Abstract
This study examines the modernising role played by infrastructure and the transition of emphasis from physical infrastructure to knowledge-based infostructure as a source of economic growth in Singapore, noting the factors behind the change in strategy. Occupying a strategic sea route location and serving a resource-rich hinterland, Singapore inherited from the old British empire a well-established infrastructure when it achieved self-government in 1959. Since 1965, Singapore's development has been led by a pro-business developmentalist government, and strongly linked to technological advances in the West on which it also relies heavily for its exports and multinational corporation investments. From the 1980s, the government has launched a series of pro-IT plans to prepare the city-state's transition to an `intelligent island', and a regional hub for high-technology, and international financial transactions, a full-swing state-initiated strategy to leap from a semi-peripheral economy to be part of the developed core, and enhance its status to that of a world city. Despite barriers, some positive results have been observed. In terms of IT's spatial effect, it is largely overshadowed by the predeterministic long-term plans of the state's powerful planning authority.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrams C., Kobe S. and Koenigsberger O., 1963: Growth and urban renewal in Singapore. Report prepared for the Government of Singapore. United Nations Programme of Technical Assistance, New York.
Bernick M. and Cervero R., 1996: Transit Villages in the 21st Century. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Binder D.F. and Smith T.M., 1997: The linkage between transportation, infrastructure investment and productivity: A U.S. federal research perspective. In: Mody Ashoka (ed.), Infrastructure Strategies in East Asia: The Untold Story. World Bank, Washington D.C., pp. 49-59.
Block E. and Hottovy T., 1988: Future Cities and Information Technology. The National Swedish Institute for Building Research, Gavle, Sweden.
Castells M., 1996: The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell, Oxford.
Castells M., 1999: End of Millennium. Blackwell, Malden, Mass.
Charles D.R., 1996: Information technology and production systems. In: Daniels P.W. and Lever W.F. (eds.), The Global Economy in Transition. Longman, Harlow, pp. 83-102.
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore CAAS 1998. Annual Report 1997/98. Singapore.
Convery F.J., 1998: Challenges for Urban Infrastructure in the European Union. European Foundation, Luxembourg.
Department of Statistics, 1967: Yearbook of Statistics. Singapore.
Department of Statistics, 1979: Yearbook of Statistics 1978–79. Singapore.
Economic Development Board EDB, 1997: Yearbook 1996–97. Singapore.
Economic Development Board EDB, 1998: Yearbook 1997–98. Singapore.
Economic Development Board EDB, 1998: Yearbook 1997–98. Singapore.
Far Eastern Economic Review: Asia 1999 Yearbook — A Review of the Events of 1998.
Goh Keng-Swee, 1995: The Economics of Modernization. Federal Publications, Singapore.
Graham S. and Marvin S., 1996: Telecommunications and the City: Electronic Spaces, Urban Places. Routledge, London.
Groote P., Jacobs J. and Sturm J-E., 1998: Output effects of transport infrastructure: the Netherlands, 1853–1913. Tijdchrift voor Economische en Social Geografie 90(1): 97-109.
Hirschman A., 1958: The Strategy of Economic Development. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Huff W.G., 1994: The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Johnston R.J., Gregory D. et al., 1981: The Dictionary of Human Geography. Blackwell, Oxford.
Jurong Town Corporation JTC, 1997: Changing in Step with our Customers — The Year in Review 1996/97. Singapore.
Kellerman A., 1993: The Telecommunications and Geography. Belhaven, London.
Kessides C., 1996: A review of infrastructure's impact on economic development. In: Batten D.F. and Karlsson C. (eds), Infrastructure and the Complexity of Economic Development. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 213-230.
King A.D., 1990: Global Cities: Post-Imperialism and the Internationalization of London. Routledge, London.
Knippenberg L. and Schuurman F., 1996: Stripped: a critical phenomenology of progress and development. In: Köhlerg G., Gore C., Reich U-P. and Ziesemer T. (eds), Questioning Development: Essays on the Theory, Policies and Practice of Development Interventions. Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg, pp. 45-70.
