Where leisure meets quality of urban life: spatial and statistical patterns in Istanbul's urban landscape

Purpose This study examines the relationship between leisure satisfaction and perceived quality of urban life in Istanbul. It advocates a policy shift from facility-centric planning toward experience-informed design that prioritizes psychosocial well-being. Design/methodology/approach Using the Marans–Mohai framework, the research involved stratified sampling across nine neighborhood typologies based on density and land value. Analysis of 1,188 household surveys employed exploratory factor analysis, inverse distance weighting spatial interpolation and hierarchical block regression. Findings Leisure satisfaction is the second most critical determinant of perceived urban quality of life, ranking only behind health and family. Perceived environmental quality including safety and maintenance predicts satisfaction more strongly than physical usage frequency. Research limitations/implications The investigation focuses predominantly on spatial dimensions, omitting direct measurements of individual physical health outcomes and longitudinal behavioral shifts. Practical implications Local governments should prioritize improvements such as safety, aesthetics and social programming over merely constructing new facilities. Inclusive pricing and access policies are recommended to reconnect local residents with central cultural assets. Social implications Leisure privatization within gated communities deepens urban fragmentation and limits equitable access. Creating high-quality, non-commercial public spaces in peripheral zones is essential for fostering spatial justice. Originality/value The research integrates objective–subjective indicators to capture the phenomenological complexity of leisure in megacities. It identifies the “education paradox” and the transformation of public leisure into “club goods” in rapidly urbanizing contexts.