Singapore is aunitary state withoutprovinces orstates, but it has been subdivided in various ways for administrative and urban planning purposes. As of 2022, Singapore has a land area of approximately 800 km2 (310 sq mi). The country is generally organised into fiveregions (level 1), 55planning areas (level 2) and 332subzones (level 3).
These divisions are primarily based on theUrban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan. The five regions group together the planning areas for broad urban planning purposes. The planning areas, introduced in the 1990s, form the basis for several government functions. The Department of Statistics adopted them for the 2000 national census, and theSingapore Police Force (SPF) uses them as a general guide when demarcating the boundaries of itsNeighbourhood Police Centres (NPCs).
Beyond the planning areas, Singapore is also divided into 64 survey districts for land administration. These include 34mukim, which were originally rural districts, and 30 town subdivisions.[1] 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. Additionally, postal districts remain in use, with the current system introduced in 1995 numbering them from 01 to 83, although their significance has diminished with the rise of newer planning boundaries.
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| Community Development Council districts of Singapore | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Unitary state |
| Location | Republic of Singapore |
| Created by | PA Act 1997 |
| Created |
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| Number | Five districts (as of 2015) |
| Government | |
| Subdivisions | |
Established in 1997 by the PA Act, there were nine districts formerly, governed by nine differentCommunity Development Councils (CDCs). In 2001, the nine districts and CDCs were then reformed into five, namely theNorth East CDC,North West CDC,South East CDC,South West CDC andCentral Singapore CDC.[2][3] Each district is then further divided intoelectoral constituencies andtown councils.
The council boundaries follow that of the existing political divisions, with each handling between four and sixGRCs andSMCs and roughly dividing the country's population into equal parts. Each CDC is managed by a Council, which in turn is headed by amayor and has between 12 and 80 members. The members are appointed by the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of thePeople'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.[4] 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
The first town councils were set up in September 1986 by the Town Councils Act, with the main purpose ofestate management.[5] Prior to the introduction of town councils, housing estates were managed by theHousing Development Board.[6] 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.[6]
Town councils boundaries are drawn based on electoral district boundaries. A town council area can consist of aGroup Representation Constituency (GRC), a Single Member Constituency (SMC), or a collection of neighbouring GRCs and SMCs controlled by the same political party. The Members ofParliament head the town councils of their constituencies. Town councils boundaries do not correspond tonew town boundaries; different parts of the same HDB town may be managed by different town councils.[7]
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]