As China's urban development gradually shifts from scale expansion to the stage of optimizing and renewing the existing stock, the core goal of urban greening construction has changed from merely increasing the area of green space to enhancing the quality of space and the efficiency of public services. This transformation has made strengthening the public participation mechanism an urgent need for current urban greening work. Against this backdrop, the urban public green space construction model with the core concept of "People's Garden" has emerged. It emphasizes a green governance path oriented towards residents' demands and jointly built by multiple subjects, becoming an important exploration direction to solve the problem of the disconnection between traditional green space construction and public demands. However, at present, the practice of public participation in the construction of urban green Spaces in our country still faces many challenges - there are operational difficulties such as the lack of standardized guidelines for the participation process and the unsmooth feedback channels for residents' demands, as well as institutional shortcomings such as the ambiguous definition of the rights and responsibilities of the participating subjects in policies and regulations and the insufficiency of incentive mechanisms. The overall implementation path has not yet formed a clear framework. The relevant supporting institutional system is in urgent need of systematic improvement. As a typical example of public-participatory green space construction on a global scale, Setagaya Ward in Tokyo, Japan, has been focusing on the needs of urban refined management since the 1990s. Through a combination of policy guidance, mechanism innovation, and community mobilization, it has systematically promoted the institutionalization and systematization of the entire construction process. After more than three decades of practical exploration, A public-participatory green space construction model that is both operational and has demonstration value has been formed. This study conducts in-depth exploration around three core dimensions: First, it systematically sorts out the development trajectory of public participation in green space construction in Japan, from the rise of civic movements to the transformation of community building after the bubble economy, clarifying the changes in policy-driven and social demands at different stages; Secondly, taking Setanagaya District as the empirical research object, through literature analysis and field investigation, the organizational structure of its public participation in green space construction is analyzed in detail, and the policy framework including the detailed implementation rules of the "Urban Park Law", district-level special regulations, and the community building subsidy system is systematically sorted out. And summarize its supporting system in terms of fundraising, technical guidance, publicity and promotion, etc. Thirdly, for the key hub organization, Setagaya Trust & Community Design, core members were selected to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews. A comprehensive assessment and reflection were carried out on its green space construction practices from dimensions such as practical effectiveness, existing challenges, and sustainability. Summarize successful experiences and room for improvement. Based on the above research, this paper ultimately returns to the reflection on the construction of "People's Gardens" in our country. In light of local realities, it puts forward targeted suggestions from three aspects: policy improvement, organizational optimization, and action innovation. At the policy level, it is necessary to accelerate special legislation to clarify the rights and responsibilities of participants. At the organizational level, a cross-departmental collaborative platform should be established to promote resource integration. At the action level, it is necessary to stimulate residents' continuous participation motivation through capacity building and cultural cultivation, thereby providing practical references for the construction of public-participatory green Spaces in the context of urban stock renewal in China.

Drawing on phenomenological theory and concrete cases of socially engaged design, this article seeks to describe an action script termed "Leveraging (Qiaodong)", offering a theoretical perspective for attending to and understanding seemingly localized and small-scale social actions that nonetheless have the potential to generate ongoing change, such as beginning to cultivate a garden on an unused plot of land. Such actions do not usually originate from clearly defined, comprehensive plans. Instead, they emerge in situations where people confront limited conditions, insufficient resources, or complex social problems that cannot be directly resolved. Rather than aiming to "solve" problems, actors initiate actions that are immediately doable and capable of being taken up in the present, gradually reopening possibilities for further action. In the process of continuing to do things, actors often develop a sense of guidance or handiness, which is a feeling of "there are more things to do". This sense does not arise from certainty about outcomes, but from a directional momentum that takes shape through action itself. It helps reorganize attention toward one's surroundings and toward others, sustaining engagement amid uncertainty. Through such processes, localized actions may become noticeable to others, invite participation, and elicit responses, thereby gradually stimulating broader forms of public collaboration and the emergence of public life. The central question of this article is how such seemingly minor, low-threshold actions accumulate social effects over time, reorganize attention, and respond to long-standing social problems that are structurally complex and resistant to direct solutions. Theoretically, this article situates itself within contemporary discussions of co-design, while entering into dialogue with phenomenological traditions associated with Heidegger, Ingold, and Gibson. The discussion is grounded in a series of concrete cases observed or participated in by the author between 2022 and 2024, including socially engaged design initiatives such as community gardening, publicly engaged art projects, and design workshops. The articulation of leveraging as an action script is not intended to introduce a new method for participatory design. Rather, it aims to provide conceptual language for an action mode that is already widely present in everyday life and professional practice, yet often remains under-theorized. By foregrounding leveraging, the article seeks to support readers in becoming more attentive to how one action gives rise to another, and how action unfolds through mutual responsiveness within concrete situations. To elaborate on this script, the article addresses three interrelated questions. The first two concern epistemology: how can we narrate change as it unfolds through action without reducing it to linear causality, and how can small-scale actions in everyday life be taken seriously as forms of design practice? The third question concerns the ethics of action: when social problems cannot be directly solved, should the responsibility of design still be framed in terms of problem-solving, or should it instead be understood as a sustained capacity to respond to concrete lived situations?

