A Geotechnical Constraint-Based Framework for Post-Mining Land Reuse and Human Settlement Improvement in Northwest China

Resource-based cities in Northwest China face increasing ecological, geotechnical, and socio-economic challenges caused by long-term mining, including subsidence, slope instability, waste rock accumulation, soil erosion, industrial decline, and settlement deterioration. Post-mining land reuse is constrained by geological safety, foundation stability, slope safety, drainage capacity, erosion risk, and waste rock dump stability, yet existing restoration studies often separate engineering remediation from landscape reuse, industrial pathway selection, and long-term governance. Taking a mining area in City A, Gansu Province, as a case study, this paper develops a geotechnical constraint-based ecology–landscape–economy framework for post-mining land reuse and sustainable human settlement improvement. Unlike conventional reclamation approaches that mainly emphasize engineering remediation, vegetation recovery, or single-function land reuse, this study integrates geotechnical constraints, land-unit classification, pathway-specific compatibility assessment, and capital–space coupling into a planning-scale decision-support framework. Post-mining land was classified into five units, and their compatibility with three restoration plus industrial pathways was assessed using five indicators: geological safety, ecological sensitivity, land-use availability, landscape and cultural value, and industrial operation potential. The results indicate that backfilled mining voids and reclaimed platforms are most suitable for modern agriculture, tailings ponds and subsidence waterbodies for cultural tourism and wellness, and waste rock dump platforms and other stable, low-sensitivity open land for new energy development. A capital–space coupling mechanism is further proposed to link restoration, support, and development zones with government funds, corporate capital, social capital, green finance, and industrial income. This framework provides a planning-scale engineering-suitability screening tool for sustainable post-mining land transformation.