Land Reclamation in Singapore (Part ll)

Singapore also has to overcome the constraints of limited land space. Large-scale land reclamation by landfill has been carried out in different parts of Singapore since the 1960s. Land reclamation took place mainly at the South-East, South-West and the North-East of Singapore.

Land reclamation in Singapore started as early as 1820. Swamps along the Singapore river were filled to provide land for early settlers. These were small land reclamation projects. In contrast, land reclamation projects after 1960 were large enough to make an impact on the growth of Singapore's land area. In particular, the reclamation of mangrove swampsin Jurong in 1961 spearheaded Singapore's industrialisation plans and other land reclamation projects. In 1963, the land reclamation project in Bedok provided space to build new homes for Singaporeans.

Singapore's land area grew from 581.5 square kilometres in 1960 to 699 square kilometres in 2004. This means that its area increased by 117.5 square kilometres(20.2%) in 44 years. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) projects a land shortage of 40 square kilometres when the population grows from 5.5 million. If the economic growth continues at the present pace, the government will need more land for housing and recreational facilities. More land is also needed for rapid economic growth. This included expanding commercial and industrial activities, and developing infrastructure such as road, expressways, the MRT and LRT systems, the port and airport facilities. These are examples of land reclamation by landfill method put to good use.

Besides reclaiming land by filling in the swamps, Singapore also reclaimed land from the sea using the landfill method, for example, Marina City and Pulau Semakau. To reclaim land from the sea, dykes must be constructed in shallow parts of the sea to prevent the seawater from entering the area to be reclaimed. The area is then filled with sand, rock or soil. The sand can be obtained from the seabed or imported from other countries, while the rocks and soil can be obtained from the hills nearby.