Exploring Combinations of Landscape Features in Urban Green Spaces and Their Recovery Effects on Minor Depression

While increasing scholarly research from various perspectives has affirmed the therapeutic role of urban green spaces for individuals with depression, there is a notable gap in understanding how different landscape features of these spaces can collectively create a soothing and healing environment. The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the impact of urban green spaces on patients with depression and conduct a comprehensive on-site audit of these spaces to reveal the rules of combination and matching of the constituent elements of healing landscapes. This research investigated 210 urban green spaces in the cities of Guangzhou and Foshan, China. The study focused on three key attributes: the healing landscape quality of urban green spaces, the perceived restorative impact on patients with depression, and the enhancement of positive emotions. Utilizing rough set analysis, the study successfully identified 16 effective rules that elucidate the combination scenarios of landscape characteristics in urban green spaces. For example, the rules that have a positive impact on the perceived recovery of patients with depression indicate that the healing landscape condition attributes should be in the following state: the openness and view of the urban green space (A1 = 1); the color of the urban green space (A2 = 1); public art or various installations should be located as much as possible in the visual center of the place (A5 = 3); there are trees and shrubs around (A8 = 2); and the location sunshine duration (A9 = 1). This study indicates that while individual landscape healing elements are considered to have positive effects on patients with depression, their combined application within complex real-world environments may adversely affect the emotional fluctuations of these patients. Many beneficial factors do not operate in isolation but interact synergistically to produce a healing effect. These findings not only provide a theoretical foundation for the evaluation of urban green spaces but also offer valuable decision-making references for local policymakers and landscape designers.