Singapore's Permanent Territorial Revolution: Fifty Years in Fifty Maps

Ever since Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, its government—the country’s sole landlord—has been intent on transforming the island’s environment. This has led to a nearly constant overhaul of the landscape, whether natural or man-made. No stone is left unturned, literally, and not a single cultural feature, be it a house, a factory, a road, or a cemetery, is safe from the constant modification.

This atlas maps these changes in depth, vividly illustrating the shifts in Singapore’s spatial order. Taken together, these maps demonstrate how physical transformations have led to social changes and how the government has used land and property as a tool of social management. By constantly replanning the rules of access to space,  De Koninck argues, the Singaporean State is redefining territoriality, down to its minute details. Whether considered progress or politics, it is an unprecedented use of the physical to control an entire society.