The maze represents a significant spatial typology within the formal gardens of Western classicism. Its formal origins can be traced back to choreographic ritual symbols from antiquity, which later frequently appeared as sacred geometric patterns in medieval religious spaces, and ultimately evolved into a spatial feature within aristocratic gardens during the Renaissance. Although diverse cultural types of maze spaces existed across different periods and regions in the West, they all share commonalities in spatial formal composition and experiential engagement. Post-Renaissance garden mazes transformed these planar formal commonalities into three-dimensional labyrinthine spaces that offer more profound landscape experiences. Drawing upon materials such as mythology, dance, painting, architecture, and garden imagery, and employing research methodologies including iconology, cross-referencing of historical, sources, and diagrammatic analysis, this study examines the constitutive mechanisms of maze spatial forms from three perspectives: the origins and evolution, typological variations, and essential components of Western maze culture. It interprets the historical, conceptual, and the significance of spatial experience inherent in the maze. The research aims to provide specific design references for contemporary landscape practice and to contribute to deepening the comparative study of Chinese and Western gardens, particularly regarding the cultural experience and perception of this distinctive spatial type. The maze's foundational form derives from ancient ritual dances, where patterned movements inscribed symbolic trajectories onto the ground, serving as early spatial representations of cosmological or spiritual narratives. During the medieval period, these forms were assimilated into Christian contexts, most notably as pavement labyrinths in cathedrals, such as the renowned example at Chartres. These functioned as sites for symbolic pilgrimage, condensing a spiritual journey into a compact, contemplative physical path. The transition to the Renaissance witnessed the secularization and aestheticization of the maze. Integrated into the elaborate designs of expansive gardens, such as those at the Villa d'Este or Hampton Court, it became an instrument of courtly leisure, allegory, and demonstration of humanist control over nature. The spatial experience shifted from devotional meditation to one of amusement, disorientation, and eventual discovery, often imbued with metaphorical meanings related to love, fate, or knowledge. Despite varying contextual interpretations - sacred, symbolic, or recreational - the core formal principle of the maze remained a single, non-branching but intricately coiling path leading to a center. This unicursal model emphasizes process and journey over puzzle-solving. However, later developments, especially the hedge maze, introduced multicursal layouts with dead ends and choices, thereby emphasizing confusion, decision-making, and playful challenge. This evolution from a unicursal ritual path to a multicursal recreational puzzle marks a significant shift in spatial experience. The study analyzes the maze's formal constituents: the path (its width, texture, and modulation by planting or walls), the nodal points (turns, decision points, or centers), and the vertical boundaries (hedges, walls, or terraces) that define the sensory experience of enclosure, revelation, and surprise. The interaction between the predetermined geometry of the plan and the kinesthetic, perceptual, and psychological experience of the user is central to its spatial mechanism. In conclusion, the Western maze constitutes a rich palimpsest of cultural meanings encoded in spatial form. By deciphering its historical layers and operational logic, this research seeks to abstract transferable principles of path sequencing, perceptual manipulation, and narrative spatialization. These insights can inform contemporary landscape architecture, offering strategies for creating immersive, sequential, and meaningful spatial journeys. Furthermore, a structured understanding of the maze provides a concrete framework for cross-cultural comparison, illuminating how different traditions conceive of, design, and experience manipulated ritual or recreational pathways, thereby enriching the discourse on global garden history and spatial culture.

