GeoJournal 24.

4 3 6 5 - 3 7 3 365
© 1991 (August) by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Land Reclamation in Singapore, Hong Kong and

Macau
Glaser, R., Dr.; Haberzettl, P., Universitiit Wiirzburg, Geographisches
Institut, Am Hubland, 8700 Wiirzburg, Germany;
Walsh, R.P.D., Dr., University College of Swansea, Department of
Geography, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK

ABSTRACT: The spatial and temporal significance of land reclamation from the sea in
relation to the development of the three SE Asian small coastal territories of Singapore,
Hong Kong and Macau are examined and compared. In all three territories the rate of
reclamation has been an index of the rate of economic development. Four phases of land
reclamation are identified: (1) pre-1900: involved relatively unplanned and uncostly projects
in shallow water and swamplands around the main focus of settlement; (2) 1900-1945:
involved military projects outside the main settlement core; (3) 1945-1980: this phase of
large-scale projects unconstrained by natural conditions because of advances in technology
and high rate of reclamation was driven by rapid industrial and population growth; (4) 1980
to date: a period marked by large infrastructure projects designed to maintain and extend
the status of the territories as world-economic and commercial centres. Currently 10 %, 5 %
and 33% of the total land surfaces of Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau respectively
comprise land reclaimed from the sea and these proportions will continue to rise.

Introduction The p a p e r focusses upon the spatial extension of these

Small territories play contrasting roles in world affairs.
Thus the E u r o p e a n small territories, namely Gibraltar,
M o n a c o , Liechtenstein, A n d o r r a , San Marino and Malta,
are m o r e or less on a par in their living standards and
industrial level with their greater E u r o p e a n neighbours.
Liechtenstein, according to D e i c h a & R o e g i e r (1988),
counts as one of the most highly industrialized states in
E u r o p e . Some have achieved international importance
primarily through a liberal tax system and have found
their economic niche as "tax paradises". Also they owe
their fame in part to tourism and philately and some are
historically very old. In contrast, some other small states,
including some in the C a r i b b e a n and most of the Pacific
island nations, count according to socioeconomic criteria
as Third W o r l d countries. A further group of small
territories have d e v e l o p e d into prosperous world
m e t r o p o l e s (Helle 1989). These include the south-east
A s i a n territories of Singapore, H o n g Kong and (though
to a much lesser extent) Macau: they count as Newly
Industrialized countries (NICs) and have been described
as "economic dragons". They form the subject of the
present study.
states through land reclamation. This aspect is of
particular interest, because smallness, namely small
spatial extent, is the c o m m o n criterion of all these small
states. Inland states, which do not possess such an
expansion possibility, will not be considered. Clearly land
reclamation has p l a y e d or is currently playing a role in
m a n y coastal lands, particularly in large urban
agglomerations, and hence the p h e n o m e n o n is not
confined to small territories. The three A s i a n territories,
however, stand out in terms of the long duration of their
reclamation history, which in the cases of H o n g Kong and
Singapore began shortly after their foundation, and the
considerable proportions of the total areas of the
territories now accounted for by reclaimed land (Tab 1).
Reasons for this lie in the first instance in the favourable
natural setting (shallow water areas, mangroves), which
d e m a n d e d less costly investment, and in the cases of
H o n g Kong and M a c a o an acute lack of flat land. The
traditionally maritime orientation of these regions and the
strategic and military significance of the territories in
relation to an often unfriendly hinterland are additional
i m p o r t a n t reasons. (Gibraltar is a E u r o p e a n example of
the latter factor).
366
Tab 1 Significance of land reclamation in Singapore, Hong Kong
and Macau and population densities in 1960 and 1986
Since the end of WW II, the demand for new land for
industry, settlement and infrastucture has been able to be
satisfied often only through costly land reclamation in
deep water areas. Sustained economic growth and
technological advances in engineering construction were
essential pre-requisites for this. This paper seeks to
identify the most important phases of land reclamation
and the factors responsible for them. In this sense land
reclamation will be demonstrated as a geographical
criterion for small coastal territories.
