When the big river runs dry, the little rivers suffer too; the restructuring of the industry ecosystem begins with the increasing financial distress of the "big investors." Real estate companies and government departments at the top of the industry ecosystem have seen their businesses rapidly contract and their funds become increasingly strained under the dual impact of policy and the pandemic. The momentum for large-scale real estate developments that were previously combined with unpowered parent-child amusement parks has stalled, and investments in large municipal parks have been urgently slowed down, greatly compressing the financial input related to the business of unpowered parent-child amusement parks. In simple terms, they have fallen into a predicament where "real estate has no money to develop, and big municipalities have no money to maintain."

The drastic reduction in upstream demand has directly affected unpowered equipment suppliers who traditionally catered to real estate community amenities and conventional municipal park facilities. Commercial bills, often worth millions or even tens of millions, have become uncashable in the short term, and it's not uncommon to see accounts receivable being offset with existing residential properties, commercial spaces, and even garages. Government departments' policy of prioritizing public welfare has also resulted in delayed payments for suppliers. For the unpowered amusement industry, where small, dispersed, and weak businesses are the majority, the impact has been immense. The tide of industry consolidation is gradually spreading, with companies lacking independent research and development, design, and operational capabilities facing shutdowns and closures due to insufficient overall strength, strategic foresight, and cash flow reserves. Some businesses that have survived this "cold wave" have absorbed talents and business from their peers, leading to a certain increase in industry concentration.

The substantive end of the special period has unleashed a long-suppressed consumer enthusiasm for unpowered parent-child amusement parks. However, after three years of refinement, the demands of users for the park's products have not decreased due to the release of this enthusiasm; instead, they have become more discerning with the emergence of new park products, and the popularity of products that merely satisfy basic play functions has significantly decreased. The changes in user demands are forcing latecomers to the market to face a comprehensive challenge of "from nothing to something, from something to quality, and from quality to completeness."

Since the beginning of 2023, the nation has prioritized economic development above all else, and the arrival of policy favorable winds has awakened new vitality for unpowered parent-child amusement parks.

a. First and foremost, the real estate industry has regained its position as a "pillar industry" of the nation, with new policy benefits in various aspects from financing to purchase restrictions, showing signs of a long-awaited recovery. A large number of unpowered amusement projects have also been revitalized as a result.

b. Secondly, there is the stimulation of policy-driven investments. Under the influence of these policies, a large number of urban park projects and urban renewal projects have rapidly expanded the market size of the unpowered amusement industry in the short term, greatly improving the development environment for unpowered parent-child amusement park projects. Some projects have even directly benefited from special bond policies, allowing them to be implemented and presented more quickly.

c. Lastly, the national emphasis on county-level economies and rural revitalization has been continuously strengthened. As a product that has been repeatedly proven in the market for attracting traffic and generating cash flow, unpowered parent-child amusement parks are beginning to rapidly expand from major cities and their surrounding areas, making a large-scale foray into county and rural areas.

Under the strong influence of the aforementioned factors, the restart of unpowered parent-child amusement park products has been accelerated, and it is expected to continue to recover rapidly and even achieve higher growth in the 2023-2024 period. However, it is an undeniable fact that after the disruption and reconstruction of the original industry ecosystem, practitioners must not revert to their previous development paths. They must clarify new development directions, explore development paths suitable for the new era, seek a graceful transformation, and avoid repeating past mistakes.

Key Feature One: Shifting from Site-Centric to User-Centric

Traditional unpowered parent-child amusement parks, serving large-scale real estate developments and major municipal projects, often follow the regional landscape plans in terms of work sequence: the landscape plan comes first, and the unpowered amusement park is constructed in the reserved areas. In terms of theme, style, functionality, design, and selection, they need to conform to the established content of the landscape plan, which is more determined by the needs of the large site. In the new situation, the importance of unpowered parent-child amusement parks is on par with the creation of large landscape environments, and in many projects, the primary and secondary relationships between the two have been reversed. The creation of landscape scenes must match the style and tone of the parent-child amusement park. This requires unpowered parent-child amusement parks to be more based on specific and detailed user needs, to design the entire park around user usage, and then guide landscape design to create the corresponding atmosphere and interface connections.

