverse demands. This study selected nine representative modern gardens in the Taihu Lake region as samples. Utilizing machine learning techniques combined with image semantic segmentation and principal component analysis, it systematically assessed various microscopic features of gardens and explored their relationship with actual visitor experience ratings. The aim is to reveal emotional resonance and aesthetic preferences during the touring process. The results indicate: (1) Comfort holds a primary position in influencing visitor touring experiences; (2) Microscopic features such as water features, tall vegetation, architecture, and ornametal elements significantly contribute to visitor comfort; (3) The random forest model unveils complex interactions between microscopic features and the overall visitor experience, indicating limitations in traditional linear model evaluations for such relationships. Through analyzing the relationship between microscopic garden features and visitor experiences in the selected cases, this study highlights the importance of adopting non-linear models to optimize garden landscape design and enhance the visitor touring experience.