Land Reclamation in Singapore (Fig 1)
The first land reclamation measures in Singapore were
taken shortly after the establishment of the territory by
the Briton, Raffles, in 1819. Raffles, who acquired the
island on behalf of the East India Company, forced the
conversion of a small fishing village into a significant
trading centre. This involved a relatively small amount of
land reclamation. The material for this first constructional
phase came from the immediately surrounding hills. The
land reclamation work was concentrated at this time on
areas which were flooded only by the very highest tides.
Land was reclaimed in particular through the draining of
mangrove swamps. Plans were drawn up for a Singapore
New Town on both sides of the Singapore river as early
as 1822-23. The expansion of the town followed an
English pattern. The Chinese immigrant groups on the
island were decisive in this phase in the establishment of
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
quarters. Contemporary accounts substantiate that the
coastline in the central part of Singapore Town in the
mid-nineteenth century lay about 500 m landwards of its
1960 position (Marr 1986, p. 142).
Apart from this S extension, there were no significant
alterations until 1849, when essentially new impulses were
provided by the building of port facilities. They become
necessary with the increasing strategic, military and
administrative significance of the region in the context of
the British 'Straits Settlements', and even more so when
the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 further improved
links with Europe. This first phase lasted until the turn of
the century.
After this time, and particularly between 1919 and
1923, land reclamation for public utilities and military
purposes and also for coastal protection intensified. Port
extension was further hastened by the establishment of a
Dock Board. Further land reclamation was required for
the construction of transport links (including road and
railway embankments). This second phase was
interrupted by the Japanese occupation during WW II.
After the war until autonomy in the 1960s, there was a
relatively quiescent phase which resulted from backward
infrastructure, housing shortage and a low rate of
industrialisation.
A new land reclamation phase commenced after
independence (as part of Malaysia in 1963 and as a
separate republic in 1967) with the help of economic
development programmes. Since this time, large-scale
land reclamation projects hundred of hectares in size
became necessary in order to provide for the ever
increasing demand for land for industry, transport
infrastructure, commerce and housing. The high demand
for industrial land was met by the construction of the
Jurong Industrial Estate, a project (still current) which
has involved reclamation of around 600 ha from the sea.
As during the early phase, this has also involved the
razing of various hills in the locality. Marr (1986) has
calculated that land reclamation from the sea totals about
8 km 2 between the City Centre and the new Changi
Airport. Particularly notable is the extension of the CBD
into areas formerly covered by the sea.
At the start of 1986, 266 hectares were reclaimed in
the Marina South area (Information Division of
Singapore 1986). Other areas have been reclaimed in
adjacent offshore islands for the expanding petrochemical
industry. Pulau (= island) Sakra and Pulau Bakau will be
increased in size from 15 ha to 155 ha. On Pulau Busing
51.2 ha have already been reclaimed for the oil tank site.
In 1987 measures enclosing 276 ha by Pasir Ris and
Punggol were completed (Hoe 1988).
This intensive reclamation phase is identifiable from
1959, when the island achieved full internal self-
government though not at that time complete
independence form Great Britain, until 1980 through a
period of continuous and since the first half of the 1970s
extraordinarily strong industrial growth. Labels such as
"the Switzerland of South East Asia" and "Investment
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
L_ _ A ---j,,'-,.,.~__
~-.=.
........... :::
PBUSING
PSUDONG
1~.
Fig I Land reclamation in Singapore up to 1988
Paradise" (Heineberg 1986, p. 48) have been given to
Singapore, which now has the highest living standard in
Asia. The scale of land reclamation since autonomy can
be understood as a response to rapid economic growth,
population growth and the associated increase in building
activity thereby set in motion. There are high positive
correlations (at the 99 % significance level) between both
the terms of trade and the size of population on the one
hand and the area reclaimed on the other. During this
time, the World Bank classified Singapore as one of the
aspiring threshold lands.
During the 1980s the pace of development has slowed
considerably. In recent years, swamplands and bays on
the north coast have been dyked in order to encourage/
initate land-infilling processes. The reclamation of 685 ha
of shallow coastal waters and swampland between Pasir
Ris and Jalan Kayu will be completed by 1992 (Hoe
1988). These measures have, however, led to ecological
damage, which has had consequences in the political
367
SINGAPORE
\
"~.
