Revealing Implicit Cultural Landscapes: Spatial Perception of Vernacular Settlements—A Case Study of Baiya City, Zhaozhou Basin, Yunnan

Policies for cultural heritage protection have increasingly shifted toward the integrated conservation and development of historical cultural landscapes. In vernacular settlements located in the southwestern border regions of China, some cultural landscape remains that were once widespread are gradually disappearing. Nevertheless, these landscapes continue to be recognized, valued, and maintained by local ethnic communities. Understanding how place-based perceptions are formed, how hidden cultural landscapes can be identified, and how their cultural significance can be interpreted is therefore of considerable importance. Drawing on landscape perception theory, this study develops an analytical framework that integrates landscape structure interpretation, oral history analysis, and local ethnic group perception. The archaeological remains of the “Ancient Temple” in Baiya City, located within the Zhaozhou intermontane basin (“Bazi”) in Dali, are selected as a case study. Through field investigations, oral history interviews, and Semantic Differential (SD) scale questionnaires, perception factors are examined across four dimensions—environment, ritual, construction, and psychology—to systematically analyze the elements shaping spatial perception. The results reveal that, although local ethnic groups exhibit relatively low levels of perception regarding the architectural form of the ancient temple, they maintain strong psychological and emotional attachments to ritual pathways, ruin landscapes, and related cultural elements. The remains of the “Ancient Temple” constitute an implicit cultural landscape that plays a significant role in shaping local cultural identity and sense of place. At the same time, it reflects the community’s capacity for self-organization and the latent mechanisms underlying the reconstruction of cultural space. Based on these findings, strategies for cultural landscape regeneration should emphasize the preservation of indigenous spatial order, the revitalization of local ritual practices, and the strengthening of ethnic psychological identity. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the social functions and cultural significance of implicit cultural landscapes in contemporary urban and rural development and provides practical references for their conservation and regeneration.