Sustainable landscape pattern: a landscape approach to serving spatial planning

Context: Spatial planning system needs the support of approaches toward achieving sustainability, with sustainable landscape pattern (SLP) for one potential spatial approach. However, the scientific definition of SLP has not been clarified in previous studies, and the support of SLP for spatial planning is also few summarized. Objectives: The scientific definition and conceptual connotation of SLP were proposed, and its application status and development directions of theory and practice in spatial planning were further summarized. Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature on landscape sustainability, urban growth boundary, ecological network, green infrastructure, ecological security pattern, ecological red line and others close to SLP, and qualitatively summarized the key theoretical and practical support of SLP for spatial planning. Results: SLP is defined as a certain combination of composition and configuration of landscape elements that enables social-ecological processes to sustainably provide stable ecosystem services for promoting human well-being in a particular region. SLP effectively supports spatial planning to determine planning targets, analyze spatial patterns, and compare and select schemes by assessing target landscape elements, identifying key spatial areas, and simulating future development scenarios. It is proposed that frontier concepts (i.e. spatial resilience, metacoupling framework and landscape multifunctionality) provide new research perspectives for SLP, and that SLP can also be applied to ecological restoration, urban agglomeration coordinated development, and nature-based solution in the future. Conclusions: Clarifying the scientific connotation of SLP can provide theoretical and methodological support for spatial planning practice and also a spatial approach for sustainable development.