[Space] What is the 'Gaia' type of garden worlds like? ('Habitability 9').

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

[*]Low salinity in the seas; all bodies are freshwater. [*]Relatively larger surface area of landmasses.

I suspect the conditions required to keep salinity low - the seas need to totally evaporate fairly often and move somewhere else - would be counterproductive, and you don't want to go too far toward smaller ones, Earth's huge oceans contribute a lot to the climate being nicer. A more even distribution might be nice though - there's a reason the seashore is densely populated and low density areas tend to be continental interiors.

[*] High degree of nitrogenation of the soil.

A somewhat related and not so obvious option - high tectonic activity. Lots of volcanos might not seem that desirable, but they're great at keeping soil mineral levels high, and lots of rich and varied ores do nice things for the non-agricultural sector of your economy too. Losing a city or two a century to massive earthquakes or too close eruptions is a small price to pay really.