Administrative divisions of Singapore

Community Development Council districts of Singapore
Community Development Council districts of Singapore
Category	Unitary state
Location	Republic of Singapore
Created by	PA Act 1997
Created	February 1997; 11 November 2001 (Finalized);
Number	Five districts (as of 2015)
Government	Community Development Council; National Government;
Subdivisions	Constituencies;

Subzones of Singapore, one of the many ways Singapore is locally divided

Singapore is governed as a unitary state without provinces or states. However, for the purposes of administration and urban planning, it has been subdivided in various ways throughout its history.

As of 2022, Singapore has a total land area of about 753 km² (291 sq mi), not including its sea area.

History

Historically, these subdivisions have been based on postal districts, especially during the colonial era. When local elections necessitated the setting up of electoral districts, however, it began to supplement postal districts as an alternative form of local governance, since each electoral district is headed by a member of parliament who represents and speaks for the respective electorates.

Administrative and electoral divisions

Community Development Council districts

Established in 1997 by the PA Act, there were nine districts formerly, governed by nine different Community Development Councils (CDCs). In 2001, the nine districts and CDCs were then reformed into five, namely the North East CDC, North West CDC, South East CDC, South West CDC and Central Singapore CDC.^[1]^[2] Each district is then further divided into electoral constituencies and town councils.

The council boundaries follow that of the existing political divisions, with each handling between four and six GRCs and SMCs and roughly dividing the country's population into equal parts. Each CDC is managed by a Council, which in turn is headed by a mayor and has between 12 and 80 members. The members are appointed by the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the People's Association.

The role of the CDCs is to initiate, plan and manage community programmes to promote community bonding and social cohesion within local communities.^[3] The electoral boundaries of Singapore are relatively fluid, and are reviewed prior to each general election. The districts are composed of the constituencies and electoral districts (the latter as of the 2015 General Elections).

There are currently five CDCs, namely the

Town councils

The first town councils were set up in September 1986 by the Town Councils Act, with the main purpose of estate management.^[4] Prior to the introduction of town councils, housing estates were managed by the Housing Development Board.^[5] As the estates were centrally managed, the standardised rules that the board had set for all housing estates made HDB towns monotonous in appearance and problems faced by residents in the different estates were not addressed fast enough.^[5]

Town councils boundaries are drawn based on electoral district boundaries. A town council area can consist of a Group Representation Constituency (GRC), a Single Member Constituency (SMC), or a collection of neighbouring GRCs and SMCs controlled by the same political party. The Members of Parliament head the town councils of their constituencies. Town councils boundaries do not correspond to new town boundaries; different parts of the same HDB town may be managed by different town councils.^[6]

There are currently 17 town councils as of 2020:^[7]

Town Council	Constituency
Aljunied–Hougang	Aljunied GRC
Aljunied–Hougang	Hougang SMC
Ang Mo Kio	Ang Mo Kio GRC
	Kebun Baru SMC
	Yio Chu Kang SMC
Bishan–Toa Payoh	Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC
Bishan–Toa Payoh	Marymount SMC
Chua Chu Kang	Chua Chu Kang GRC
Chua Chu Kang	Hong Kah North SMC
East Coast	East Coast GRC
Holland–Bukit Panjang	Holland–Bukit Timah GRC
Holland–Bukit Panjang	Bukit Panjang SMC
Jalan Besar	Jalan Besar GRC
Jalan Besar	Potong Pasir SMC
Jurong–Clementi	Jurong GRC
	Bukit Batok SMC
	Yuhua SMC
Marine Parade	Marine Parade GRC
	MacPherson SMC
	Mountbatten SMC
Marsiling–Yew Tee	Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC
Nee Soon	Nee Soon GRC
Pasir Ris–Punggol	Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
Pasir Ris–Punggol	Punggol West SMC
Sembawang	Sembawang GRC
Sengkang	Sengkang GRC
Tampines	Tampines GRC
Tanjong Pagar	Tanjong Pagar GRC
Tanjong Pagar	Radin Mas SMC
West Coast	West Coast GRC
West Coast	Pioneer SMC

Constituencies

Town councils are then further subdivided into different constituencies, which are classified as either Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) or Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). The boundaries of the electoral constituencies are decided by the Elections Department, which is under the control of the Prime Minister's Office.^[8]

Other administrative subdivisions

URA Master Plan boundaries

Regions

The five regions of Singapore are groupings of the planning areas.