Under the global aspiration for carbon neutrality, enhancing urban carbon sink capacity has become an increasingly critical focus for nations worldwide. As urbanization continues at an unprecedented pace globally, the rapid expansion of cities has led to notable changes in land use patterns and increased habitat fragmentation, thereby exerting profound impacts on regional carbon balances. The development and optimization of ecological networks have emerged as vital strategies for safeguarding ecological security and promoting sustainable development. In recent years, an expanding body of research has demonstrated that ecological network construction is closely linked to the enhancement of urban ecosystems' carbon sequestration capacities, confirming that it is an effective approach to achieving the overarching goal of global carbon neutrality. The cities within the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), a prominent emblem of China's modernization, exemplify typical conflicts between urban expansion and ecological preservation. These conflicts highlight the urgency of adopting integrated ecological planning to reconcile urban growth with ecological integrity. In this context, the present study selects Suzhou, a key city in the YRD, as a case to investigate ecological network construction and optimization. Employing the mainstream "ecological source areas-ecological resistance surface-ecological corridors" framework, the research identifies critical ecological sources through morphological spatial pattern analysis and landscape connectivity indices. 8 factors - including dem, slope, NDVI, population density, land use, land cover, and so on - are incorporated to comprehensively evaluate landscape resistance. Using a least-cost path model, a combined ecological resistance surface is developed to quantify landscape resistance. Building upon this, core ecological corridors are extracted utilizing circuit theory and gravity models, enabling the identification of key pathways for ecological flow and connectivity. These corridors form the backbone of Suzhou's ecological network system, designed to enhance habitat connectivity and ecological stability. Subsequently, complex network theory is introduced to model the ecological topological network of Suzhou, facilitating an analysis of its structural features and their relationship with carbon sequestration capacity. Metrics such as degree centrality, clustering coefficient, and eigenvector centrality are employed to examine the network's topological roles and their influence on ecological function. The analysis reveals that Suzhou's ecological network exhibits typical water-network spatial characteristics, with primary source habitats mainly comprising lakes and forests. Ecological corridors are predominantly aligned along urban rivers and tributaries, yet the spatial distribution of ecological resources displays a notable imbalance. Correlation analyses demonstrate that the carbon sequestration capacity of ecological sources is significantly positively related to network characteristics such as degree, clustering coefficient, and eigenvector centrality. Improving these metrics - by adding ecological "stepping stones" and expanding corridors - proves effective in enhancing the network's overall carbon sequestration function. Based on the above findings, the study proposes a series of ecological network optimization strategies aimed at ecological function restoration and carbon sequestration capacity enhancement. Notably, 11 ecological stepping stones and 15 new corridors are incorporated into the network. Robustness assessments - evaluating the network's resilience and attack tolerance - show that the optimized network demonstrates higher stability and resistance against disturbances, confirming the scientific validity and practical feasibility of the optimization approach. These results validate that targeted ecological network modifications can enhance its resilience and carbon sequestration capacity. The study's outcome highlights that Suzhou's ecological network embodies a water-centric spatial pattern, with key ecological sources mainly being lakes and forests, and corridors predominantly along rivers. Although the spatial distribution of ecological resources remains uneven, targeted interventions through adding stepping stones and corridors can significantly enhance the network's carbon sequestration ability. The research aims to deepen understanding of the spatial relationship between ecological topological structures and carbon sequestration capacity, providing a scientific foundation for ecological network optimization centered on ecological function recovery and carbon storage enhancement. Overall, this study offers valuable insights for optimizing urban ecological networks in water-rich cities, with significant implications for regional ecological resilience, biodiversity conservation, and carbon sink functions. The findings hold important theoretical and practical significance for advancing urban ecological planning and contributing to the broader goals of ecological security and climate change mitigation.

