Urban green spaces (UGS) are vital for providing cultural ecosystem services (CES) that enhance well-being in cities. CES are co-produced through human interactions with the environment and involve natural, built, human, and social capital. Assessing CES through textual social media reviews on platforms such as Google Maps, offers insights into the intricate relationships between UGS characteristics, human activities, and well-being. However, research gaps regarding the role of co-production factors in the final delivery of CES persist, necessitating an improved conceptualization of CES co-production. This study provides a comprehensive exploration of the co-production of CES in UGS by analyzing 15,450 Google Maps reviews in the German cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. The research assesses both the “use clause” and “ecological clause” of CES, offering a nuanced understanding of user perceptions and the contributions of UGS characteristics. Key findings highlight the entangled significance of CES categories, such as “aesthetic experiences,” “active or immersive interactions,” and “passive or observational interactions,” revealing that aesthetic value acts as a catalyst for both active and passive interactions within UGS. The study also demonstrates the intricate relationship between CES and the (perceived) biophysical environment, suggesting tangible and material connections to the natural and built environment, contrary to existing intangibility claims. The analysis of low-intensity and experience-oriented recreational activities highlights the reliance on specific UGS characteristics. The study concludes by acknowledging the strengths of utilizing textual social media reviews for CES assessment, particularly in their ability to cover a broad range of UGS classes in urban contexts. Our research enhances understanding of CES co-production in UGS, emphasizing the interplay between UGS characteristics, user experiences, and CES co-production. This provides insights for UGS planning and guides research on material aspects of CES co-production and capital interactions.

This collection helps researchers and scholars rethink stormwater management and consider innovative - and, more importantly, sustainable - design strategies that could help develop new paradigms and policies for water-related issues in cities and communities. This will interest multiple stakeholders, mainly urban policymakers, planners, urban designers, urban specialists, landscape architects, architects, and urban ecologists. It could be treated as a case study-based guide for governmental units dealing with water related issues in cities and urban areas.

This collection helps researchers and scholars rethink stormwater management and consider innovative - and, more importantly, sustainable - design strategies that could help develop new paradigms and policies for water-related issues in cities and communities. This will interest multiple stakeholders, mainly urban policymakers, planners, urban designers, urban specialists, landscape architects, architects, and urban ecologists. It could be treated as a case study-based guide for governmental units dealing with water related issues in cities and urban areas.

In recent years, awareness has grown of the vital importance of ecological systems, provoking increased research into how to improve their resilience. Here, one popular new technical/management solution is the creation of greenways along riversides. In practice, however, the practical outcomes of such greenways have sometimes been disappointing due to an excessive focus on technical solutions at the expense of a sufficient consideration of the social impact. This study intends to reflect on the problem by looking at the dynamics of land use for ecosystem functions at the macro scale as well as the relationship between the implementation of greenways and the local demand for diverse everyday activities, in particular, recreation opportunities, at the micro scale. Based on this, it aims to reveal practical solutions to bridge ecological usages and everyday needs that achieve better preservation and services of ecosystems. Taking the greenways along the Yongning River (YRG), which runs through the urban–rural areas and the urban–rural interface of Huangyan-Taizhou, as a case study, GIS analysis and anthropology approaches were applied. The results show that the YRG has systematically improved the riparian ecosystems by better connecting the eco-land use and preserving the waterfront. At the same time, its ability to fulfil the large potential for leisure and recreation services needs to improve. Residents living in different parts of the city had disparate requirements depending on their patterns of daily behaviour. We conclude that the successful implementation of greenways in cities should not only consider technological and nature-based solutions but also consider the socio-cultural background. The diversity of local needs regarding everyday activities and recreation will lead to an equivalent diversity in riparian landscape design.

Strengthening urban–rural linkages (URLs) has been proposed by UN-Habitat within the framework of ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ to narrow down urban–rural differences via shaping new urban–rural relationships. Like URL, the aim of urban–rural integration (URI) has been promoted by the Chinese government since 2019 to address existing urban–rural divides. This concept underlines the ‘rural revitalisation’ strategy and emphasises a two-way flow of urban–rural development factors. Introducing and upgrading ‘appropriate’ rural industries is crucial to stimulate and facilitate the circulation of urban–rural development factors. This research studied three neighbouring villages, situated in urban–rural interface areas in Huangyan-Taizhou, China, each driven by different types of small industries supported by URI. It analyses the impact of small rural industries on the flow of development factors between urban and rural areas. The results showed that small-scale rural industries have been enhanced URL by decreasing urban–rural differences by creating new job opportunities to attract an in-flow population, increasing investments, and upgrading public services and infrastructure. Indigenous industries demonstrated lower profitability but exhibited greater resilience compared to industries linked to global production chains and rural tourism. Thus, this study demonstrates the imperative to carefully consider the opportunities and potential risks associated with pursuing strategies of URI through rural industry development. By providing empirical insights from URI projects in China, this study contributes to theoretical and policy dialogues concerning the concepts of both URL and URI by exploring the localization of SDGs. Furthermore, it offers valuable practical knowledge and experience for other global regions confronting similar challenges to urban and rural development.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport has highlighted the success of the PolyUrbanWaters project in Sam Neua, which has pioneered the specification of a water-sensitive development concept for a Laotian city through a comprehensive Base-Line study. This study culminated in the presentation of a detailed water-sensitive development plan. The plan was meticulously crafted for two peri-urban villages and received official recognition as a planning document by the city’s Project Management Implementation Committee (MIC) in July 2024. The plan identifies strategic projects and outlines specific measures to be incorporated into the city’s and villages’ financial planning over short, medium, and long-term horizons, ensuring effective implementation and sustainable urban development.