)
i
•
•
•
,,w
KECHIL
Outp~
Situation in 1988
% Built-up areas
N ¢¢n~cn~ previous (up till 1988)
.............. reclaimed land
A ~ very recent and
planned reclamation
PSEBAROK
0 5 lOkm
I I ,I
domain. In this respect at least the extent of further
reclamation is being set. In the knowledge of these
absolute limits, the government has for a long time been
considering a meaningful optimal land-use strategy.
Since 1961, a total of around 5400 ha new land has
been reclaimed at a total cost of around 4.25 m Singapore
Dollars. By 1991 around 10 % of its land surface will
constitute reclaimed land (Wong 1985). In the near
future, the government is planning to increase the land
area of Singapore by a further 15 %. If and when this
new program is completed, the total area of Singapore
will be around 25% greater than in 1967. The new
project will for the first time involve the infilling of sea
areas 15 m deep, while previous reclamation work has
been confined to areas less than 10 m deep. The total
surface area of Singapore reached 626 km 2 by 1989. This
expansion in the land area mirrors, in later times at least,
economic development. Singapore ranks today amongst
the world's top five commercial centres and top ten world
368
1- H O N G KONG
~KOVVI_OON
. . . . . . . . . . . . ~',C,o . ,, r~oo r ~
centres, if one bases the calculation on the number of
multinational concerns, the banking importance and the
number of international organizations (Helle 1989, p.
165).
Land Reclamation in Hong Kong (Fig 2)
A major reason for reclamation of land from the sea
in Hong Kong throughout its history has been its
mountainous topography. Both Victoria, the capital on
Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon on the mainland are
hemmed in by hills reaching over 900 m in altitude and
Hong Kong has only been able to expand into the sea
(Hong Kong Government 1964). Although the
acquisition of the New Territories in 1898 included some
significant stretches of flatter land close to the Chinese
border, until the last two decades the leasehold nature of
the land and Chinese political uncertainties largely ruled
out this land for largescale industrial, commercial and
urban development.
As in Singapore, the first phase of land reclamation
began shortly after the founding of Hong Kong in 1841.
The bodies responsible were the various trading
companies which extended their land abutting the
coastline northwards across the shallow water zone into
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
Fig 2
Land reclamation historyof northern
Extent of reclaimed land
Hong Kong island, the Kowloon
peninsula and the southern New
Territories up to 1990
- - - ~V~',..~==
"1:~future
Victoria Harbour (Fig 2). By 1855 they had doubled the
land area of their companies' sites in this way. The
Ordinance of 1842, which prohibited such reclamation, in
fact constituted no barrier to it. After reclamation, the
owners commenced construction of warehouses. The
coast at Victoria, the core settlement of the colony,
underwent significant change within a very short time-
span: by 1855 the shallow water zone had almost
disappeared, the coastline had advanced by an average of
100 m and exhibited a sharply irregular plan-form. At the
same time, the first measures to drain the swampland
areas W and E of Victoria (at West Point and Happy
Valley respectively) were also carried out for disease and
hygiene reasons. The first government infiUing operations
commenced in 1852 on Bonham Strand in the W part of
Victoria. In doing this they used the debris produced by
a fire as infill material.
The accelerated growth of the town's population as a
result of migration from the Chinese mainland resulted in
the second land reclamation phase. In 1868, a 825 m long
embankment was built between Bonham Strand West and
Wilmer Street in the W part of Victoria and the area
landward of it was filled in. These measures was carried
out by both the Public Works Department and private
concerns. By 1873 the coastline lay along what is now
Des Voeux Road. Further infilling followed around the
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
periphery of Victoria in Causeway Bay (9 ha 1884) and
Kennedy Town (9 ha 1886). The largest extension in
Victoria occurred through Catchik Paul Chater, the
founder of Hong Kong Land, who created by debris
deposition a 75 m wide strip of land 3100 m long seaward
of Des Voeux Road between 1889 and 1904 (Chiu 1973,
p. 21). The seaward extension in this part of Hong Kong
island was thereby for the time being complete.
In Kowloon, which was ceded by China to Great
Britain in 1860, land reclamation between 1875 and 1900
changed almost the whole W coast of the peninsula.
