Track 5.1: The Provision of Public Spaces and Community Services: Managing Inclusiveness for Quality of Life

Childcare facilities are of great significance to the growth of infants and the improvement of residents' well-being, but the fragmented layout of childcare facilities under rapid urbanization has reduced the quality of citizens' access to childcare services. The contradiction between demand and supply of childcare facilities in Chinese cities is prominent. In the face of multiple crises such as declining birthrate, scarcity of land resources, and large differences in family childcare needs, how to maximize the use of existing space to effectively supply childcare facilities is a challenge faced by many high-density cities. Based on the practical experience of childcare facility planning in Guangzhou, this study examines the multi-agent governance system to optimize the layout of childcare facilities and improve the resilience of public services through scale coordination. Based on the theoretical framework of polycentric governance, this study is analyzed based on the results of special planning of childcare facilities, interview data, and the layout and operation data of childcare facilities. The study reveals the innovation of spatial governance in Guangzhou: (1)effective crisis response should not only rely on vertical collaborative subjects(city-district-town), but also take "professional knowledge subjects (such as hospitals)" as one of the horizontal collaborative subjects to form local-based solutions; (2)different governance subjects flexibly construct a network of childcare facilities by using tools such as land policy, utilization of existing space, and functional compounding; (3)there are scale conflicts in vertical multi-level governance, which can be resolved through selective decentralization. In general, this study emphasizes the inclusion of knowledge-based partners on the basis of polycentric governance theory, and proposes an affordable and resilient governance paradigm, in which different governance subjects reduce space costs through embedded facilities and other tools, and quickly respond to citizen needs, which provides enlightenment for high-density cities.

In Hong Kong’s dense urban fabric, the Ex-Sham Shui Po Service Reservoir, located on Bishop Hill, evolved from an abandoned public utility into a vibrant informal public space reclaimed by residents for exercise, spiritual activities, and social interaction. When government authorities initiated demolition due to structural concerns, community resistance emerged following the discovery of Romanesque architectural features. The site was subsequently designated as a statutory monument, triggering a new phase of spatial exclusion in the name of heritage preservation. This case embodies the tensions between culture, identity, and inclusive urban transformation. It illustrates how cultural heritage—when framed through official narratives—can be mobilized to legitimize spatial control, while marginalizing community agency. As heritage sites become branding tools in urban regeneration, grassroots spatial practices and informal uses are frequently erased. The study explores how bottom-up placemaking efforts coexist with and are often challenged by top-down heritage frameworks. The conflict highlights a broader issue: that inclusive, vibrant cities require governance models which recognize informal cultural expressions and support contested memories. The research also speaks to debates around the co-creation of urban space, biographical landscapes, and identity construction in cities undergoing rapid transformation. The case challenges the notion that heritage designation is inherently inclusive or protective, showing how it can be instrumentalized to support exclusionary urban agendas. The study draws on qualitative interviews and palimpsestic spatial analysis to trace how official discourses around safety, conservation, and tourism were used to displace local residents and repackage grassroots memory. It introduces the concept of “heritage washing”—a process through which state narratives dilute community histories to justify spatial reappropriation. The findings suggest that heritage policies in post-industrial and high-density contexts must be reframed to reflect plural temporalities and lived practices. For urban planning and policy-making, this case provides a cautionary tale of what happens when conservation frameworks prioritize monumental aesthetics and economic gains over social equity. It proposes an inclusive heritage governance model that integrates informal community uses, particularly in cities where space is scarce and contested. Practically, this means embedding community engagement early in the designation process, ensuring heritage assessments account for both physical structures and socio-spatial practices. The research contributes to spatial justice and participatory governance by advocating for heritage policies that do not merely conserve buildings, but also sustain the living practices and identities attached to them. For policy-makers, the case offers insight into how to balance conservation with cultural accessibility and recommends mechanisms—such as negotiated space-sharing models, participatory heritage audits, and community-led conservation boards—to safeguard both heritage and the communities who animate it.

