The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...

, one of the most expensive buildings in the world, with a luxurious standalone casino at Bayfront Avenue. There are many skyscrapers in Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar and Marina Bay CBD with a height limit of 280m. It is one of the eleven

planning area Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the capaci ...

s located within the most urbanised Central Area, forming the latter's dense urban core. It is bounded by

Rochor Rochor ( or ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area located within the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Rochor shares boundaries with the following planning areas � ...

to the north,

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

to the northeast,

Marina East Marina East is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore, covering of reclaimed land. It is the location of NTUC Club's Marina Bay Golf Course (formerly known as the Marina East Course) and the Gardens by t ...

and

Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. It is largely home to Gardens by the Bay as well as the Marina Barrage. The name has also been used to refer to the larger peninsula the plannin ...

to the east,

Straits View Straits View is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area is currently relatively undeveloped, with fewer commercial developments compared to the adjacent Downtown Core. Straits View planning area ...

to the southeast,

Bukit Merah Bukit Merah, also known as Redhill, is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, new town situated in the southernmost part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. The planning area borders T ...

to the south, as well as Outram,

Museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper drainage basin, watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Plann ...

to the west. As the financial Heart of Singapore, the Downtown Core houses the headquarters and offices of numerous corporations, as well as the

Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX Group) is a Singapore-based exchange conglomerate, operating Equity (finance), equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets. It provides a range of listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and ...

. The area is also home to many governmental institutions, notably the seat of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and the

Supreme Court of Singapore The Supreme Court of Singapore is a set of courts in Singapore, comprising the Court of Appeal and the High Court. It hears both civil and criminal matters. The Court of Appeal hears both civil and criminal appeals from the High Court. The C ...

. Singapore's modern history began in this area, when

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...

and representatives of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

landed along the banks of the

to set up a free port in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. As the old harbour grew along the mouth of the river bank, the city naturally expanded around it, creating what is now the Central Area. The name "Downtown Core" remains relatively unheard of and the term Central Business District (CBD) is commonly used in conversation instead. However, the area known as the CBD actually comprises a smaller area within the Downtown Core itself, taking up the south-western and western portions of the planning area, consisting largely of many skyscrapers. It is made up of eight subzones, Anson, Cecil,

Clifford Pier Clifford Pier was a former pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area, Singapore. The pier, which opened in 1933, ceased operations in 2006. In 200 ...

, Maxwell, Phillip,

Raffles Place Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone of Sing ...

and

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District of Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urba ...

and

Marina Centre Marina Central or Marina Centre ( Chinese: 滨海中心; ) is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area ...

. The core of the CBD has since extended well beyond its boundaries and the term is even often at times used to refer to the Central Area as a whole.

History

As a fledgling colony, the area which is now known as the Downtown Core was the

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, administrative and commercial centre of the colony. In 1823, Singapore was reorganised according to the

Raffles Plan of Singapore The Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan, an urban plan of 1822 titled "Plan of the Town of Singapore", is a proposed scheme for Singapore drawn up to maintain some order in the urban development of the fledgling but thriving colony founded just thr ...

Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British colonial official who served as the governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. Raffles ...

, which specified elements like the ''Commercial Square'' (now Raffles Place) and the ''European Town'' as well as various other commercial and administrative entities located between them. This area later became the Downtown Core.

References

External links

Draft Master Plan 2003 - Central Region
{{Authority control Downtown Core (Singapore)