137
NOTES AND QUERIES
A BRIEF HISTORY OF RECLAMATION IN MACAU
THOMAS KVAN AND JUSTYNA KARAKIEWICZ
Introduction
Macau today is a city of 500,000 people living on 22 sq. km. consisting of three main areas: the peninsula of Macau (with approximately 50% of the population) and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Most of the population lives on the peninsula itself. Over 7 million visitors visit the enclave each year. Primary industries are tourism (driven in large part by the casinos), light manufacturing and some trans-shipment of goods from China. In common with Hong Kong, the territory has experienced considerable physical change due to reclamation. This paper traces the history of reclamation and considers some of the implications for the urban form of Macau over the past four centuries.
The Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries
Macau saw development until the Portuguese occupied the peninsula in the mid-sixteenth century. When they arrived, it was a peninsula of approximately 3 sq. km. connected to the China mainland by a very narrow neck of sand that could be flooded at high tides. There were a few temples (already a few centuries old) and farm houses already constructed but the population was sparse. Within ten years, the population had grown to “over 5000, not including Chinese or slaves” (Pires 1987). By 1583, a Municipal Senate was formed and in 1586 Macau was designated a City. Places of worship began to be erected almost immediately upon settlement, with significant churches appearing from 1590 onwards. A protective wall was built in 1606 around the Jesuit settlement with a second fortress in 1629 and several more by 1638 (Duncan 1987).
The enclave had evolved rapidly, therefore, from a poorly defined settlement on Chinese agricultural patterns to one based on an Occidental urban architecture of churches, fortifications and civic buildings. The former probably consisting of isolated buildings, most
137
NOTES AND QUERIES
A BRIEF HISTORY OF RECLAMATION IN MACAU
THOMAS KVAN AND JUSTYNA KARAKIEWICZ
Introduction
Macau today is a city of 500,000 people living on 22 sq. km. consisting of three main areas: the peninsula of Macau (with approximately 50% of the population) and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Most of the population lives on the peninsula itself. Over 7 million visitors visit the enclave each year. Primary industries are tourism (driven in large part by the casinos), light manufacturing and some trans-shipment of goods from China. In common with Hong Kong, the territory has experienced considerable physical change due to reclamation. This paper traces the history of reclamation and considers some of the implications for the urban form of Macau over the past four centuries.
The Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries
Macau saw development until the Portuguese occupied the peninsula in the mid-sixteenth century. When they arrived, it was a peninsula of approximately 3 sq. km. connected to the China mainland by a very narrow neck of sand that could be flooded at high tides. There were a few temples (already a few centuries old) and farm houses already constructed but the population was sparse. Within ten years, the population had grown to “over 5000, not including Chinese or slaves" (Pires 1987). By 1583, a Municipal Senate was formed and in 1586 Macau was designated a City. Places of worship began to be erected almost immediately upon settlement, with significant churches appearing from 1590 onwards. A protective wall was built in 1606 around the Jesuit settlement with a second fortress in 1629 and several more by 1638 (Duncan 1987).
The enclave had evolved rapidly, therefore, from a poorly defined settlement on Chinese agricultural patterns to one based on an Occidental urban architecture of churches, fortifications and civic buildings. The former probably consisting isolated buildings, most
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