Key Feature Two: Shifting from Basic Functional Satisfaction to a Major Upgrade in Experience

As mentioned earlier, the demand of parent-child amusement park users for park products has evolved from "availability" to "quality," and in many first-tier cities, innovative parent-child amusement park users have even progressed from "quality" to "comprehensive and refined." Once a consumer has experienced high-quality products, it is difficult for them to downgrade to using products that merely meet basic functionality, especially when the cost difference is not significant. Therefore, in the new context, the success or failure of unpowered parent-child amusement park projects fundamentally lies in the attention to user experience. Beyond meeting the basic requirements of "safety, fun, and enjoyment," "aesthetics, convenience, and comfort" are advanced demands, and "companionship, social interaction, and education" are key elements of a wonderful experience that attract users to visit frequently.

In the past, the existence of unpowered parent-child amusement parks was primarily based on the concept of completely "open" public access, without any "walls," both in community facilities and municipal parks. The original intention of this approach was excellent—to fully leverage the inclusiveness of the project. However, over time, the drawbacks of complete public openness have become apparent—there is a severe disconnect between construction and use, construction and maintenance, and construction and management—projects can be funded for construction but lack funds for maintenance, are used by many but managed by few. Many publicly accessible projects, after facing the test of "large crowds and high intensity" use, have suffered significant damage within just 1-2 years, and with inadequate maintenance, they deteriorate quickly. Given the limited funds of the construction parties, balancing construction, use, and management is particularly important. To ensure that projects continue to function effectively and benefit parent-child families, it is essential to use "sustainable operations" as the guiding principle, using design to assist operations, operations to support management, and management to optimize quality.

Key Feature Four: Shifting from Urban Areas to Urban-Rural Areas

As the pace of urbanization in China slows down, the era of large-scale city construction has passed. The optimization of urban stock and the development of new venues will become an important direction for urban and rural construction in China in the future. The development space for unpowered parent-child amusement parks is undergoing a migration process from "cities to suburbs to urban-rural areas." How to adapt to the constraints of rural space in terms of land use, customer sources, and infrastructure, and to make unpowered parent-child amusement parks "legally compliant, reasonable, and appropriate" in rural areas, becoming an important part of rural leisure and rural vacations, and even becoming the "gravitational core" and "adhesive" for the aggregation and development of related industrial elements, is an important direction for the entire industry to research and explore together.

All cultural and tourism products face the lifecycle laws of product development, often described as "becoming famous in a year, successful in three years, maintaining in five years, and exiting the stage in ten years." When unpowered parent-child amusement parks rely entirely on the product itself for operational weight, it is very difficult to resist this cycle. Fortunately, in the field of parent-child leisure and cultural tourism, there is a very diverse range of business formats. Both tangible products and intangible services can form a natural coupling relationship due to the high overlap of user groups, such as camping, pets, sports, and light shows, which are currently common. When we build unpowered parent-child amusement parks as an operational platform and traffic entrance, we can open up a broader perspective and present innovation in a three-dimensional way. This effectively enhances the richness and flexibility of the content, increases user stickiness and re-visit rates, and achieves the goal of extending the park's "peak period" and breaking through the lifecycle laws.

Key Feature Six: Shifting from Serving Children to Serving Families

In the operation of unpowered parent-child amusement parks, we have found that "parents" have long been neglected as the "most familiar strangers" among the users of unpowered parks. The state of "children playing, parents watching; children playing, parents waiting" is quite common. Parents of children aged 3-12 are the main force of social consumption. An excellent unpowered parent-child amusement park should not only meet the needs of the children who are the decision-makers but also satisfy the parents who are the consumers. Allowing parents to participate more in the companionship and interaction with their children, to gain joy and warmth; ensuring parents are well taken care of, with convenient care, comfortable seating, a place to put their luggage, the ability to take beautiful photos for social media, access to coffee and tea, easy access to restrooms and changing facilities for children... These are services provided to parents and families in operational practice, which greatly enhance parental satisfaction. In the future, even more consideration should be given to the use and experience of grandparents in the park.