Singapore Grew 28% Bigger. Then Its Neighbors Cut Off the Sand.

Singapore is 28% bigger than it was in 1965: from 581.5 km² to 744.3 km², built by land reclamation, not conquest. How did one of the world's smallest countries build new land in the sea, and what happened when its neighbors banned sand exports? From Marina Bay, Changi Airport and Jurong Island to the Semakau landfill, we follow how Singapore became the world's biggest sand importer (517 million tonnes, according to UNEP), why Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia cut off the supply, and how Tuas Mega Port was built on a wall of 221 concrete caissons of 15,000 tonnes each. Then Pulau Tekong, Singapore's first polder, 1.2 metres below sea level, and the S$100 billion, 100-year estimate for holding back rising seas, including the Long Island project off East Coast Park. 0:00 Singapore Land Reclamation: 28% Bigger Since 1965 1:20 Singapore Independence 1965: An Island With No Hinterland 3:00 The Great Reclamation: East Coast and Changi Airport 4:14 How Marina Bay Was Built on Reclaimed Land 5:22 Jurong Island and the Semakau Landfill 6:50 Singapore Sand Imports: The World's Biggest Buyer 7:36 Sand Export Bans: Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia 9:46 Tuas Mega Port Construction: 15,000-Tonne Caissons 12:10 Pulau Tekong: Singapore's First Polder 14:20 Sea Level Rise and the Singapore Long Island Project Subscribe:    / @concreteandtide   Watch next, how the Netherlands holds back the North Sea:    • How the Netherlands Built a Wall to Hold B...   SOURCES SingStat, land area of Singapore: https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/... BiblioAsia, Land from Sand (2017): https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-13/... URA, the Marina Bay story: https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Get-... EDB, Jurong Island at 25: https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/about-edb/m... NEA, Semakau Landfill (PDF): https://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-s... UNEP, Sand, rarer than one thinks, 2014 (PDF): https://na.unep.net/geas/archive/pdfs... Reuters, Malaysia bans sea-sand exports, 2019: https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/worl... MPA, final caisson of Tuas Phase 1: https://www.mpa.gov.sg/media-centre/d... PUB, Tekong Polder (2025): https://www.pub.gov.sg/Resources/News... PMO, National Day Rally 2019: https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/Natio... PUB, sea level rise and coastal defences (2025): https://www.pub.gov.sg/Resources/News... URA, Long Island: https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Plan... IMAGE CREDITS (via Wikimedia Commons) Haven van Singapore, c. 1939, KITLV 142600, Leiden University Libraries, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Singapore roadstead 1962, Don Christie: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Singapore Harbor 1973-74, Rainer Halama: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Marina Bay, 8 May 2018, SkySat, image © 2018 Planet Labs, Inc.: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Marina Barrage 2022, Bob Tan: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Tuas Port Finger 2, 2023, and Finger 3, 2026, under construction, ZKang123: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Jurong Island 2011, Jacklee: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Pulau Tekong 2008, Tunafish1990: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2020 and 2024. Public domain: NASA ISS Expedition 22 (ISS022-E-49914), NASA ASTER, NASA/GSFC Landsat 5, Corona KH-4 1963 (U.S. Department of Defense / USGS). Footage: Pexels. David Pickup, Ferdinand F Eman, CK Seng, Nirjhar Basak, Maksim Romashkin, Tom Fisk, Logan Voss, Toàn BDS, Efrem Efre. Map data: Natural Earth, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); elevation: Mapzen/AWS Terrain Tiles. Music and sound: original, generated for this channel. Concrete & Tide: the great works that hold back water, explained on the map. #Singapore #LandReclamation #Megaprojects