This study explored the spatial distribution of Suzhou gardens in the Qianlong period (AD 1736–1796) through an innovative method combining spatial syntax and historical textual analysis. Through a spatial syntax approach, a street axis model analysis suggested that the greater the degree of integration and prosperity of a street, the denser the distribution of gardens surrounding it. A canal axis model analysis indicated that more gardens were built around canals that were less integrated and had less traffic. The accuracy and reliability of the axis model analysis results were validated using historical documents and images. The following was observed: (1) Gardens were densely distributed in the prosperous commercial areas at the northern and southern ends of Suzhou City. The more prosperous the location of a garden, the greater the influence on its popularity. (2) Gardens were concentrated in residential areas with booming businesses. (3) Large numbers of gardens were built along canals with poor traffic functions. Building gardens by diverting water into them reflected the complementary relationship between urban geographical characteristics and garden-building techniques. (4) Gardens promoted commercial development, and commerce drove the preservation and continuation of gardens. The findings revealed the complementary relationship between garden preservation and commercial development.

Dog ownership and dog walking brings various health benefits for urban dwellers, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, but trigger a number of controversies. Dog parks have become increasingly significant public resources in the pandemic to support these benefits while facing intense conflicts. To develop effective dog parks in urban settings, growing numbers of scholars have provided insights into the design and management strategies for addressing the benefits and conflicts. The objective of this study is to synthesize and analyze various aspects of dog park design and management and to assess identified strategies for enhancing their benefits while mitigating their drawbacks. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic study was conducted to synthesize the benefits, conflicts, and management strategies of dog parks, supported by Citespace. Benefits and conflicts in dog park design and management have been synthesized and organized according to their frequency of presence and the statistical results. We analyzed and assessed existing design and management strategies. Through this systematic study, we discovered the need obtain o po experimental evidence on effective dog park design and management to enhance their benefits while mitigating their sources of conflict and limitations in the intensity of park visitors’ physical activity in off-leash areas. Guidelines for the design and management strategies for effective dog parks were made to enhance their benefits while alleviating conflicts in the future development of sustainable dog parks that promote healthy relationships between canines and residents in urban built environments.

The data based on location/activity sensing technology is exploding and integrating multi-source data provides us with a new perspective to observe tourist behavior. On the one hand, tourist preferences can be extracted from the attractions generated by clustering. On the other hand, potentially extracted tourist information can provide decision-making support for tourism management departments in tourism planning and resource development. Therefore, developing smart tourism services for tourists and promoting the realization of “smart scenic spots.” A field survey was conducted in Zhongshan Botanical Garden, China, from 3 February to 3 April 2019. This empirical study combines a handheld GPS tracking device and questionnaire survey using SEE to optimize k-means clustering algorithm and explores the spatial–temporal behavior patterns of tourists. The results showed that tourists in the botanical garden could be divided into three behavioral patterns. They are recreation and leisure, birdwatching and photography, and learning and education. The spatial–temporal behavior patterns of different tourists have obvious differences, which provides a basis for the planning and management of smart scenic spots.

Suburban rural landscape multifunction has received increasing attention from scholars due to its high demand and impact on main urban areas. However, few studies have been focused on suburban rural landscape multifunction because of data constraints. The present study quantified the four landscape services based on ecological service system, i.e., regulating function (RF), provision function (PF), culture function (CF), and support function (SF), determined the interaction through the Spearman correlation coefficient, and ultimately identified the landscape multifunction hotspots and dominant functions through overlay analysis. The result indicated that suburban rural communities have exhibited the characteristics of regional multifunction, and the landscape multifunction hotspots accounted for 64.2%; it should be particularly noted that, among single-function, dual-function, and multifunction hotspots, both support function, and culture function was dominant, while only one case was found in which the regulating function was dominant. Furthermore, all landscape functions other than SF-CF exhibited certain correlations. The study suggests that planning and management should be performed in future in combination with landscape multifunction to ensure the sustainable development of suburban rural communities.

Suburban village tourism is supposed to promote happiness. However, as tourists swarm in, suburban village community spaces tend to become spaces of conflict between diverse groups. To balance development and protection, we need to understand such conflict. Spatial behavior conflict is an important index of the conflict between tourists and residents. This paper is a case study of the Shecun community. It obtains data via GPS tracking and cognitive mapping. By employing the spatial behavior conflict model and space syntax, it analyzes the spatial characteristics of the spatial behavior conflict. And lastly, it explores the paths to sustainable development in suburban villages. According to this empirical research, variations do exist in the spatial behavior conflict in Shecun community, whose spaces can be classified into five types based on their conflict intensity; and there is a positive correlation between the community space’s global accessibility and intensity of spatial behavior conflict.

There is a complicated and contradictory relationship between landscape functions and human activities, especially in the suburban rural communities of metropolises. Previous studies focused on human interference to landscape function, ignoring the impact of landscape functions on human activities. Hence, the present study is focused on the impact of landscape function (based on ecosystem services) on human activities in suburban rural communities of China. The study evaluated the intensity of human activities based on big data; furthermore, the authors analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics through spatial autocorrelation, and probed into the spatial variations in the relationship between human activities and landscape functions using ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models. The result indicates that there are obvious spatial distribution differences in the intensity of human activities in suburban rural communities; that is, the intensity decreases from the inner to the outer suburban areas. Positive influencing factors of human activities are construction area, bus station, road network density, and leisure entertainment, among which, construction area is the principal driver; cultural heritage, hydrological regulation, and provision of aesthetics are negatively or positively correlated with human activities in various regions. The results offer insights for the sustainable development of rural environment in suburban areas and the big data-driven rural research.