ABSTRACT
The city of Singapore has a short history of only 188 years, the first 140 of which were under the auspices of British colonialism. Much of the early layers of the city fabric have therefore been predominantly inscribed by a British planning sensibility. Such historically imported layers have likewise significantly impacted on the cityscape and public space in the central core of Singapore. This situation remained intact throughout the turmoil of the Japanese occupation in the mid-1940s. With the first flush of independence and the formation of the first non-colonial government in 1958, the legacy of the colonial footprint began to be modified by different agendas and priorities. A new democratic mandate reflecting political, economic and physical realities required the imposition of subsequent layers on the oldest parts of the city that built upon and modified the colonial layer, rather than obliterating it. These new layers may not only change the physical grain and texture of the city and its spatial extent, but in many cases, may allow whole new functional roles to be developed within the existing fabric.