As China’s urban development shifts from new construction to the revitalization of existing land stock—a direction made explicit after the 2025 Central Urban Work Conference—many old neighborhoods are facing the need for renovation. Renovating living infrastructure within these neighborhoods offers a practical path to enhancing residents’ quality of life and shaping a distinct new community identity. Given the wide variety and large quantity of living infrastructure in today’s neighborhoods—making it impractical to renovate all of them with limited resources—there is an urgent need for an efficient and accurate evaluation method to determine renovation priorities and maximize the overall benefits of land stock revitalization. Previous studies often adopt single-dimensional evaluation approaches and lack contextual specificity. To address these limitations, this study proposes and applies a comprehensive, dual-dimensional assessment framework. Old neighborhoods in this study are defined as urban residential communities built before the year 2000 with outdated infrastructure. This research took a typical old neighborhood in Nanjing, China as a case study, conducted field investigations and questionnaire surveys to collect objective data on living infrastructure and subjective evaluations from multiple stakeholders, including residents and administrators. To scientifically quantify the renovation value of infrastructure and overcome the limitations of single-method evaluations, the study integrates the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Entropy Weight Method, and TOPSIS: AHP incorporates expert and stakeholder judgments on the relative importance of renovation goals; Entropy assigns indicator weights based on objective data; and TOPSIS, combining both subjective and objective weights, calculates the "renovation potential" score of each infrastructure type. Based on these results, the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method is applied to assess the feasibility of renovation. A two-dimensional “ renovation potential – feasibility” matrix is then constructed to classify and rank the renovation priority of all living infrastructure in the community, providing a direct reference for targeted policy planning. The results indicate that: (1) Approximately 35.7% of the living infrastructure in the study community shows high renovation priority, primarily concentrated along community streets and courtyard spaces. (2) The potential of renovated living infrastructure to activate public space varies significantly and is strongly correlated with the spatial location and physical footprint of the infrastructure. (3) There are notable differences between renovation potential and feasibility evaluation results for electrical infrastructure, while sanitation and safety facilities show a higher level of consistency. The study suggests that, based on the evaluation of renovation priorities, the government should adopt differentiated renovation strategies, resource allocations, and implementation timelines tailored to the priority level of each type of infrastructure: infrastructure with high priority should be renovated in the short term (1–2 years) under government leadership with dedicated funding and planning; infrastructure with moderately high priority should be upgraded within 3 – 5 years through government-guided, community-driven efforts supported by incentives; and lower-priority infrastructure should be managed primarily through community autonomy and included in long-term municipal maintenance plans. This research introduces a dual-dimensional evaluation framework that not only provides a scientific decision-making tool for the renovation of living infrastructure in old neighborhoods but also directly supports government agencies in optimizing resource allocation, developing phased implementation plans, and implementing differentiated renovation strategies — ultimately promoting more efficient and diverse models of community renovation and governance.

During the epidemic, the mechanisms by which residential environments influence residents' behavioral activities and psychological well-being remain unclear. This study employs a questionnaire survey to obtain "environment, behavior, and psychological health" data from urban residents in Shanghai and Suzhou during the same period, considering variations in the degree of home quarantine. Utilizing structural equation models, the investigation scrutinizes and contrasts the impact of outdoor living environments on residents' psychological states in these two cities. The findings reveal: ①Outdoor living environments in residential areas exhibit a significant positive impact on behavioral activities, with a relatively more pronounced effect on psychological well-being in cities with higher levels of home quarantine. Furthermore, environmental quality demonstrates a notably positive influence on psychological health. ②Residential areas with different degrees of home quarantine present disparities in providing scenarios for resident activities and requisite spaces. However, outdoor environments oriented toward health are more conducive to fostering residents' engagement in health-related behavioral activities, thereby enhancing psychological well-being. ③Residents in areas endowed with a sound foundation of favorable outdoor environments can maintain regular behavioral activities and sustain favorable psychological well-being, even during periods of home quarantine. The study results provide a substantive basis for the construction and governance of outdoor living environments in residential areas.

