Raffles Town Plan

Raffles Town Plan

The Raffles Town Plan, also known as the Jackson Plan is a map that is drawn out by Lieutenant Philip Jackson as a layout of the proposed scheme of urban planning and development of the British colonial settlement in Singapore in accordance to the vision of Sir Stamford Raffles. The plan distinctly separates administrative and commercial zones and clearly depicts a scheme to divide the Town of Singapore into four ethnic residential subdivisions. The plan as a blueprint for the envisioned Singapore colony, has become the very foundation for the urban development of the settlement to the extent where its effects are still largely visible even today. The north of the Singapore River (North Bridge Road), was designated to be the administrative zone to the west, named as the Cantonment Plain, and a place of residence for the Europeans and the elite Asians to the east, designated as the European Town, which results in an area today which has a high concentration of public and government buildings, including the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, the National Gallery, the Asian Civilisations Museum, the St Andrew's Cathedral, as well as the Parliament House and the Supreme Court of Singapore. To the south of the Singapore River (South Bridge Road), the large area was reserved as a commercial zone which corresponds to today’s Downtown Core, the modern financial and commercial heart of Singapore. Also, areas further south were reserved for the Chinese, constituting today’s Chinatown. Similarly, other ethnic groups were designated plots of land for their residence, further north of the Singapore River. The Malays, Arabs and Bugis, had an area named Kampong Glam, where today the Sultan Mosque and the Malay Heritage Centre are located and the Indians are assigned an area to reside, which is today’s Little India.