In recent decades, contemporary urban renewal has gradually moved away from the conventional paradigm of large-scale demolition and reconstruction and has entered a phase characterized by incremental development and fine-grained spatial intervention. As the basic spatial and social unit of the city, the community plays a critical role in supporting refined urban development, maintaining social cohesion, and safeguarding residents' everyday well-being. In parallel with this shift, the governance model of co-construction, co-governance, and co-sharing, which emphasizes the integration of diverse social resources and the active involvement of residents, has become a widely adopted approach in both policy discourse and practical implementation. Although a wide range of flexible and participatory community renewal initiatives have been launched in recent years, many of these projects encounter difficulties in sustaining spatial quality and social vitality over time, often due to limited maintenance capacity and the absence of long-term operational mechanisms. In response to these challenges, this study conducted a community garden co-creation experiment at the Neighborly Gate Garden in Shanghai, using it as an empirical case to explore whether micro-renewal practices guided by participatory principles and a sustainability-oriented framework can effectively support the long-term operation and stewardship of community spaces. Grounded in sustainability theory, the research established a four-dimensional analytical framework encompassing ecological sustainability, cultural-spiritual sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability. This framework was employed to structure both the design of the experiment and the subsequent evaluation of its outcomes. Methodologically, the study adopted a mixed research approach that combined interdisciplinary analysis with participatory observation, enabling a systematic documentation of the planning process, implementation stages, and post-intervention conditions of the community garden. The findings indicate that public participation informed by sustainability principles can significantly enhance residents' willingness to engage in community affairs, reduce the financial burden on local governments, and improve short-term site maintenance outcomes. However, the study also reveals that the capacity of self-organized groups to independently sustain long-term maintenance remains limited. Longitudinal observations suggest that enduring stewardship of community micro-spaces still depends on continuous policy support, institutional guidance, and stable resource input from the top down. The experiment further reveals that participants of different ages and identities demonstrated distinct levels of engagement at various stages; public activities with artistic or general attributes were more effective in stimulating participation among residents and children than those requiring specialized expertise; and a degree of positive correlation emerged between the condition of site maintenance and residents' digital engagement in community platforms. Based on the empirical observations and the organizational experience accumulated during the experiment, the study proposes a set of strategies with potential transferability and replicability. These include ecological sustainability strategies focused on strengthening residents' ecological knowledge, establishing designated points for sustainable material sorting, and recommending appropriate sustainable materials; cultural-spiritual strategies that clarify organizational pathways across different participation stages and foster a shared sense of belonging among diverse groups; economic sustainability strategies that emphasize multi-actor governance, cost optimization, and the diversification of community-based economic activities; and social sustainability strategies that integrate top-down policy support, bottom-up self-organization, and the cultivation of responsible teams and community compacts. Through the design of this co-creation experiment and the articulation of strategies within a four-dimensional sustainability framework, this study aims to enhance the artistic, public, and sustainable qualities of community micro-spaces and to provide practical insights for future research and community renewal practice.

From 1904 to 1929, Donald MacGregor, a landscape designer trained at the Royal Kew Gardens in the UK, served as the Superintendent of Parks and Open Spaces of the Shanghai International Settlement. MacGregor's tenure in Shanghai marked a pivotal period in the development of the city's public green spaces, and his contributions were instrumental in shaping the city's early landscape architecture. By introducing modern landscape design notions, developing professional nurseries, and establishing a professional management and gardening workforce, MacGregor played a crucial role in the development of a systematic green space network. This research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of MacGregor's impact on the establishment and evolution of the green space system in the early 20th century, examining both his professional background and the various ways in which his efforts transformed the city's public parks and open spaces. This study is based on an in-depth review of archival materials from the Kew Gardens Archives, the Shanghai Municipal Archives, and a range of online databases. These sources offer original documents and records that provide valuable insights into MacGregor's professional education and early career in the UK, as well as his work in Shanghai. The research not only examines MacGregor's contributions to landscape design and park planning, but also explores his influence on nursery development, road greening projects, and team management within the context of the Shanghai International Settlement. By analyzing MacGregor's work from his education in the UK to his key achievements in Shanghai, the research seeks to clarify the significant impact he had on the city's green space system, which laid the foundation for modern urban landscaping in Shanghai. The study highlights several key areas of MacGregor's contributions, focusing on the following major aspects: his innovative landscape design, the establishment and management of nurseries for plant cultivation, the planting of roadside greenery, and the formation of a multinational management team responsible for overseeing the green spaces. Each of these areas is examined in depth, alongside evaluations and assessments from contemporary government officials, professional institutions, and MacGregor's peers. These endorsements not only reflect the high regard in which MacGregor's work was held but also underscore the lasting impact he had on the development of Shanghai's green infrastructure. In conclusion, this study argues that Donald MacGregor's contributions to the development of the green space system were transformative and far-reaching. His professional expertise, innovative design principles, and managerial skills helped to shape the city's urban landscape and laid the foundation for the development of modern urban parks and green spaces in Shanghai. His legacy as a pioneer of early 20th-century landscape architecture in Shanghai has left an indelible mark on the city, and his work continues to be an important reference point for landscape designers and urban planners today. His work remains an essential part of Shanghai's urban heritage and serves as a reminder of the importance of thoughtful and sustainable urban greening.