a) Background (93 words) Many developed and developing countries, including China, are facing the challenges posed by a rapidly aging population. One pressing issue is the difficulty older adults encounter in accessing affordable and nutritious hot meals essential for maintaining health and well-being. In response, some local governments have established community elderly canteens (CECs) to provide subsidized meals for older residents. However, many CECs face operational and financial challenges due to low dining volume. Understanding the factors that influence usage, particularly the built environment, is essential for improving the effectiveness and sustainability of these community-based care initiatives. b) Relevance to the congress themes (159 words) This study aligns with the congress theme of “Governing and Managing the Co-created Agile City,” particularly through its exploration of how urban governance and built environment design can support adaptive and inclusive service delivery. By analyzing the relationships between CEC usage and features of both the internal and external built environment, the research reveals how planning and design can promote social inclusion and resilience in aging urban communities. The findings offer evidence to support community-driven solutions and localized service delivery models, directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health, well-being, and sustainable cities. Furthermore, by identifying spatial and design factors that enhance the use of CECs, this study illustrates how cities can better manage demographic transitions and build agile, responsive systems of care. This supports innovative and participatory urban governance, where decisions are grounded in data, responsive to user needs, and designed to strengthen social cohesion among vulnerable populations. c) Contribution to planning or policy making practice (244 words) This research provides actionable insights for urban planners, community service designers, and policy makers focused on elderly care and inclusive service delivery. Based on a case study of 50 CECs in Guangzhou, China, the study used multiple linear regression models across different spatial scales (400 m, 600 m, and 800 m buffers) to analyze how features of the built environment influence dining volume. The results reveal several key factors: External built environment: Floor area ratio (FAR) and proximity to subway stations are negatively associated with dining volume, possibly indicating that denser and transit-oriented areas are less aligned with older adults’ mobility patterns or social preferences. Internal built environment: Dining volume increases when facilities are located on lower floors, offer dine-in areas and water dispensers, and have more seating. These insights demonstrate that even subtle variations in design and location can have substantial impacts on the social utility of CECs. From a planning perspective, integrating elderly-friendly design principles into zoning, urban renewal, and public facility development can enhance access, participation, and well-being among older adults. From a governance standpoint, the findings highlight the need for coordinated efforts between planning, social welfare, and community engagement sectors to co-create age-inclusive urban environments. Ultimately, these recommendations support more agile, sustainable, and equitable urban management frameworks that can adapt to changing demographic and social needs.

Many countries are familiar with the concept of National Parks. It is a label for exceptional natural quality. Since 2023, in Flanders, the northern sub-region of Belgium, in addition to National Parks, a legal framework was also adopted for the recognition of ‘Landscape Parks’. These are valuable open space areas in which strengthening and restoring landscape identity and landscape quality are central. Especially interesting about this new concept are the possibility of self-realisation and the introduction of an innovative governance model. These two innovative aspects can be inspiring for anyone looking for tools to better protect our valuable open space. They give answers for the problem of power conflicts between governments and failure to build support for transition in cooperation with stakeholders. Central to this model is the creation of a park agency whose mission is to coordinate projects and initiate initiatives. The park agency is a governing body made up of at least half local governments as well as managers and local actors. Public and private stakeholders are also involved in the operation of the park office. The fact that municipal councils represent at least 50 per cent of the votes has caused quite a commotion in the operationalisation of cooperation. Personnel and operating resources are provided annually from the Flemish government with a long-term engagement of 20 years. Landscape parks are prime examples of the application of the methodology of strategic planning processes (L. Albrechts, P. Healy, K. Kunzmann, J. Van den Broeck). They are creative pro-active, strategic and implementation oriented activities focusing on ‘what could be’ and ‘what can’, on the development of shared ‘becomings’. They focus on structural key-issues, aim social spatial innovation and will change the way resources are used, distributed and allocated. These strategic efforts are also part of a movement to recompose governance relations to break from the functional sectoral organisation and to widen governance relations to incorporate in new ways significant economic and local community stakeholders. The focus on the spatial relations of territories holds the promise of a more effective way of integrating economic, environmental, cultural and social policy agendas as these effect locations. It also carries a potential for a rescaling of issue agendas down from the national and the regional level and up from the municipal level. Recognition as a Landscape Park requires the prior drafting of a masterplan with a dynamic and operational action programme, also with a time horizon of 20 years. The masterplan came about through intensive dialogue with local communities consisting of residents, farmers, heritage committees, tourists and recreationists, nature managers, etc. This work ensures focus on inclusive urban and open space development, grafted onto the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The landscape park also offers many opportunities for sustainable agriculture, with a focus on nature-friendly farming. In Flanders, there are currently 5 recognised Landscape Parks where we would like to elaborate on the example of the Landscape Park Flemish Ardennes (about 25,000 hectares in size) in the presentation at the congress and in the accompanying paper. Design office OMGEVING has developed the masterplan and the innovative governance structure of that Landscape Park.

