Objective Against the background of shrinking urban green space resources and diverse health needs of residents, traditional landscape architecture faces theoretical and methodological bottlenecks in areas such as quantifying and exploring the mechanisms of health effects, multi-scale analysis, and dynamic prediction. This study aims to explore how exposure ecology can effectively supplement and enhance landscape architecture from three levels: theoretical core, methodological system, and practical path, so as to better serve public health-oriented urban planning.

Methods This study combines literature review with inductive analysis. By systematically reviewing the core components of exposure ecology, including the “pattern−process−exposure−health” causal chain theoretical framework, the “dose−response−threshold” model, and virtual-real interactive simulation technology, it summarizes its innovative advantages over traditional landscape architecture in terms of health intervention concepts, quantitative assessment, and precise design. Building on this foundation, the study explores the inherent logic and feasible paths for the integration of the two disciplines by analyzing three dimensions: theoretical complementarity, methodological innovation, and practical synergy, and also looks forward to the key future development directions.

Results Systematic review and inductive analysis show that exposure ecology complements and integrates with landscape architecture in a comprehensive and profound way. 1) Complementary integration at the theoretical level. With its core concept of “upstream health intervention”, exposure ecology promotes landscape architecture to shift from providing passive background ecological services to actively planning and designing as a “health production system”. By constructing a multi-dimensional analysis framework of “subject−object−reality−virtual”, it comprehensively expands the cognitive boundary of landscape architecture regarding the complexity of ecological exposure, extending the traditional perspective of focusing mainly on physical space design to a wider range of exposure pathways including virtual natural experiences. 2) Enhanced innovation at the methodological level. The “dose−response−threshold” model introduced by exposure ecology provides a key tool for the accurate quantification of the health benefits of green spaces. The deep integration of the real-measurement and virtual-modeling system based on GIS/remote sensing, multi-agent modeling and digital twin technology has built a new path of “virtual−real interactive exposure simulation”, which greatly enhances the scientific capabilities of landscape architecture in dynamic exposure assessment and scheme prediction optimization, and realizes a methodological leap from static spatial analysis to dynamic process simulation. 3) Collaborative applications at the practical level. Exposure ecology, through techniques such as green space exposure equity assessment and behavioral trajectory analysis, has promoted the transformation of landscape planning from “experience oriented” to “evidence oriented”, effectively guiding precise practices such as greenway optimization based on recreational-travel characteristics and identification of blind spots in community living circle services. The proposed “physiological health benefit threshold” model provides a practically-proven method for understanding the positive “upstream health intervention” of green space exposure on human health. By implementing a transformation path from research to policy, exposure ecology has strengthened cross-sectoral collaborative-governance with public health, environmental protection, and other departments in healthy city construction projects, improving the overall benefits of planning implementation.

Conclusion Exposure ecology, through its innovative theoretical framework, quantitative methods and technical tools, effectively compensates for the lack of scientific rigor and precision in traditional landscape architecture when serving healthy urban planning. The deep integration of the two disciplines will show great potential and development space in the following three key research directions. 1) Deepening the research on multi-scale dynamic exposure measurement and causal mechanisms is the foundation for promoting the development of the discipline. In the future, we can explore the construction of a cross-temporal and multi-scale green space exposure measurement model; explore the physiological pathways and psychological processes of green space exposure affecting human health, and promote the research to deepen from correlation analysis to causal inference. 2) Strengthening the application of digital twin and geographic artificial intelligence technologies in simulation and prediction is key to improving planning efficiency. In the future, we can build a digital mirror in virtual space that evolves synchronously with the real urban green space system. This will enable planners to simulate the green space exposure scenarios and potential health outcomes of residents under different planning and design schemes, thereby facilitating project scheme comparison and optimization. 3) Expanding multi-sensory virtual exposure research and its synergistic optimization with physical space is an innovative pathway to address urban challenges. Virtual green space exposure will become an important natural exposure supplement in high-density urban areas. Future research should explore the health benefits of multi-sensory virtual nature experiences, determine the dose-response relationship and application threshold of virtual exposure, and compare the effects with those of real-world exposure. It should also develop research combining virtual and real exposure, exploring how to construct optimal ecological spatial patterns by coupling real and virtual dimensions. The deep integration of exposure ecology and landscape architecture will continue to deepen, jointly providing solid disciplinary support and practical impetus for optimizing urban green space planning, improving public health, and achieving sustainable urban development.