FRAMING CULTURAL LANDSCAPES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BINONDO AND GEORGE TOWNS GATEWAYS AS MEDIATORS OF HERITAGE AND ENCLAVE IDENTITY

In Southeast Asian cities shaped by colonial legacies and diasporic entanglements,ceremonial gateways serve not only as spatial thresholds but also as articulations of cultural identity. This study offers a comparative analysis of symbolic gateways in Binondo, Manila-the worlds oldest Chinatown, andGeorge Town, Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its characteristic shophouse streetscapesIn Binondo, cultural presence is made visible through monumental Pailous (Paifang) arches strategically erected at key entry points to the district, marking its boundaries, such as the Binondo Welcome Arch, Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch, and the Ongpin South and North Bridge Arch. In contrast, George Town does not feature boundary-defining gateways; instead, its urban landscape is punctuated by more localized, culturally embedded threshold markers within community enclaves, such as the Little India Arch, Campbell Street Gateway, Zhang Clan Qinghe Hall Entrance Arch, and Lee Jetty Clan Arch.This study looks at how gateways contribute to the character of historic cities, using both visual analysis and spatial measures. These measures include the Green Visual Index, which captures how much greenery is visible; the Road Area Index, which quantifies pavement or foreground coverage; the Sky Open Index, which reflects how open or enclosed a space feels; and the Spatial Enclosure Index, which gauges how much the surrounding buildings create a sense of containment.