Public Perception of Urban Recreational Spaces Based on Large Vision–Language Models: A Case Study of Beijing’s Third Ring Area

Urban recreational spaces (URSs) are pivotal for enhancing resident well-being, making the accurate assessment of public perceptions crucial for quality optimization. Compared to traditional surveys, social media data provide a scalable means for multi-dimensional perception assessment. However, existing studies predominantly rely on single-modal data, which limits the comprehensive capturing of complex perceptions and lacks interpretability. To address these gaps, this study employs cutting-edge large vision–language models (LVLMs) and develops an interpretable model, Qwen2.5-VL-7B-SFT, through supervised fine-tuning on a manually annotated dataset. The model integrates visual-linguistic features to assess four perceptual dimensions of URSs: esthetics, attractiveness, cultural significance, and restorativeness. Crucially, we generate textual evidence for our judgments by identifying the key spatial elements and emotional characteristics associated with specific perceptions. By integrating multi-source built environment data with Optuna-optimized machine learning and SHAP analysis, we further decipher the nonlinear relationships between built environment variables and perceptual outcomes. The results are as follows: (1) Interpretable LVLMs are highly effective for urban spatial perception research. (2) URSs within Beijing’s Third Ring Road fall into four typologies, historical heritage, commercial entertainment, ecological-natural, and cultural spaces, with significant correlations observed between physical elements and emotional responses. (3) Historical heritage accessibility and POI density are identified as key predictors of public perception. Positive perception significantly improves when a block’s POI functional density exceeds 4000 units/km² or when its 500 m radius encompasses more than four historical heritage sites. Our methodology enables precise quantification of multidimensional URS perceptions, links built environment elements to perceptual mechanisms, and provides actionable insights for urban planning.