Koenigsberger O. et al., 1971: Infrastructure Problems of the Cities of Developing Countries. International Urbanization Survey, The Ford Foundation, New York.
Land Transport Authority LTA, 1997: Annual Report 1997. Singapore.
Land Transport Authority LTA, 1998: Annual Report 1998. Singapore.
Lee-Tsao Yuan, 1997: Infrastructure geared to international economic activity: Singapore. In: Mody Ashoka (ed.), Infrastructure Strategies in East Asia: The Untold Story. World Bank, Washington D.C. pp. 69-80.
Lewis B.D., 1998: The impact of public infrastructure on municipal economic development: empirical results from Kenya. Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies 10(2): 142-156.
Lewis W.A., 1955: A Theory of Economic Growth. Allen and Unwin, London.
Leys C., 1996: The Rise and Fall of Development Theory. East African Educational Publishers, Nairobi; Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Low L., 1998: The Political Economy of a City-State Government-Made Singapore. Oxford University Press, Singapore.
Ministry of National Development MND, 1988: Annual Report. Singapore.
Mody A. and Reinfeld W., 1997: Advanced infrastructure for time management: The competitive edge in East Asia. In: Mody Ashoka (ed.), Infrastructure Strategies in East Asia: The Untold Story. World Bank, Washington D.C., pp. 131-146
Myrdal G., 1957: Economic Theory and Underdeveloped Regions. Duck-worth, London.
National Computer Board NCB, 1983: Annual Report, 1982/83. Singapore.
National Computer Board NCB, 1987: Annual Report, 19986/87. Singapore.
National Computer Board NCB, 1992: A Vision of an Intelligent Island: IT2000 Report. Singapore.
National Computer Board NCB, 1994: Annual Report, 1993/94. Singapore.
Newman P. and Thornley A., 1996: Urban Planning in Europe: International Competition, National Systems and Planning Projects. Routledge, London.
Perry M., Kong L. and Yeoh B., 1997: Singapore: A Developmental City-State. John Wiley, Chichester.
Preston P.W., 1996: Development Theory. Blackwell, Oxford.
Public Utilities Board PUB, 1994: Annual Report 1993. Singapore.
Public Utilities Board PUB, 1996: Annual Report 1995. Singapore.
Public Utilities Board PUB, 1998: Annual Report 1997. Singapore.
Regnier P., 1992: Singapore: City-State in South-East Asia. S. Abdul Majeed, Kuala Lumpur.
Sassen S., 1998: The topoi of e-space: Global cities and global value chains. Built Environment 24(2/3): 134-141.
Singapore MRT, 1997/98: Annual Report. Singapore.
Straits Times (The), A local Singapore English newspaper. Various issues.
Urban Redevelopment Authority URA, 1991: Living the Next Lap. Singapore.
Urban Redevelopment Authority URA, 1998: Annual Report 1997/98. Singapore.
Webpage: www.sedb.com.sg/industry21; and www.Singapore.cnet (Competitive Report: an IT blueprint for the 21st century).
Wong Poh-Kam, 1997: Implementing the NII vision: Singapore's experience and future challenges. In: Kahin B. and Wilson E.J. (eds.), National Information Infrastructure Initiatives: Vision and Policy Design. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 24-60.
Wong Tai-Chee, 1996: Information technology and its spatial impact on Singapore. Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies 8: 33-45.
Wong Tai-Chee, 1998: Land transport policy and land-use planning in Singapore. Australian Planner 35: 44-48.
World Bank, 1994: World Development Report: Infrastructure for Development. Oxford University Press, New York.
World Bank, 1998: Annual Report 1998. Washington D.C.
World Bank, 1999: World Development Report: Knowledge for Development. Oxford University Press, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, TC. The transition from physical infrastructure to infostructure: infrastructure as a modernising agent in Singapore. GeoJournal 49, 279–288 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007051305570
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007051305570