In recent years, community gardens are becoming more and more popular in China. However, the role of these community gardens varies significantly: some community gardens serve as an effective means of promoting social capital, while others cause social contradictions and public doubts due to the lack of professional design and management. Therefore, this paper aims to learn and better understand what factors affect the formation of social capital in Chinese community gardens. It screened eleven design factors and seven social factors and made social capital scale through literature review and expert workshop. On this basis, this study selected 35 community gardens in China as sample spaces, and collected 1257 questionnaires about the perception for social capital of gardeners through survey. In the statistical analysis phase, factor analysis and regression analysis were applied to analyze the role and the relative importance of different factors and social capital. Results show that the integration with green infrastructure, accessibility, size, visual openness, planting form, proportion of unproductive landscape, agricultural infrastructure, and smart infrastructure have significant impacts on social capital level. Meanwhile, the types of stakeholders, management rules, supervision system, self-management team, and operational activities have similar impacts on social capital level. This study recommends that planners and designers should adjust the above related factors in community garden design, and local government is urged to integrate community gardens into urban plans and public policies.

In recent years, the development of abandoned mining land has become a focal point in landscape planning. However, during the development of abandoned mining land, there often exists a phenomenon of prioritizing economic considerations over ecological concerns, leading to a failure to achieve genuinely sustainable development. An ecological sensitivity assessment, guided by the principles of protection and development, provides an evaluation framework that directs planning strategies for abandoned mining land from the perspective of balanced development and conservation. To facilitate the development and construction of abandoned mining land, this paper utilizes GIS technology, on-site surveys, analytic hierarchy processes, etc. Taking the abandoned mining land in Haining, Zhejiang, China, as the research subject and considering its unique site conditions, ecological sensitivity is divided into topographic conditions, surface water systems, and plant landscapes. Ecological sensitivity factors are selected, and an ecological sensitivity assessment system is constructed from the perspectives of ecological conservation and sustainable development. Using ArcGIS 10.2 and Fragstats 4.2 software, landscape pattern analysis is conducted, exploring the relationship between landscape patterns and ecological sensitivity assessment results from the perspectives of landscape fragmentation, diversity, and aggregation. By comparing the results of single-factor sensitivity analysis and comprehensive sensitivity analysis, as well as landscape pattern indices before and after classifying ecologically sensitive areas, the practicality of the evaluation system is verified, facilitating planning studies and providing design recommendations for abandoned mining land. Landscape pattern indices serve as supplementary explanations for ecological sensitivity. Based on the results of ecological sensitivity assessment and landscape pattern indices, the ecological conservation levels in the research area are classified into five categories: the Level I Comprehensive Protection Zone, Level II Moderately Developed Zone, Level III Construction Suitable Zone, Level IV Core Construction Zone, and Level V Core Development Zone. These correspond to ecological protection zones, sightseeing experience zones, historical exhibition zones, core commercial zones, and themed amusement zones, respectively. The I-level sensitive area in the research area has the smallest range, while IV-level and VI-level sensitive areas have larger extents, exhibiting a high degree of overall landscape fragmentation but with diverse and dominant landscape types. Integrating ecological sensitivity assessment results and landscape pattern indices aids in delineating ecological conservation levels and regional functional recreation zones, guiding the rational recreation allocation of resources for abandoned mining land and promoting its development into a scenic area integrating ecology and tourism.

The development of the mining park has impacted the richness of bird diversity. Coordinating the harmonious coexistence of humans and birds is a core issue for the sustainable development of the mining park. This study aims to investigate the relationship between landscape patterns and bird diversity and propose ecological restoration strategies for the mining park. Through field surveys and fixed-transect methods, the existing dominant bird species in the mining park were surveyed. The Shannon index was used to analyze the level of bird diversity in the mining park. A site plan of the mining park was drawn, and ArcGIS 10.8 and Fragstats 4.2 software were used to statistically analyze the landscape patterns of the mining park. The results of the two data sets were compared and analyzed to determine the relationship between landscape patterns and bird diversity. A total of eight landscape types were identified, and diversity indices, including the H (Shannon diversity index), F (species richness index), G (genus richness index), and G-F indices, were calculated. Existing issues in the site include diverse aquatic landscape types but poor connectivity, heterogeneous rocky landscape, bird habitat degradation, and frequent human interference. Proposed solutions include building ecological floating islands (habitat-type floating islands, restoration-type floating islands) to connect patches; comprehensive restoration combining full and partial restoration to restore bird habitats and increase vegetation coverage of rocky patches; low human interference design through ecological protection control zones, landscape functional zones, and park road design to create an environment for bird habitats and a mining park landscape suitable for leisure recreation, creating a new home for cohabitation between humans and birds. The research results indicate that landscape pattern diversity, heterogeneity, fragmentation, and human interference affect the richness of bird diversity. Ecological restoration, plant cultivation, and zoning planning can transform the site, enhance the landscape, and provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the creation of habitats for similar bird species.

Currently, most university campuses in China are plagued by issues such as high food demand, imbalanced diets, serious food waste and poor environmental quality. Research has shown that the multiple benefits of an edible campus, which may also be referred to as a school garden or farm catering to various educational levels, can help alleviate the aforementioned problems. However, there is limited research on how to promote the benefits of an edible campus through design. Therefore, taking the South Campus of Hebei University of Technology in China as an example, this paper aims to explore the correlation between design and benefits of an edible campus. The design factors and benefit factors related to an edible campus are extracted through literature search. The design preferences and benefit predictions are obtained through 261 questionnaire surveys and interviews with 30 participants. During the statistical analysis phase, principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis are applied to analyze the correlation between design factors and benefit factors. The results indicate: (1) The design factors of an edible campus can be categorized into seven categories: spatial location, spatial carrier, size, space function, facility configuration, planting and crop varieties, and technology application. (2) The benefits of an edible campus include environmental education, physical and mental health, social interaction, ecological protection, and economic output. (3) There are significant differences in design factors that positively or negatively correlate with different benefits. Among them, the strongest positive correlation exists between planting function and the five benefits, followed by central landscape and container planting. Furthermore, the causes behind the correlation between design factors and benefit factors are analyzed, and design strategies for an edible campus under different benefit orientations are proposed. The findings of this study can contribute to the sustainable development of university campuses in China.

In the current era of accelerated urbanization, food security is facing unprecedented challenges. Urban agriculture, as a complex system integrating ecological, social and economic values, has become one of the effective solutions. Urban agriculture helps ensure food security, provides health benefits for the population, promotes social inclusiveness, and enhances people’s happiness. From a planning perspective, residential areas, as an important component of urban space, their integration with urban agriculture is an important way to alleviate urban food problems and enhance urban sustainability. However, existing studies mostly adopt uniform and homogeneous design methods and strategies, ignoring the differences between different types of residential areas, resulting in resource waste and insufficient implementation. Therefore, our study takes Nankai District of Tianjin as an example, uses the K-means clustering algorithm to classify residential areas, further proposes strategies for integrating spatial elements and management and operation mechanisms of different types of residential areas, and conducts a quantitative assessment of the sustainable benefits of the updated urban agriculture in residential areas. This study aims to break through the homogeneous design paradigm and provides a theoretical basis and practical references for promoting the update of urban agriculture in residential areas and sustainable urban development. The results show that differentiated urban agriculture updates in four types of residential areas can significantly improve the sustainable benefits of the residential areas.