Planning areas

In the 1990s, the Urban Redevelopment Authority carved up the country into 55 of planning areas. The Singapore Department of Statistics adopted these boundaries for the latest 2000 nationwide population census, and the Singapore Police Force uses them as an approximate guide when demarcating boundaries for its Neighbourhood Police Centres.

Survey districts

Singapore is divided into 64 survey districts, of which 34 are mukims (originally, rural districts) and 30 are town subdivisions.^[9]

Postal districts

Postal districts were numbered from 01 to 83 under the new system implemented on 1 September 1995. Census data and most forms of internal boundaries had been based on postal districts until the introduction of new planning boundaries in the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b "Full map of CDCs released for first time". The Straits Times. 21 August 1997. p. 25. Retrieved 19 August 2016. (Retrieved from Newspaper SG.)
^ "First 2 CDCs preparing for launch". The Straits Times. 17 February 1997. p. 27. Retrieved 19 August 2016. Retrieved from Newspaper SG.
^ Fernandez, W. (19 August 1996). "PM Goh urges young to rally behind him". The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; The Straits Times, 19 August 1996, p. 24.
^ Low, A. (1 September 1986). Town councils take over from HDB. .The Straits Times, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
^ ^a ^b Ngoo, I., et al. (7 April 1987). My kind of town. The Straits Times, Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Koh, T., et al.
^ Town Councils Act (Cap. 329A, 2000 Rev. Ed.)
^ "Town Councils (Declaration) Order 2020". Singapore Statues Online. 29 July 2020.
^ Alex Au Waipang, 'The Ardour of Tokens: Opposition Parties' Struggle to Make a Difference', in T.Chong (eds), Management of Success: Singapore Revisited (Singapore, 2010), p. 106.
^ "Land Titles Search". Singapore Land Authority. Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2016.

External links

CDC Districts Archived 23 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Singapore Land Registry Archived 23 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[PAact1997-1] "Full map of CDCs released for first time". The Straits Times. 21 August 1997. p. 25. Retrieved 19 August 2016. (Retrieved from Newspaper SG.)

[2] "First 2 CDCs preparing for launch". The Straits Times. 17 February 1997. p. 27. Retrieved 19 August 2016. Retrieved from Newspaper SG.

[3] Fernandez, W. (19 August 1996). "PM Goh urges young to rally behind him". The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; The Straits Times, 19 August 1996, p. 24.

[4] Low, A. (1 September 1986). Town councils take over from HDB. .The Straits Times, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.

[MyKindOfTown-5] Ngoo, I., et al. (7 April 1987). My kind of town. The Straits Times, Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Koh, T., et al.

[6] Town Councils Act (Cap. 329A, 2000 Rev. Ed.)

[7] "Town Councils (Declaration) Order 2020". Singapore Statues Online. 29 July 2020.

[8] Alex Au Waipang, 'The Ardour of Tokens: Opposition Parties' Struggle to Make a Difference', in T.Chong (eds), Management of Success: Singapore Revisited (Singapore, 2010), p. 106.

[9] "Land Titles Search". Singapore Land Authority. Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2016.

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v t e Places in Singapore by region
Listed by planning areas
Central	Central Area (City centre) Bishan Bukit Merah Bukit Timah Downtown Core Geylang Kallang Marina East Marina South Marine Parade Museum Newton Novena Orchard Outram Queenstown River Valley Rochor Singapore River Southern Islands Straits View Tanglin Toa Payoh
East	Bedok Changi Changi Bay Pasir Ris Paya Lebar Tampines
North	Central Water Catchment Lim Chu Kang Mandai Sembawang Simpang Sungei Kadut Woodlands Yishun
North-East	Ang Mo Kio Hougang North-Eastern Islands Punggol Seletar Sengkang Serangoon
West	Boon Lay Bukit Batok Bukit Panjang Choa Chu Kang Clementi Jurong East Jurong West Pioneer Tengah Tuas Western Islands Western Water Catchment

v t e Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia² Azerbaijan¹ Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus² East Timor Egypt¹ Georgia¹ India Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan¹ North Korea province special city South Korea province provincial-level city Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia¹ Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey¹ Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam province municipality Yemen¹
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia² Northern Cyprus² Palestine South Ossetia² Taiwan
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Asia and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.