To screen herbaceous plants that are adaptable to and conducive to stabilizing ecologically fragile garden slopes, this study selected 9 commonly used herbaceous slope-protection plants from Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area, a renowned mountain scenic spot in South China, and conducted tests on the shear strength, anti-scourability, and anti-erosion resistance of their root-soil composites. The results showed that all the tested plants could effectively improve slope stability, and the ranking of their comprehensive soil-fixing efficiency was as follows: Axonopus compressus > Arrhenatherum elatius 'Variegatum' > Calathea insignis>Wedelia trilobata > Hymenocallis littoralis >Hemerocallis fulva > Nephrolepis cordifolia > Ruellia simplex > Pilea notata. In terms of specific performance indicators reflecting different aspects of soil stability, Arrhenatherum elatius 'Variegatum', Hymenocallis littoralis, and Nephrolepis cordifolia had the highest shear strength in the upper soil layer; Arrhenatherum elatius 'Variegatum', Hymenocallis littoralis, and Calathea insignis exhibited the best performance in the shear strength of the lower soil layer; in terms of anti-scourability, Axonopus compressus, Wedelia trilobata, and Hemerocallis fulva showed the optimal performance; meanwhile, Calathea insignis, Ruellia simplex, and Hemerocallis fulva demonstrated the strongest anti-erosion resistance. The comprehensive evaluation based on all test indicators indicated that Axonopus compressus, Arrhenatherum elatius 'Variegatum', Calathea insignis, Wedelia trilobata, and Hymenocallis littoralis are highly suitable as excellent slope-protection plants for garden slopes in Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area and South China. To accurately quantify the relative contribution rate of each evaluation index to the overall soil-fixing effect, the entropy weight method was adopted to measure the contribution degree of each index. The results revealed that the contribution rates followed the order: anti-scourability (33.44%) > upper-layer shear strength (26.03%) > lower-layer shear strength (21.31%) > anti-erosion resistance (19.22%), indicating that the importance of different indicators varied. The upper and lower-layer shear strengths are the core indicators reflecting the mechanical effects of root-soil composites, with the contribution rate of upper-layer shear strength being higher than that of the lower layer, while anti-scourability and anti-erosion resistance are the key indicators characterizing hydrological effects. Both mechanical and hydrological effects play significant and indispensable roles in the soil-fixing function of slope-protection plants. It is worth noting that the cumulative contribution rate of hydrological effect indicators reached 52.66%, which was equivalent to that of mechanical effect indicators (47.34%). Correlation analysis further revealed that there was a highly significant positive correlation (P<0.01) among upper-layer shear strength, lower-layer shear strength, and anti-erosion resistance, while anti-scourability was only highly significantly correlated with anti-erosion resistance (P<0.01). These findings collectively indicate that there is a clear synergistic mechanism between mechanical and hydrological effects during the soil-fixing process of slope-protection plants, and provide important theoretical support for the scientific selection of slope-protection plants in South China.

As important supplementary green spaces in high-density urban environments, sky gardens have been increasingly recognized for their potential to promote public physical and mental health. Existing studies have preliminarily evidenced their restorative benefits; however, the underlying mechanisms linking spatial environmental characteristics, physiological responses, and psychological perceptions remain insufficiently understood. In particular, there is still a lack of evidence-based guidance at the level of specific spatial elements, which limits the translation of theoretical findings into practical design and optimization strategies. Against this background, this study takes sky gardens as a research object and aims to systematically measure, interpret, and optimize their restorative benefits from an integrated "spatial-physiological-psychological" perspective. First, drawing on computer vision-based semantic segmentation and a comprehensive literature review, key spatial composition elements and restorative indicators of sky gardens are identified, providing a quantitative foundation for subsequent analysis. Based on this framework, eye-tracking experiments are conducted to capture individuals' visual physiological responses during restorative processes, including attention allocation and visual stress indicators. Meanwhile, psychological restorative perceptions are assessed using the perceived restorativeness scale, covering dimensions such as being away, fascination, coherence, and compatibility. By integrating objective physiological data and subjective psychological evaluations, this study constructs a hierarchical association model linking spatial attributes, visual physiological responses, and psychological restorative outcomes. Subsequently, the proposed "spatia-physiological-psychological" model is applied to different types of sky gardens to identify key spatial indicators that significantly influence restorative benefits. To further enhance the applicability of the findings, an importance-performance analysis (IPA) is employed to distinguish priority spatial elements that require targeted intervention and optimization in design practice. This approach allows not only the identification of influential factors, but also the formulation of practical strategies for