STORY 1

Evolution of the Padang

The Padang underwent successive reclamation schemes around 1843, 1890, 1922, 1941, and 1969.

The 1843 and 1890 reclamation enlarged the Padang. In 1922, a new park with memorials was created, and was later expanded in 1941. The 1969 Marina Centre reclamation provided provisions for a new waterfront district.

1819

Bute Map of 1819, the earliest landward map of Singapore a few months after the British landed.

1846

The Padang, then called Esplanade after its first reclamation.

1893

Marked the second expansion outwards into the seafront, and the erection of the original Raffles’ statue in the middle of Padang.

1954

11 years before independence, the first Street Directory curiously indicates ‘Approximate Shoreline 1843’.

2021

The fully developed Marina Centre reclamation scheme is now a hotel and convention cluster. Any trace of the original shoreline has now entirely vanished.