Though only private concerns were involved, government
control and influence was stronger than at the start on
Hong Kong island. As a consequence the street patterns
developed in the Kowloon districts of Tsim Sha Tsui and
Yau Ma Tei were much more regular than in West Point
or Tai Ping Shan on Hong Kong island. Around the turn
of the century numerous infilling projects in south and
east Kowloon created space for the track and facilities of
the Kowloon-Canton railway. After colony expansion
with the acquisition on lease of the New Territories in
1898, larger scale reclamation commenced more or less in
the same port area. Kowloon peninsula and the southern
part of the New Territories (New Kowloon) lay now in
the centre of the territory. By 1945 the land surface area
of the territory had grown more or less continuously by
a total of 600 hectares. Most of the reclamation was,
however, still carried out in shallow water areas and the
largest project was the enclosure of the northern part of
Kowloon Bay (Fig 3). During this period the proportion
of land assigned for residential construction was
increased.
During the Japanese occupation the population of
Hong Kong dropped from 1.6 million in 1941 prior to
occupation to just 650,000 in 1945. An economic upswing
after the war and the defeat of the Chinese Nationalists
by the Communists in 1949 were accompanied by
increases in population through immigration (mainly from
Kwangtung province, Shanghai and other commercial
centres) to 1.87 million by September 1949 and 2.36
million by the end of 1950 (Hong Kong Government
1964). The intense and unprecedented development that
accompanied the growth of population led to an increase
in the pace of land reclamation. The changes in the
Kowloon district between 1945 and 1988 are clear from a
comparison of air photos Fig 3 and 4. The economic
upswing promoted not only port extension but also
increased land demand for other infrastructure, industry
and housing. Particularly noticeable in Fig 4 is the site
created for the airport. During this period, the rate of
increase in land reclamation accelerated: between 1945-67
around 450 ha, 1967-77 around 800 ha and from 1976-84
around 1400 ha were reclaimed (Survey Division Lands
Department 1985).
Fig 2 shows the individual phases of land reclamation
in Hong Kong including projected plans for the near
future. Increasing demand for land resulting from
economic and population growth has been met in part by
369
technological advances in land reclamation. Almost 2000
ha of land is scheduled to be reclaimed in the 1990s for
the construction of apartments for a third of Hong Kong's
population in five new towns at Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin,
Tuen Mun, Tai Po and Junk Bay. Apart from land
reclamation, recent decades have also witnessed dramatic
damming and reclamation of bay areas from the sea for
the construction of water supply reservoirs, notably the
Plover Cove Scheme completed in 1968 and the High
Island Scheme completed in 1978. Although also
involving expansion into the sea, such schemes preclude
land reclamation in the areas involved.
In order to maintain Hong Kong's importance as a
world commercial and finance centre in the next few
decades, notwithstanding the current political
uncertainties, the transport infrastructure needs to be
improved. Whether it be the long-proposed new airport,
a Containerport or essential transport links through the
Central District, none of these projects can be achieved
without considerable land reclamation work. Although
the projects should strengthen Hong Kong's trading
situation, they may at the same time present a threat to
Hong Kong's harbour, the area of which is progressively
diminished by each reclamation of land from the sea.
Indeed one study commissioned by the government (Port
and Airport Development Strategy Study) plans to secure
Hong Kong's harbour until the end of the century
without a further decline in capacity.
Land Reclamation in Macau (Fig 5)
The first land reclamation in Macau occurred also in
the mid-nineteenth century, though the colony dates back
to the fifteenth century. Unlike in Singapore and Hong
Kong, in which dynamic economic growth even in the
earliest stages enabled or even caused land reclamation,
Macau was at this time in a state of economic stagnation.
The projects were correspondingly modest. Only at Porto
Interior were there small extensions into the shallow
water area (Haberzettl 1990).
Since the establishment of Hong Kong Colony in 1841
and the opening of a series of "Treaty Ports" on the
Chinese mainland, Macau's position as an international
commercial centre had greatly declined. Also the port
suffered increasingly from siltation. When with the
recognition of Portuguese sovereignty in Macau by the
Chinese empire in 1887 the legal position of the territory
at least was improved, a revival of the port functions was
able to be tackled. In 1912 various protection,
maintenance and construction works in the port district
were commenced. Accompanying this work were the first
maj or land reclamation schemes, which were
concentrated in the original port district, and from 1915
also in the northwest (Patane Bay and Ilha Verde district)
and northeast (Areia Preta) of Macau. Infill material was
derived from excavation of the approach channels of the
port and stones from various faults of Macau (Lacerda
1925). Between 1919 and 1925 the land surface area of
370 GeoJournal 24.4/1991

Fig 3 Aerial photograph of Hong Kong of 1 lth November 1945, Kowloon peninsula, scale about 1:7000.
