Objective Taking the Vitality Valley in Shenzhen Longcheng Park as an example, this research investigates the strategies and practical approaches for urban infrastructure integration. The aim is to explore methods to enhance land use efficiency, ecological restoration, and resource optimization in urban development.

Methods/process The research explores practical approaches for urban infrastructure integration, aiming to optimize land use, enhance public space networks, and improve urban quality. The Vitality Valley in Shenzhen Longcheng Park, initially a subway depot site, exemplifies this integration by transforming a damaged natural environment into a vibrant urban space. The project reconnects disrupted urban spaces by integrating road networks and functional layouts, reversing the single-function status of urban infrastructure. Key strategies are included as follows. 1) Ownership Integration: Mixing land use, ownership, and physical space, supported by Shenzhen’s policies, blends parkland, transit, and depot functions. The underground part is owned by Shenzhen Metro, and the aboveground part by the Urban Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau, demonstrating functional transformation. 2) Spatial Integration: Building overpasses connect the project to the urban core, breaking spatial isolation and facilitating city-park interaction. The vertical design incorporates existing structures, optimizing usage and turning the depot roof into an accessible public realm. 3) Functional Integration: Integrating transport, sports, and leisure functions creates a multi-level park with diverse facilities, enriching urban life and promoting inclusive public services and social sustainability. Smart systems and low-maintenance features enhance long-term usability and user experience. 4) Grey-Green Integration: Reintroducing natural elements through terraced gardens, shade corridors, and green valleys repairs environmental damage. Thoughtful plant selection and soil management ensure safety and functionality, transforming grey infrastructure into naturalized public spaces. Overall, the Vitality Valley project exemplifies urban infrastructure integration, creating a multifunctional, interconnected, and sustainable urban environment. These strategies and their successful implementation offer a model for future urban renewal, emphasizing the importance of integrated, adaptive, and user-centric approaches in modern urban planning. By blending ownership, optimizing spatial design, integrating diverse functions, and reintroducing natural elements, the project highlights how urban infrastructure can be reimagined to enhance urban quality and promote sustainable development.

Results/conclusion The exploration of urban infrastructure integration aims to enhance land use efficiency, ecological restoration, and optimized resource allocation for sustainable urban development. This strategy is analyzed through three key aspects: 1) Intensified Land Use: This approach addresses land scarcity in rapidly developing cities by integrating and efficiently planning land use. Historical trends in China, such as the “paid transfer” of land use rights, have accelerated urbanization, increasing the land allocated to infrastructure. Policy measures from 2007 to 2012 emphasized economical and intensive land use, including developing aboveground and underground spaces and reusing underutilized lands. Intensive land use, focusing on economic efficiency, remains crucial in design practices, particularly in green infrastructure and transportation planning, contributing to multifunctional development, enhancing resource productivity, creating synergistic benefits, improving spatial quality, and mitigating the “NIMBY” effect. 2) Landscape Enhancement: With the unification of planning functions under the Ministry of Natural Resources, ecological planning has been integrated into top-level designs. Landscape strategies in infrastructure renewal projects aim to restore and harmonize with the urban landscape, repairing ecological damage caused by urbanization. This aligns with landscape urbanism, creating artificial terrains that improve or add urban services and integrate various urban systems. Examples include landscape design in water management, rainwater treatment, and flood prevention infrastructure. Transforming infrastructural “grey spaces” into aesthetic and functional landscapes, such as utilizing space under elevated highways, is common. 3) Systematic Resource Coordination: This aspect in stock planning era emphasizes public intervention for effective urban resource allocation. Policies since 2012 support efficient land use, particularly in transportation infrastructure, due to its high land demand and social impact. Integrating multiple functions into infrastructure and increasing public participation enhances social equity and public welfare, fostering interconnected urban spaces. The Vitality Valley project demonstrates these strategies by addressing urban openness, functional diversity, and ecological restoration within existing constraints. It employs intensive land use, landscape enhancement, and systematic resource coordination to create multifunctional public spaces, improving urban connectivity and ecological health. Key strategies include mixed land use, ownership integration, and spatial reconfiguration, ensuring efficient land use and diverse community services. The landscape design incorporates ecological principles for environmental restoration and a better urban experience. Overall, successful urban infrastructure integration requires interdisciplinary collaboration, adaptive policies, and coordinated stakeholder efforts to enhance functionality, sustainability, and livability.