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The Island Changes A Singapore story

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  2. Singapore
  3. The Island Changes
Description

Landsats 1 through 8 recorded these post-independence changes, starting with the city’s growth. For one and a half centuries, Singapore remained tightly packed in the southeastern corner of the island, but around the time of independence the city and island governments merged, and the population spread out into a new metropolis covering the whole island.

The Second World War taught Singapore how dependent it was on others for food, since it obviously had little room to grow its own. Since independence, farmland has shrunk from around a quarter of the island to about 5 percent. The many tiny Chinese-style family farms based on intensive labor were replaced by a few large production centers with greenhouses.

Amid all the building, the government saved tiny remnants of the pre-1819 tropical rainforest. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, in only 185 acres, contains more tree species than all of North America. Forest patches stand out in the Landsat images (most clearly in 2002 and 2009) as brighter green, surrounding and working with the central reservoirs to trap as much water as possible. The Japanese took Singapore partly by cutting off its water supply, and even with these central reservoirs Singapore still needs to import water from Malaysia.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Oct. 17, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 134/59) — Singapore

Oct. 17, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 134/59) — Singapore

Sept. 13, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Sept. 13, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Sept. 3, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Sept. 3, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Oct. 11, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Oct. 11, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Feb. 8, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Feb. 8, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Feb. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Feb. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Apr. 19, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Apr. 19, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

May 24, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

May 24, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Oct. 17, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 134/59) — Singapore
Sept. 13, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
Sept. 3, 2000, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
Oct. 11, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
Feb. 8, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
Feb. 25, 2015, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
Apr. 19, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore
May 24, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 125/59) — Singapore

Singapore Additional Imagery & Stories

Changi Airport
Changi Airport

The new shoreline extends east of the city all the way to the airport on the island’s tip. In the mid-1970s, the government moved the main internation...

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Jurong
Jurong

The symbol of the new Singapore may be on the island’s west end, the industrial New Town of Jurong. In 1962, the government began clearing the jungle ...

Read More
The Island Expands
The Island Expands

The British started the expansion of Singapore within days of landing in 1819. The expansion was begun by moving soil into small areas around the old ...

Read More
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