Dwell-photo nodes in classical garden tourism: a multimodal spatial analysis of Yipu

Sensory experiences sharing in the social media era has expanded tourism's social influence, and visual experiences are critical for connecting visitors with specific locations. With the widespread adoption of information technology and the internet, visitors' intentions have moved from traditional sightseeing to a hybrid experiential loop of "recording, sharing and re-disseminating." In this process, spatial and perceptual experiences are transformed into communicable social information via Dwell-Photo (DP) routine, providing crucial feedback for the spatial design and renewal of heritage spaces. Jiangnan classical gardens, with their complicated spatial systems and rich cultural value, offer compelling cases for examining the mechanics that drive DP behavior. This study employed the classical garden Yipu, also known as the Garden of Cultivation, for representative samples of DP nodes to create a research framework based on multimodal data that integrates pedestrian simulation and visual perception methodologies with traditional investigative approaches. By developing an associative model between spatial experience perception and DP behavior, this study delves deeply into the patterns of tourists' visual perception and touring behaviors in classical gardens, accurately extracting the cultural and aesthetic essence of garden environments. This presents a viable technical avenue for classical gardens to transition from "sightseeing check-in" to immersive cultural experiences, and the proposed methodological framework is intended to provide critical input for the spatial design and maintenance of heritage spaces. By connecting spatial perception data with tourism planning and management plans, avoiding resource waste due to subjective judgments, and offering decision-making references for tourism planning and management, its expanded application can incorporate humanistic elements into urban street view aesthetic design.