Sequential Visual–Spatial States and Visitor Behavior in a Linear Green Waterfront Corridor: Evidence from the Grand Canal, Beijing

Linear green waterfront corridors are important public open spaces where movement, spatial experience, and recreational behavior unfold continuously along paths. However, the visual–spatial conditions associated with visitor behavior in such settings remain insufficiently understood, particularly from the perspective of sequential spatial experience. Using the Tongzhou section of the Grand Canal in Beijing as a case study, this study examined how visitor movement and staying rhythms vary across visual–spatial environments along a linear corridor. Sixteen visual–spatial indicators were derived from 1505 georeferenced panoramic images, and approximately 1.65 million GPS trajectory points were used as external behavioral evidence. Five latent visual–spatial states were identified along the corridor sequence, and the contributions of different indicators to state differentiation were further interpreted. The results show that the corridor was organized into differentiated visual–spatial states with clear continuity and gradual transitions, and that visitor behavior differed significantly across these states. High visit intensity did not necessarily correspond to a high stay ratio, and lower movement speed did not uniformly indicate stopping. The strongest state-differentiation signals were associated with depth-informed structural variables, especially the closely related foreground proportion and average depth, together with waterfront-interface conditions. These findings extend current understanding of visual–spatial environment–behavior relationships in linear public green spaces and provide methodological support for the planning, design, and management of waterfront and other linear public green environments.