improving restorative performance under constrained urban conditions. The results reveal several notable patterns. First, spatial scale and visual depth are identified as critical factors in alleviating visual physiological stress, indicating that appropriate spatial openness and depth perception play a vital role in reducing visual load. Second, sky gardens designed at an embodied scale significantly enhance psychological restorative experiences, particularly in terms of temporarily forgetting responsibilities and obligations, alleviating fear and tension, and fostering immersive engagement with the environment. Third, users generally demonstrate a high level of acceptance of sky gardens within high-density urban living contexts. Among spatial attributes, void-to-solid ratio, sky openness, and facility cleanliness exhibit consistently positive effects on restorative benefits. In contrast, the effects of green landscapes are found to be dual in nature, showing both positive and negative influences depending on their spatial configuration and quality. This finding highlights the necessity of flexibly selecting appropriate indicators to represent greenery quality rather than relying solely on quantity-based measures. Overall, this study provides an integrated analytical framework for understanding and optimizing the restorative benefits of sky gardens by bridging spatial design, physiological responses, and psychological perceptions. By combining computer vision techniques, eye-tracking data, and subjective evaluations, the research offers evidence-based insights that support more precise spatial control and targeted design interventions. The findings contribute not only to the theoretical understanding of restorative environments in high-density cities, but also to the practical guidance for designing and upgrading sky gardens to better support public health and well-being.

This study delves into the intricate mechanisms by which park landscape elements and their combinations exert influence on the heart rate and speed of individuals engaged in fitness walking, taking into account diverse demographic attributes and various types of walking activities. In modern society, as more people turn to park walking for fitness, understanding these mechanisms is of utmost importance for optimizing park design and promoting healthy lifestyles. By uncovering these relationships, the research endeavors to offer well-founded scientific recommendations for the planning and design of park pathways that are highly suitable for fitness walking. This, in turn, will assist individuals with different fitness requirements to make informed and rational choices when selecting park walking routes. The research methodology was comprehensive and systematic. First, advanced web scraping techniques were utilized to gather user data from the Strava platform. This data pertained to individuals who had recorded fitness walking activities within Shanghai Century Park. It included detailed personal characteristics such as gender, age, and weight, as well as crucial exercise metrics like heart rate and speed. Second, an on-site field photography campaign was carried out at Century Park. High-resolution landscape images were captured, and then semantic segmentation technology was applied. This technology was crucial in precisely identifying and quantifying 17 distinct landscape elements, ranging from natural elements like water bodies and mountains to man-made elements such as benches and pavilions. Subsequently, the participants were carefully categorized into multiple groups based on gender, age, weight, and the specific type of walking activity, whether it was a leisurely walk or a brisk run. Finally, Spearman's correlation analysis was meticulously carried out to explore the quantitative relationships between heart rate, speed, and the 17 landscape elements across all the different groups. The analysis yielded several significant findings. Firstly, it was discovered that the impact of the same landscape element on the physiological indicators of walkers varied minimally between genders. This implies that in park pathway planning and design, there is no need for gender-specific adjustments to landscape elements. Secondly, landscape combinations dominated by sky, herbaceous plants, and trees were shown to be highly effective in stabilizing the heart rate of elderly individuals during walking. The serene and comfortable environment created by these combinations helps the elderly maintain a steady physiological state. Thirdly, semi-enclosed pathways dominated by trees were found to be more effective in increasing the heart rate and speed of individuals with higher body weight. These paths add an element of spatial interest and a mild challenge, which encourages greater exercise engagement. Fourthly, natural-style routes featuring pedestrian pathways supplemented by trees and sky elements were more suitable for walking, while paths with a larger sky view, minimal tree obstruction, and greater width were better for running. This provides clear guidance for individuals to choose the most appropriate routes based on their walking activities. In conclusion, the findings of this study offer targeted and practical recommendations for the planning and design of park pathways. When designing park pathways, it is essential to fully consider the diverse needs associated with different demographic attributes and types of walking activities. By rationally configuring landscape elements and their combinations, the suitability of park pathways for fitness walking can be significantly improved. This will ultimately contribute to promoting scientific and healthy walking practices among a wide range of population groups, enhancing the overall well - being of park visitors.