Page 142 - JCAU-7-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Urban features of PRD in online image

Table 5. Explanation of total variance of factors for scene Table 6. Factor‑rotated component matrix of scene features
features
Element Component
Factor analysis Component Total Percentage Cumulative 1 2 3 4 5 6
metrics of variance %
Architecture 0.851
Initial eigenvalue 1 3.972 24.823 24.823
Road 0.729 0.406
2 2.570 16.064 40.887
Parks, squares, streets 0.713 0.377
3 1.790 11.187 52.074
Traditional landscape 0.646 0.524 0.340
4 1.311 8.194 60.268 towns
5 1.225 7.659 67.927 Urban events 0.643 0.327
6 1.018 6.360 74.287 Agriculture 0.524 −0.455 0.315 0.324
7 0.752 4.701 78.988 Rivers & lakes −0.489 −0.362 0.371 0.439
8 0.663 4.143 83.131 Urban landscape 0.752
9 0.516 3.224 86.355 Road and 0.447 0.663
10 0.485 3.031 89.386 transportation facilities
11 0.429 2.680 92.066 Mountain 0.574 0.488 0.357
12 0.401 2.505 94.570 Rural landscape 0.559 0.397 0.310
13 0.349 2.184 96.754 Plant 0.448 0.467 0.402
14 0.225 1.409 98.163 Urban landmark 0.431 0.419 0.392
15 0.165 1.031 99.194 History, culture, and 0.481 0.566 0.461 0.334
folklore
16 0.129 0.806 100.000
Factories 0.396 0.551 0.511
Extract the sum 1 3.972 24.823 24.823
of the squares of Business activity 0.355 0.403 0.503 0.361
the loads
2 2.570 16.064 40.887 “agriculture” emphasize agricultural and natural
3 1.790 11.187 52.074 landscape elements.
4 1.311 8.194 60.268 • This factor is referred to as the “agricultural
5 1.225 7.659 67.927 landscape factor.”
6 1.018 6.360 74.287 These six principal factors: – historical features, valley
Rotational load 1 2.656 16.598 16.598 landscape, cultural and production space, industry and
sum of squares trade circulation, rural cultural landscape, and agricultural
2 1.997 12.478 29.076 landscape, – together define the primary components of
3 1.977 12.357 41.433 town images in the PRD. Compared with urban image
4 1.926 12.036 53.469 factors (Zhao et al., 2015), the landscape factors of the
central towns in the PRD are richer in detail and content,
5 1.892 11.823 65.292 encompassing both urban and rural elements.
6 1.439 8.995 74.287
The scatter plot of Components 1 – 6 visualizes the
distribution of data in rotated space (Figure 4). The plot
a focus on industrial and commercial functions. reveals that attributes such as transportation facilities,
• This factor is named the “industry and trade traditional landscape towns, and history, culture, and
circulation factor.” folklore are widely dispersed, indicating significant
(v) Fifth factor: rural cultural landscape variation among these factors. Conversely, elements such
• Larger loading for “rural landscape,” “mountains,” as agriculture, mountains, transportation facilities, and
and “historical culture and folklore” highlight the architecture cluster under distinct factors, highlighting
rural cultural aspects of the towns. their specificity. This indicates that the 81 central towns,
• This factor is termed the “rural cultural landscape such as cities, exhibit diverse image factors. The traditional
factor.” landscape town factor is weakly generalizable, while
(vi) Sixth factor: agricultural landscape elements such as landscape, dominant town functions,
• Larger loadings for “rivers & lakes,” “roads,” and physical space exhibit clustered characteristics. These
“plants,” “urban events,” “mountains,” and clusters reflect that the physical environment, including

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2025) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.5733