Immigrant cultural landscape interpretation through GIS-based 3D semantic modelling of MingQing architectural heritag

Immigrant settlements established during late-imperial China reshaped coastal cultural landscapes in ways that conventional two-dimensional surveys only partially document. This study integrates centimetre-resolution terrestrial laser scanning, UAV photogrammetry, Qing-era cadastral maps and archival narratives into a GIS-driven three-dimensional semantic model that covers 1.04 km of representative MingQing heritage districts in Fujian (Zhangzhou tulou belt) and Guangdong (Guangzhou Xiguan mansions). A rule-driven ontology comprising forty-two classes links geometric primitives, walls, clan shrines, arcaded houses, to socio-ritual functions such as lineage worship, defensive organisation and intercultural trade. The workflow achieves a mean geometric root-mean-square error of 0.027 m, an overall semantic F1 of 0.892 and a processing throughput of 4.6 105 points s-1. Spatial analyses reveal statistically significant alignment (Rayleigh Z = 41.7, p < 0.001) between clan-hall axes and ancestral migration bearings, while variogram modelling of courtyard dimensions uncovers adaptive modulation to local hydrological regimes. By coupling dense reality capture with a culturally specific ontology, the research demonstrates that three-dimensional semantic GIS rigorously decodes immigrant cultural landscapes and supports evidence-based heritage conservation.