GeoJournal 24.4/1991 371

Fig 4 Aerial photograph of Hong Kong, Kowloon peninsula, Victoria Harbour and the north coast of Hong Kong island on 3rd November
1988, scale about 1:10,000

these districts of Macau was increased by 0.95 km 2 period up to W W II additional areas were reclaimed in
(Abercassis 1925). Fig 5 shows the situation at Macau the E and N W of the peninsula. The land use of these
after completion of the harbour works. I n the succeeding areas was very extensive for m a n y decades. Generally
372
V==]
0
Fig 5 Land reclamation in Macau up to 1990
they offered room for small agricultural holdings or for
refugees, the number of whom increased rapidly after the
fall to the Japanese of Shanghai in 1938 and Hong Kong
in 1941. By 1949, 14 % of the total area comprised land
reclaimed from the sea (Lobo 1949), while the proportion
on the peninsula was considerably higher at almost 40 %.
According to official statistics (Governo de Macau
1949-1985), the area of the territory remained constant
from 1949 to 1984. Reasons for this were the very tense
relationship with China (Civil War, founding of the
Peoples Republic and the Cultural Revolution), colonial
wars and (in 1974) political revolution in Portugal and
consequently little economic development. Also there
was still unused land available for disposal from the
previous land reclamation phase and this was used as
slowly more building construction took place. With the
establishment of diplomatic relations between Portugal
and China in 1979, followed by large population increase
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
through immigrants from the People's Republic, further
land reclamation measures had to be designed in order to
provide new land for expanding industry, settlements and
social infrastructure. In 1984 these measures were
embarked upon.
In addition to a 45 ha area of Porto Exterior, which
is very conducive to city extension in the long-term,
extensive areas NE of Taipa and NW of Coloane were
also reclaimed. By 1987 33 % of the total area of Macau
and 54% of the peninsula comprised reclaimed land
(SPECE 1988). Towards the end of t h e 1980s new
reclamation schemes were associated with large
infrastructure projects. The centrepiece of planning was
the international airport, which after considerable
controversy commenced construction in December 1989,
in spite of the crises of confidence which shook Macau
after the events of June 1989 in Peking. Land for the
airport can only be obtained through land construction E
of Taipa. In order to improve transport link to Macau
Town and the special Economic Zone of Zhuhai, a
second bridge will have to be built (Fig 5). Through this
bridge, Taipa island will be able to be much better
integrated into the urban area of Macau than hitherto
(Haberzettl 1990). Independent of the ambitious
infrastructure project (which apart from the airport
includes the construction of a deepwater harbour at Ka
Ho and a new ferry terminal) are further plans, notably
in the peninsula district, which could alter the present-
day appearance fundamentally (Governo de Macau
1986).
Summary and Conclusions
The paper has summarised the main phases of and
reasons for land reclamation in the three territories of
Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. In all three
territories, four phases of rather different evolution are
identifiable. The first period, which lasted until around
the turn of the century, involved relatively unplanned and
uncostly projects around the main focus of settlement.
They were accompanied by the drainage of swamplands
and were primarily instituted for port construction.
In the second period, which lasted until WW II, the
main motivating reasons for further land reclamation
were strategic and involved projects outside the
settlement core. New technology enabled hitherto
unrecoverable areas to be exploited and reclaimed. After
WW II the most important driving forces was the demand
for land for industrial growth and port expansion. In this
third phase natural spatial pre-conditions played
practically no further role. This phase was most
important in Singapore and Hong Kong, where economic
growth was rapid, rather than in Macau, which for
political and economic reasons was in economic
stagnation at this time. In the final phase at the beginning
of the 1980s, projects were initiated to maintain and
extend the status of the territories as world economic and
GeoJournal 24.4/1991
commercial centres and as a consequece co-operation
with the neighbouring industrial and commercial
hinterland assumed greater importance.
Land development and reclamation measures are a
very clear indication of the dynamic development of these
three small territories. This fact has surprisingly not
previously b e e n given attention in "spatial and hence also
land-orientated" geographical science. It remains open to
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