[Objective] Water could be regarded as a vital element for human existence, which has shaped cities for centuries. Blue spaces, centred around water bodies, play a pivotal role in urban development by delivering various ecosystem services and influencing the design and planning of urban environments. In addition to the numerous benefits and services provided by water, recent research indicates that blue space exposure and perception could also enhance human health and well-being, especially in urban contexts. However, health benefits are often not or implicitly taken into account in design practices. While an increasing number of researchers acknowledge the importance of applying current health evidence to practice, there is currently a lack of specific methodological support to bridge the gap between evidence and actions. Furthermore, given the growing focus on healthy urban living, the demand for the development of healthy cities, and the requirements of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing this gap is of utmost importance at present. Based on the analysis and synthesis of existing evidence, this research aims to propose a conceptual framework that links the health benefits derived from blue space exposure and perception with spatial design practices. The framework attempts to address the current gap and encourage ongoing exploration in future research and practice. [Methods] This research first searches relevant publications on blue space and human health included in the Web of Science Core Collection and Google Scholar during the past five years, and selects the representative ones for detailed analysis and summary. Based on the analysis results, the key pathways linking blue space exposure and perception with human health are identified. Next, a tailored methodological, conceptual framework linking health evidence and design practices is proposed according to the frameworks and evidence in existing studies. Meanwhile, the results of the literature analysis and several Rotterdam cases at different scales are used to demonstrate the application of the framework and illustrate its feasibility.

[Results] Based on the results of the literature analysis, three main blue space exposure and perception types are summarized, including indirect perception and exposure, accidental perception and exposure, and intentional perception and exposure. Next, four main pathways linking the exposure to or perception of blue space and human health are identified and briefly discussed, including enhancing physical activities, reducing harmful exposure, benefiting psychological outcomes, and promoting social interactions. Subsequently, a four-step conceptual framework that translates the health evidence into practical design knowledge is proposed. The steps comprise extracting critical health evidence, summarizing key design concepts, categorizing core design elements, and translating into design principles, spatial patterns, and evaluation methods. At first, the research extracts key evidence from 57 representative literature. And then, the research summarizes 42 key design concepts. Next, through an analysis of the similarities and differences between the design concepts, five core design elements are identified, including the quantity, accessibility, visibility, spatial quality, and design process of blue space. […]@en

Riverscapes are a complex and multi-scale socio-ecological and hydrogeomorphic system, which is the result from the interaction between human and nature. The "River Style Framework", based on the principles of hydrogeomorphology, provides a mature learning tool to understand the "form and process". The paper made a systematic review of the main principles, procedures and contents of river style framework. The multi-scale spatial framework, the classification system of river style and geomorphic units provide the basic approach for describing and interpreting river character and behavior. At the watershed scale, the priority of restoration strategy of each reach can be identified after the geomorphological condition assessment and the restoration potential assessment; at the reach scale, with the evolution trajectory analysis of the specific reach, the change trend can be predicted, and providing knowledge evidence for "process-based" riverscape restoration design and actions.@en

Urban blue space offers substantial health benefits by encouraging population physical activity. Despite much evidence on the nature-health nexus, the relationship between blue space and recreational exercises remains under-studied, limiting the realisation of health benefits in blue space design. Using crowdsourced data, including volunteered geographic information and street view image data, this study investigates the associations of blue space quality with recreational running and cycling in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Results show that recreational exercise levels on street segments vary based on the blue space type and design. Compared to inland canals and rivers, small-scale recreational waterbodies are more conducive to running but not cycling, while both activities tend to cluster around the Nieuwe Maas River. Interestingly, the Water View Index shows a general negative association with both activities after adjusting for the blue space type. Besides the waterbody characteristics, eye-level environmental factors, including higher Green View Index, lower building density, more diverse land use, greater connected street network and fewer traffic elements, are associated with more running and cycling exercises. Results for visual complexity and neighbourhood population composition are mixed depending on the exercise type. These findings are further translated into spatial design patterns for developing exercise-supportive and health-promoting blue spaces.@en

Existing studies indicate that a direct view of aquatic elements benefits well-being, and houses with blue views are often associated with higher prices. Therefore, developing analysis and design methods for visibility research of blue spaces are crucial to advance spatial design practice. Especially digital methods for analysing blue visibility and their potential in design still need to be identified and explored. This study explores the application potential of some powerful digital visibility analysis methods for blue space design. Specifically, this research first provides an overview of poten- tial methods for analysing the visibility of water. Next, two practical design-oriented digital methods are briefly elaborated and illustrated by cases in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). Meanwhile, the study explores how the analysis results support spatial design practice. Last, the study discusses the potential of integrating blue visibility analysis methods into the iterative design process and makes prospects for future research.@en

Water, a vital element of human existence, shapes cities and benefits human health through daily exposure. This study delves into advanced digital methods to describe blue space exposure effectively, aiming to optimise spatial accessibility and visibility of water for designing sustainable healthy urban environments. Rotterdam is utilised as a test case, demonstrating the role of these methods in evaluating the performance of blue space exposure in urban environments, specifically in terms of spatial morphology and physical characteristics. Eight distinct methods are discussed, addressing exposure type, scale levels, and design interactions, subsequently offering a novel flowchart for their integration into cross-scale spatial design and policymaking. The findings underscore the need to select appropriate methods to analyse and optimise blue exposure in spatial planning or design assignments. The selection should be based on design intentions and data availability. The biggest potential is found in combining these methods to handle the complexity of urban issues. The research reveals the importance of blue space accessibility and visibility in promoting sustainable healthy urban environments while also emphasising the need to go beyond them, factoring in the quality, function, and usage of blue spaces.
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Water is a critical element of human existence and has shaped cities for centuries. In urban environments, water provides multiple ecosystem services and is an important element in the design of urban environments. Next to the many qualities and services provided by water, recent research indicates that exposure to freshwater blue space also enhances human health and wellbeing. However, health benefits are often not or implicitly taken into account in the design perspective. This research aims to provide a systematic overview of the available body of knowledge regarding the relationship between freshwater blue space, health, and design. This study first proposes a bi-directional conceptual framework connecting health evidence with design practice. And then, scientometric analysis is employed to review 1338 research articles on freshwater blue-health research. The results show that the number of articles in this area is increasing yearly, attracting more and more disciplines and stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration. Freshwater blue-health research is broadening to emphasize usage and experience, psychological advantages, and particular demographics, which provides a solid basis for future design research. At the same time, it becomes clear that there is a strong demand to develop adaptive design knowledge that integrates the available health evidence and operationalizes it in healthy freshwater blue space design. This paper could help researchers understand the current research progress and future research directions, as well as facilitate multiple applications of health evidence by practitioners.

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