Urban-rural green spaces are crucial spatial carriers that reflect the quality of human settlements. In the current phase of stock development, value assessment emerges as the primary task to ensure the “precise optimization” of green spaces in urban and rural areas. However, existing studies primarily focus on technical applications and practical implementations, resulting in fragmented research needing more systematic organization. This paper takes a new approach by exploring the value matching between urban-rural green spaces and human needs as an entry point. It organizes the connotations of multi-disciplinary research on the value assessment of urban and rural green spaces across three levels: theoretical, practical, and decisional. Additionally, it systematically constructs a comprehensive “assessment-feedback” pathway for green spaces in both urban and rural contexts. Furthermore, it summarizes the characteristics of green space development in terms of “value needs and assessment indicators” across three stages “living needs-production needs-welfare needs”. And the construction of a research coordinate system covering “scale-dimension-measurement.” The result provides a reference framework for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers engaged in specific green space assessments.