<![CDATA[Background: Over the past two decades, Jakarta's built-up area has expanded by approximately 19%, increasing environmental pressures on urban green spaces. The North Kembangan Urban Forest is a green open space intended to support environmental improvement in urban planning. However, its management and aesthetic value remain suboptimal. Enhancing esthetic value aligns with an emerging placemaking perspective that emphasizes user experience and place quality and offers a viable solution to improve green open space (GOS) quality by integrating public perception and expert assessment. Methods: This study used a photo-based questionnaire was administered to 110 respondents and analyzed using Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE), while development priorities were evaluated through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) involving nine experts. Findings: The results indicated that photos 5, 7, and 10 showed relatively high aesthetic preferences, with SBE scores of 28.34, 54.09, and 84.28, respectively, although all remained within the moderate aesthetic category. Color, vegetation, neatness, and comfort were significantly associated with aesthetic value, with neatness and comfort showing the strongest correlations (r = 0.97, p < 0.001). The High-Canopy Tropical GOS was beingthe preferred development alternative, with a priority weight of 0.41. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of integrating ecological, economic, social aspects, and aesthetic value in GOS planning, particularly in the North Kembangan Urban Forest, to inform more user-oriented and place-sensitive planning of urban green spaces. Novelty/Originality of this article: The study extends the application of the SBE–AHP framework to tropical urban-forest planning by integrating photo-based public aesthetic preferences with expert development priorities in the context of Jakarta. This synthesis results in an aesthetic-driven GOS model underpinned by an environmental science perspective, and contributes to the development of user-centered and place-oriented urban GOS planning.]]>
