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Naming public transport and historicising experiences: Critical toponymies and everyday multilingualism in Singapore’s mass rapid transit system

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  • Shaun Tyan Gin Lim

    (Independent Researcher, Singapore)

  • Francesco Perono Cacciafoco

    (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Abstract

Public transport plays an integral role in urban centres by promoting economic development, mitigating environmental degradation and fostering social cohesion. It also enables users to experience the socio-cultural and linguistic diversity of a locality. Public transport is important to the cosmopolitan city-state of Singapore: its public transport system, which is ranked among the best in the world, is used by over 7.54 million passengers daily. Nevertheless, not much is known about how the linguistic landscapes, soundscapes and place names are tied to public transport use and encounters. This study analyses Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station names, effectively toponyms (place names) in their own right. Specifically, it focuses on the East West and North South Lines, two of Singapore’s oldest MRT lines. Besides tracing the (initially) tumultuous history of the MRT system, the paper studies the languages used in the MRT stations of both lines. It argues that place names, taken together with the sights and sounds of the MRT, are part of everyday multilingualism, or the linguistic dynamism when different linguistic groups occupy public spaces. This paper also explores some of the linguistic, socio-political and policy making considerations behind the MRT stations through a critical toponymic perspective. From the viewpoint of the special issue’s interests, the paper contributes to understanding the historicisation of Singapore’s rail system and its contesting political and economic choices when developing the MRT.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaun Tyan Gin Lim & Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, 2023. "Naming public transport and historicising experiences: Critical toponymies and everyday multilingualism in Singapore’s mass rapid transit system," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(15), pages 3045-3060, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:15:p:3045-3060
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980221109101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tauri Tuvikene & Wladimir Sgibnev & Wojciech Kȩbłowski & Jason Finch, 2023. "Public transport as public space: Introduction," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(15), pages 2963-2978, November.

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