Urban greenspaces contribute to the environmental sustainability, social well-being, and urban resilience. In China, the Urban Greenspace System Planning (UGSP) is a statutory plan which provides top-down guidance for the construction of urban greenspaces. To explore the transmission efficiency of UGSP, we developed an efficiency indicator based on the analysis of urban greenspace morphology, enabling the identification of poorly-transmitted greenspaces. This raises a critical question: What driving factors contribute to the observed differences in transmission efficiency, despite strong policy interventions? Answering this question is essential for enhancing the future compilation and implementation of UGSP. As cities strive to improve quality of life while addressing planning inefficiencies, our study aligns with the 61st ISOCARP congress theme "Cities & Regions in Action". Taking Quanzhou as an example, we calculated the transmission efficiency of the 2010 UGSP, and analyzed the spatial distribution of poorly-guided urban greenspaces. The results show that the transmission efficiency of the 2010 UGSP of Quanzhou's city center is 16.93%, and a total of 265 poorly-transmitted park greenspaces were identified, characterized by marked spatial heterogeneity. These findings underscore the need for governance models that can adapt to local spatial conditions and enhance implementation outcomes through diachronic feedback and adjustment. After the evaluation of transmission efficiency, we established 500m buffers around 30 sampled poorly-transmitted park greenspaces to identify surrounding urban morphological changes. Then, relevant documents were collected from the official websites of local authorities, and subsequently organized, classified, and quantified for analysis. Finally, we analyzed the influencing factors for each park greenspace and explored the driving mechanisms behind the transmission of UGSP. The results indicate that a series of changes driven by specific types of policies and actions are the main factors influencing the transmission process. This suggests that urban morphological context, when combined with policies and actions of local authority, has the potential to play a critical role in shaping transmission of planning, which means that assessing the surrounding urban morphology and predicting changes based on policy and action interventions is key to enhancing transmission efficiency. Our approach provides a reference for improving the responsiveness and precision of future UGSP, and contributes to the broader shift toward more agile, evidence-based urban governance.

Pocket parks are regarded as a crucial tool for providing green spaces in high-density environments, particularly in mountainous cities such as Hong Kong and Chongqing, China. By serving populations with limited access to large parks, pocket parks effectively mitigate the uneven distribution of spatial resources, significantly enhancing the equitable accessibility of parks and increasing opportunities for residents to engage in recreational activities. However, the unique challenges posed by mountainous terrains—such as complex topography, compact and mixed land use, and vertical urban expansion—result in distinctive dynamics in park vitality and accessibility. This area remains underexplored, especially regarding how pocket parks can improve park accessibility and vitality in mountainous cities. Existing research primarily focuses on flatland cities, concluding that factors such as park size, location, entrances, and surrounding amenities exhibit nonlinear relationships with accessibility and vitality. In mountainous cities, where developable space is limited, more precise planning strategies are required to address park shortages and vitality issues. Yet, current studies lack attention to mountainous-specific variables such as terrain slope, compactness, and three-dimensional spatial morphology, making it difficult to formulate effective strategies for maximizing equitable accessibility and vitality. This study investigates the pivotal role of pocket parks in mountainous cities and develops an interpretable machine learning framework for their precise planning and management. Using Chongqing, China, as a case study, the research integrates multi-source big data, including location-based service (LBS) data, built-environment factors influencing park vitality, and topographic data. First, the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method is employed to assess the current state of equitable park accessibility in mountainous cities and identify potential locations with park shortages. However, given the limited space in mountainous cities, not all identified areas are suitable for park development. Therefore, an interpretable machine learning model is applied to evaluate the nonlinear relationships between built-environment characteristics and the vitality of existing pocket parks, enabling a predictive assessment of vitality for potential park locations. This study addresses a critical challenge in mountainous urban planning: in terrain-constrained environments where every square meter of land carries higher vitality value, how can limited green spaces be optimized to achieve the best balance between park vitality and equitable accessibility? The results demonstrate that: (1) Overall park accessibility in mountainous cities is relatively low, with the existing 264 pocket parks serving only 42% of the urban area; (2) The 2SFCA method identifies 42 potential locations with park shortages; (3) Interpretable machine learning reveals that sky view factor and residential population are significant determinants of pocket park vitality, with built-environment elements exhibiting optimal threshold effects—for instance, parks smaller than 0.08 hectares and with vegetation coverage below 0.57 significantly enhance vitality; (4) SHAP value spatial distribution and interaction analyses uncover the spatial effects and interrelationships of built-environment factors, such as the synergistic mechanism between residential population and floor area ratio (FAR); (5) By leveraging the optimal thresholds and synergistic effects of built-environment factors on vitality, the study determines the ideal attributes (e.g., size) for potential pocket parks and conducts a post-planning vitality prediction, ultimately selecting 17 optimal locations for park development. Methodologically, this study employs machine learning techniques capable of deciphering complex nonlinear relationships, establishing a precise planning approach tailored to mountainous cities. The transferability of this framework allows its adaptation to other topographically complex regions worldwide, supporting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 initiative for “inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable urban development.” It provides a novel methodological framework for the future precision planning of urban parks in global mountainous regions.