A generative AI decision-making tool for interactive greenspace design using a pollinator habitat indicator
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in landscape architecture to accelerate design development and enhance stakeholder engagement. This study presents a new landscape concept design tool to support collaborative greenspace problem-solving by integrating rapid scenario generation with a Pollinator Habitat Indicator (PHI). We define this as the PHI-AI Landscape Design Tool. The model combines text-to-image generative workflows with an ecological scoring system that ranks AI-generated design scenarios based on the proportional composition and spatial configuration of habitat-supportive landscape elements. The PHI-AI Landscape Design Tool demonstrates a strong capacity to interpret spatial landscape geometry and circulation logic. The model generates layout variations that reflect coherent planting configurations, and practical circulation connections for user functionality. This enables the rapid production of multiple greenspace design alternatives that remain legible, adaptable, and flexible to human-controlled decision-making processes. We present an experimental design to illustrate how AI-generated design scenarios can be collaboratively evaluated using aesthetic preference ranking, PHI scores, and complementary landscape metrics. The system is designed to function as a human-in-the-loop decision workflow, allowing users to mutually modify prompts, spatial targets, and design elements to refine outcomes in response to project-specific objectives and stakeholder feedback. By accelerating the efficiency of greenspace layout variations while preserving flexibility for collaborative refinement, the PHI-AI Landscape Design Tool advances AI-assisted landscape planning beyond visualization toward an interactive, evidence-based design decision-making process. The framework offers a scalable approach for integrating nature-based solutions, ecological quality, and the planning phase of landscape design.
Source: Landscape and Urban Planning
Authors: Corey Dawson, Cody Kupferschmidt, Paul Manning
Language: English
Topic: Urban Green Space and Health
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,120
OpenAlex ID: W7218392622