Relationship

between locations in
a neighbourhood
GEOGRAPHY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
TOPIC: 1.3
Key Points
1. What are regions?
2. What do spatial patterns contain?
3. What can you infer from spatial associations?
What are regions?

▪Vary in size
▪Classified according to
•Environmental ( Nature VS Bulit-up )
•Human use ( Commercial VS Residental )
•Geographical ( Directions )
Environmental (Nature vs Built-up)

bland of traditional and mordern

Human use (Commercial vs Residential)
Geographical (Directions)
▪.

▪A region’s boundary is where the sphere of influence is

absent.
▪Eg. Town Councils service, look after common areas in
public housing and commercial property within the town
Town Councils vs Sphere of influence
Spatial patterns and associations
▪.

▪.

▪Maps are useful (refer to previous slide) in identifying such pattern by points, lines or
polygons.
◦ Eg. Transport, Industry, Housing etc
◦ Key terms: Cluster, Concentrations, Regular intervals (bus stops are located about
400m to increase accessibility and concenience)
▪Spatial associations refer to the tendency of services, events and objects
to be located near each other:
◦.
▪Connections between services, events and objects:
◦.
▪Enhance everyday living:
◦ Train stations and bus interchanges are near to each other
◦.
◦.
Organisation of
neighbourhoods in
Singapore
GEOGRAPHY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
TOPIC: 1.4
Key Points
▪What are spatial scales?
▪What are spatial hierarchies?
▪Town Planning in Singapore
What are spatial scales?

▪Extent of an area where phenomenon or process take place.

▪Scale can be from local, regional and global.
◦ Global can have many regions, countries, provinces,
districts.
▪Nested areas are smaller areas within larger areas.
▪Spatial scale may affect people and nature at other spatial
scale. (Give some examples)
 HDB Town centre
▪Singapore has more than twenty towns.
◦ Each town has a town centre.
◦ . Serve as the social and commerical hub for residents
◦ . Large gathering places for community activites
◦ Some have integrated transport hubs (bus interchange + train stations) near to
shopping malls.
◦ Convenience will attract visitors from other towns, leading to large shopping
malls.
◦ Attract business to locate there to take advantage of lower cost and travelling
time for their workers.
◦ Eg. Junction 8 Mall
 ▪Design of town centres to fulfil long term goals
.
-Tengah Town centre will run
underground to encourage
walking and cycling at the
ground level
-Reduce carbon emissions
and enhance investibilty
Spatial hierarchies
▪Town
◦Neighbourhood
◦Precinct
◦Residential unit

The Town Design Guide outlines the history, planning vision, and design
considerations of each town at three different scales. (Source:MND)
▪Precinct
◦400 to 800 residential unit
◦.

◦.

◦All these are to enhance convenience and accessibility.

▪Neighbourhood and town
◦ 4000 to 6000 residents
◦ . Town's neighbourhoods surround the town centre, enables all
travel conveniently

◦ Each town has a wide range of facilities and features that enhance
residents’ convenience and needs. Facilities can complement each
other.
◦ Eg. Roads, pedestrian networks to travel easily.
◦ Eg. Shops and schools to serve the needs.
Some neighbourhoods also have integrated facilities that
bring together amenities under one roof.
Eg. Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange

▪Located next to a
train station, has
community space,
eldercare and
childcare centres,
food outlets and a
medical centre.
Town Planning in Singapore

1. . Serve residents and provides

nature at precint, neighbourhood
and town.

2. . Connection and synergies across

different levels
1. Serve residents and provides nature
at precinct, neighbourhood and town.
▪Land mostly for housing, industrial and commercial. The
rest is for other purposes.
▪. Facilities at each town is to be self-sufficient, provide
employment and complement each other.
 Eg. Tengah, ‘Forest town’
Features:
• Nature and the community, ‘At Home with Nature’
• 5km Forest corridor in the town.
.
• Network to travel on foot or by cycling
. together at community
• Farm

Community
Garden
2. Connection and synergies across
different levels.
▪. Achieve sustainability
▪Long term plans at nation level by optimising scarce land to meet
diverse needs of current and future generations.
◦ Eg. Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) coordinates involving
stakeholders and agencies.
◦ . Maps out land use and infrastructure (URA) infrastructure
for next 50 years and review every 10 years.
◦ Consider: Diverse needs, competing land uses and key
infrastructure.
Challenges of Singapore
▪. Limited size, both a city and sovereign state

▪Need to include uses not usually found in cities.

◦Eg. .Military facilities, waste treatment,
power stations, airport, seaport

◦Eg. .Senoko waste-to-energy plant located

between Woodlands and Sembawang
• Synergy produced
as both nature and
people are
accounted.
.
• Manage pollution+ job
creation/ education to
students in nearby towns