Objective  The construction of resilient landscape in coastal zone is an important adaptive measure to promote the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems, reduce the economic costs of coastal disasters, and ensure the safety and sustainable development of coastal areas. It is therefore essential to emphasize the practical significance of exploring the construction of resilient landscape in coastal zone.

Methods  This research searches for relevant literature published from 2002 to 2022 through the China National Knowledge Internet(CNKI) and the Web of Science databases, and adopts relevant search engines to gather domestic and international practice cases on construction of resilient landscape in coastal zone over the past two decades. Specifically, the research combs and reviews 2,216 English literature, 244 Chinese literature, and 137 practice cases by such methods as literature metrology and case analysis.

Results  During the past two decades, global interest in the theoretical research on and practical construction of resilient landscape in coastal zone has increased significantly. The key areas of theoretical research include risk management and control for coastal zone based on disaster adaptive management, resilience reconstruction for coastal zone based on the dynamic restoration of landscape ecosystem, and development and utilization of landscape resources in coastal zone based on sea-land coordination. The risk management and control for coastal zone based on disaster adaptive management focus on the construction of theoretical framework for resilient landscape in coastal zone, the prediction or assessment of relevant disasters, and the development of resilient strategies, which together form a disaster adaptive management mechanism for coastal zone. The resilience reconstruction for coastal zone based on the dynamic restoration of landscape ecosystem primarily involves three aspects: zoning planning for landscape ecosystem of coastal zone, the R&D of frameworks for dynamic restoration of single or multiple ecological components, and the evaluation of the cost-effectiveness and restoration effects of the ecological restoration of landscape in coastal zone. The development and utilization of landscape resources in coastal zone based on sea-land coordination mainly includes a multidimensional land-sea landscape resource development and utilization model based on a macroscopic scale, and the planning of landscape resources in coastal zone based on a meso-microscopic scale. Practice hotspots include policy resilience planning and disaster prevention in coastal zones, construction of hard and soft defensive infrastructure, and application of technical measures for adaptive floating engineering. However, the theoretical research faces two major limitations. 1) The dynamic response mechanism of the landscape system in coastal zone needs to be further analyzed; the landscape system is a complex system that connects humans and nature, which involves various dynamic processes and response mechanisms that need to be comprehensively considered. 2) Theoretical research needs to be conducted in a multidisciplinary and collaborative manner, as the current research fails to systematically integrate multiple disciplines such as disaster science, oceanography and biology. Additionally, the practical construction faces two main challenges. 1) Relevant policies and systems fail to fully protect the comprehensive coastal zones, and different countries vary greatly in the completeness degree of such policies and systems. In China, the management systems for coastal zone entail further improvement in terms of standards, coverage, and institutional mechanism. 2) Insufficient attention has been paid to relevant research on landscape construction in coastal zone from the perspective of resilience, as most coastal areas still rely on hard defensive facilities to deal with natural disasters.

Conclusion  This research summarizes existing research findings and presents an overview of both the theoretical and practical research on resilient landscape in coastal zone. Future theoretical research should focus on improving the assessment system for disaster risk faced by landscape in coastal zone and the integrated application of computer technology, while further highlighting the benefit evaluation of risk adaptation measures and ecological restoration projects under climate change. Furthermore, there is a need to construct a localized theoretical framework for coastal zone resilience based on China’s national conditions. Future practical research should promote the sinicization of integrated coastal zone management and actively construct a defensive network for landscape resilience in coastal zone, while strengthening the application of China’s adaptive landscape technologies and concepts with respect to coastal zone. These initiatives will further promote the planning and construction of coastal areas. Overall, the research findings may provide inspiration and reference for improving the theoretical system for coastal resilient landscape in coastal zone and for advancing the planning and construction of coastal areas in the future.