{"id":701,"date":"2022-10-08T13:05:02","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T13:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/?p=701"},"modified":"2022-10-08T13:05:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T13:05:02","slug":"integration-or-acknowledgement-of-indigenous-communities-raffles-town-plan-of-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/2022\/10\/integration-or-acknowledgement-of-indigenous-communities-raffles-town-plan-of-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Integration or Acknowledgement of Indigenous Communities: Raffles Town Plan of Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog post focuses on the Raffles Town Plan, sometimes recalled as the Jackson Plan. It was formulated in late 1822, per Stamford Raffle\u2019s vision by Lieutenant Philip Jackson for the town of Singapore. The concept of this plan was based on a pre-conception that Singapore would be a place of \u201cconsiderable magnitude and economic importance\u201d; therefore, its town plan needed to embody this newly fostered identity.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Some may argue that Raffles had a unique vision when it came to town planning. His concept focused on three major philosophies: firstly, the integration of immigrants into formal town plans was essential. Communes for Indians, Chinese and other ethnic groups should be integrated so they were not left to develop separately. This, in turn, helped avoid public health problems like a lack of sanitation which would ultimately ensure uneven town development. If Singapore were to be successful, it, needed to grow as one. Secondly, a fort with parks and greenery should be at the centre. Forts gave the impression of prosperity, as did greenery. Third, communal harmony and ease of trade were factors that would ensure the growth and success of the town.<\/p>\n

Below is the town plan of Singapore completed by Lieutenant Jackson. As can be seen by the notations on each section, Raffles wanted to reserve an area for a specific race or function. For example: from Fort Canning to the Singapore River and the sea beyond the Padang (labelled \u201cOpen Square\u201d) for government use. Whereas other sections are entitled \u201cEuropean Town\u201d \u201cArab\u201d and \u201cCampong\u201d effectively segregating Singapore. Another important hallmark of colonial towns that can be identified are the wide and straight streets. These were justified by colonial rulers on the basis of public health and sanitation improvement; but in fact, were a tactic to prevent uprising or unrest from indigenous populations[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Diagram,<\/div>\n

Plan of the Town of Singapore, Lieut Jackson, Survey Department Singapore, Survey Department Singapore (London, 1828).<\/p>\n

The question I find myself asking is whether this town plan accurately depicts \u201cintegration of communities\u201d as Raffles is said to have done. What becomes clearer upon second glance is that that \u201cacknowledgement\u201d may be a more fitting word to describe the town planning.\u00a0What Raffles and Jackson have done is not integration as we would recognise it today. Rather an acknowledgement that other communities will need to live and exist in close proximity to their colonisers and for the success of the land as a whole (which was his objective \u201ceconomic success\u201d of Singapore) integration in the sense of acknowledgement was necessary. Singapore could not have been seen as a great powerhouse of industry nor economy if there were sections of the city that did not have sanitation and were not developed. One city, but separate communities is how I would describe Raffles vision.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Buckley, C. B. (1984).\u00a0An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: From the foundation of the settlement … on February 6th, 1819 to the transfer to the Colonial Office … on April 1st, 1867<\/em><\/a>. Singapore: Oxford University Press, p. 81. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC-[HIS])<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Robert K. Home, \u201c\u2019Planting Is My Trade\u2019: The Shapers of Colonial Urban Landscapes,\u201d in\u00a0Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities<\/em>\u00a0((New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013), p.59<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog post focuses on the Raffles Town Plan, sometimes recalled as the Jackson Plan. It was formulated in late 1822, per Stamford Raffle\u2019s vision by Lieutenant Philip Jackson for the town of Singapore. The concept of this plan was based on a pre-conception that Singapore would be a place of \u201cconsiderable magnitude and economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":702,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spatialhistory.net\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}