As China’s urbanization advances into a new stage focused on quality enhancement, numerous legacy industrial brownfi elds have emerged as vital spatial resources for urban renewal and ecological restoration. This study explores public perception of plant landscapes in urban industrial brownfi elds through a nationwide survey and interviews (n=361), supplemented by text analysis (n=5,415 texts). Key fi ndings include: (1) Public awareness of the term “brownfi eld” remains extremely low, yet there is a heightened sensitivity to brownfi eld types that demonstrate obvious environmental hazards, indicating a cognitive disconnect. (2) Emotional reactions tend to be polarized between “pollution vs. green,” with a notable defi ciency in understanding remediation processes. (3) Aesthetic preferences favor an natural landscape mode that balances ecological function and visual order. (4) Based on diff erences in preferences, the public can be clustered into four distinct groups. Consequently, the study advocates strategies that emphasize “aestheticized nature” to foster synergistic benefi ts across environmental, social, and cultural dimensions.