Transportation and Territorial Development in Singapore Extended Metropolitan Region

This paper brings a preliminary viewpoint on the interface between port cities, urban
regions and their transportation systems in the particular context of Singapore. The development of
the regional Singaporean transactional space includes the province of Johor in Malaysia and the Riau
islands in Indonesia. The resulting spatial pattern and linkages form an Extended Metropolitan
Region (EMR). We present an EMR spatial model where transportation is a key factor explaining
four processes of territorial development, which are densification, dissemination, extension and
contraction. Densification is a process of spatial accumulation of economic activities within an area.
It aims higher levels of productivity. Dissemination is a spatial relocation of unproductive economic
activities towards productive areas. Extension is a space / time collapse enabling economic activities
to extend over a large territory while maintaining low distribution costs. Contraction is a
rationalization of distribution systems facing growing transportation costs and competition from
other systems. Based on the framework provided by the spatial model and available evidence, we
undertake an assessment on transportation and territorial development in Singapore EMR. The
analysis mainly underlines the role of Singapore as a regional transshipment centre and its maritime /
land interface function.