With the in-depth popularization of the "Park City" concept, coupled with the continuous upgrading of the diversified population structure and the quality-oriented demand for residents' leisure, China's landscape design industry has experienced a profound transformation in 2026. It has completely abandoned the traditional model of "prioritizing viewing over participation", taken "all-age friendliness" as the core guiding principle, and promoted the upgrading of landscapes from "visual aesthetics" to "shared experience". Focusing on the needs of all groups, including children, young people and the elderly, it strives to create an accessible, interactive and shared urban green living room, enabling every resident to find their own leisure space in the green environment and realize the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, as well as between humans and cities.
In the past, urban landscapes were mainly decorative, featuring large closed green spaces and exquisite but untouchable green layouts, which made landscapes unattainable ornaments of the city. The elderly lacked convenient rest and fitness spaces, children were short of safe outdoor playgrounds, and young people struggled to find comfortable places for socializing and exercising, resulting in the failure to fully meet the diverse needs of all groups. In 2026, the core of the upgrade of all-age-friendly landscapes lies in "breaking barriers and returning to a people-oriented approach". The concept of "sharing" is integrated into the entire process of design, construction and operation, making landscapes no longer just a "urban background" but a "carrier of happiness" integrated into daily life. This transformation has become one of the most distinctive development trends in the landscape design industry in 2026.
Since the beginning of this year, a number of all-age-friendly landscape upgrading projects have been launched in various parts of the country. From large urban parks to community micro-green spaces, from waterfront landscape belts to street pocket spaces, various green living rooms with both practicality and experience have emerged one after another, becoming an important starting point for urban renewal and ecological construction. In Haidian District, Beijing, the 22.6-hectare Baoshan Urban Leisure Park is under intense construction and is expected to open in the middle of 2026. The once enclosed green space is now breaking down barriers, with all fences removed and multiple convenient entrances and exits set up. Through the layout of "four parks and two corridors", it will create an all-age accessible green space.
In Dongcheng District, Beijing, the upgrading of all-age-friendly landscapes has achieved initial results. Three all-age-friendly parks renovated in 2025, including Qingnianhu Park and Huangchenggen Ruins Park, have become happy spaces shared by the elderly, middle-aged, young people and children. In Xiuzhou District, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, the National Fitness Public Service Capacity Improvement Project will officially start in 2026, building an all-age-friendly sports park relying on the city's "golden corners and silver edges". In Chaoyang District, Beijing, it plans to promote the renovation of no less than 10 all-age-friendly parks and build 17 community micro-gardens in 2026.
It is worth noting that the upgrading of all-age-friendly landscapes in 2026 is not a simple accumulation of facilities, but focuses on "precise adaptation, detailed care" and "ecological integration". In terms of ecological integration, all-age-friendly landscapes generally practice the low-carbon concept, integrate sponge city technology, and adopt measures such as permeable pavement and sunken green spaces to achieve rainwater infiltration and retention. Native tree species are preferred to create a four-season landscape, achieving a win-win situation between landscape aesthetics and ecological benefits.
Industry insiders stated that the upgrading of all-age-friendly landscapes is the in-depth practice of the "people-oriented" concept in the landscape design industry, and also an inevitable requirement for high-quality urban development. In 2026, with the implementation of more projects, all-age friendliness will become the "standard" for landscape design. In the future, urban landscapes will no longer be isolated viewing carriers, but "green links" connecting residents' daily life, social interaction, fitness and leisure, as well as urban living rooms shared by all people.
From closed viewing to open sharing, and from single aesthetics to people-oriented design, the upgrading of all-age-friendly landscapes in 2026 is reconstructing the way cities and residents coexist. In the future, with the continuous optimization of design technology and the continuous refinement of residents' needs, all-age-friendly landscapes will further develop in a refined, diversified and intelligent direction, continuously filling the gaps in the leisure needs of different groups.