New towns of Singapore
The new town planning concept was introduced into Singapore with the building of the first new town of Singapore, Queenstown, from July 1952 to 1973 by the country's public housing authority, the Housing and Development Board. Today, the vast majority of the approximately 11,000 public housing buildings are organised into 23 towns and 3 estates across the country.[1]
The new towns in Singapore are large scale satellite housing developments which are designed to be self contained. It includes public housing units, a town centre and other amenities.[2] Helmed by a hierarchy of commercial developments, ranging from a town centre to precinct-level outlets, there is no need to venture out of town to meet the most common needs of residences. Employment can be found in industrial estates located within several towns. Educational, health care, and recreational needs are also taken care of with the provision of schools, hospitals, parks, sports complexes, and so on.
Singapore's expertise in successful new town design was internationally recognised when the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) of the United Nations awarded the World Habitat Award to Tampines Town, which was selected as a representative of Singapore's new towns, on 5 October 1992.[3]
Background
Singapore in 1950s had a city centre surrounded by slums and squatter colonies. By 1959 when Singapore attained self government, the problem of housing shortage had grown. Combined with a fast population growth, it led to congestion and squalor.[4] The Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) had been previously set up by the colonial government to solve the housing shortage. Although it built around 23000 dwelling units, it was not sufficient for the rapidly increasing population.
In 1958, the first Master Plan was formulated which recommend redistributing the population from the central area of the city to new towns in the suburbs. The SIT was dissolved in 1959 and subsequently, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was set up in 1960 to deal with the problem.[5]
Towns
These statistics reflect the boundaries of HDB towns and are not necessarily the same as planning area statistics.[6]
Name (English/Malay) | Chinese | Pinyin | Tamil | Total area (km2) | Residential area (km2) | Dwelling units | Projected ultimate | Population |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ang Mo Kio | 宏茂桥 | hóngmàoqiáo | ஆங் மோ கியோ | 6.38 | 2.83 | 49,169 | 58,000 | 149,800 |
Bedok | 勿洛 | wùluò | பிடோ | 9.37 | 4.18 | 60,115 | 79,000 | 204,300 |
Bishan | 碧山 | bìshān | பீஷான் | 6.90 | 1.72 | 19,664 | 34,000 | 65,700 |
Bukit Batok | 武吉巴督 | wǔjíbādū | புக்கிட் பாத்தோக் | 7.85 | 2.91 | 32,275 | 53,000 | 113,800 |
Bukit Merah | 红山 | hóngshān | புக்கிட் மேரா | 8.58 | 3.12 | 51,885 | 68,000 | 147,000 |
Bukit Panjang | 武吉班让 | wǔjíbānràng | புக்கிட் பாஞ்சாங் | 4.89 | 2.19 | 34,463 | 44,000 | 119,300 |
Choa Chu Kang | 蔡厝港 | càicuògǎng | சுவா சூ காங் | 5.83 | 3.07 | 42,393 | 62,000 | 161,100 |
Clementi | 金文泰 | jīnwéntài | கிளிமெண்டி | 4.12 | 2.03 | 25,480 | 39,000 | 72,500 |
Geylang | 芽笼 | yálóng | கேலாங் | 6.78 | 2.14 | 29,256 | 49,000 | 91,900 |
Hougang | 后港 | hòugǎng | ஹவ்காங் | 13.09 | 3.67 | 51,646 | 72,000 | 179,800 |
Jurong East | 裕廊东 | yùlángdōng | ஜூரோங் | 3.84 | 1.65 | 23,379 | 30,000 | 80,300 |
Jurong West | 裕廊西 | yùlángxī | ஜூரோங் | 9.87 | 4.80 | 71,755 | 94,000 | 260,000 |
Kallang/Whampoa | 加冷/黄浦 | jiālĕng/huángpǔ | காலாங் | 7.99 | 2.10 | 35,740 | 57,000 | 105,500 |
Pasir Ris | 巴西立 | bāxīlì | பாசிர் ரிஸ் | 6.01 | 3.18 | 29,207 | 44,000 | 111,000 |
Punggol | 榜鵝 | bǎng'é | பொங்கோல் | 9.57 | 3.74 | 35,515 | 96,000 | 99,500 |
Queenstown | 女皇镇 | nǚhuángzhèn | குவீன்ஸ்டவுன் | 6.94 | 2.10 | 30,546 | 60,000 | 82,100 |
三巴旺 | sānbāwàng | செம்பவாங் | 7.08 | 3.31 | 20,311 | 65,000 | 71,600 | |
Sengkang | 盛港 | shènggǎng | செங்காங | 10.55 | 3.97 | 59,497 | 92,000 | 186,500 |
Serangoon | 实龙岗 | shílónggāng | சிராங்கூன் | 7.37 | 1.63 | 21,293 | 30,000 | 73,000 |
Tampines | 淡滨尼 | dànbīnní | தெம்பினிஸ் | 12.00 | 5.49 | 66,599 | 110,000 | 239,100 |
Toa Payoh | 大巴窑 | dàbāyáo | தோ பாயோ | 5.56 | 2.48 | 36,439 | 61,000 | 107,500 |
Woodlands | 兀兰 | wùlán | ஊட்லண்ட்ஸ் | 11.98 | 4.80 | 62,675 | 98,000 | 243,100 |
Yishun | 义顺 | yìshùn | யீஷூன் | 7.78 | 3.98 | 56,698 | 84,000 | 186,600 |
Estates
These statistics reflect the boundaries of HDB estates and are not necessarily the same as planning area statistics.[6]
Name (English/Malay) | Chinese | Pinyin | Tamil | Dwelling units | Population |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bukit Timah | 武吉知马 | – | புக்கித் திமா | 2,423 | 88,000 |
Marine Parade | 马林百列 | – | மரின் பரேட் | 6,537 | 34,300 |
Central Area | 新加坡中區 | – | சிங்கப்பூர் மாவட்டம் | 9,459 | 23,300 |
See also
- Cash-Over-Valuation
- Executive Condominium
- Housing and Development Board
- Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) flats
- Public housing in Singapore
- Public housing precincts in Singapore
References
- "History of HDB". Housing & Development Board. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- Wong, Maisy (July 2014). "Estimating the distortionary effects of ethnic quotas in Singapore using housing transactions". Journal of Public Economics. 115: 131–145. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.04.006.
- Building Social Housing Foundation, Tampines Town Archived 2004-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 19 Mar 2007.
- Field, Brian (1 January 1992). "Singapore's New Town prototype: a textbook prescription?". Habitat International. 16 (3): 89–101. doi:10.1016/0197-3975(92)90066-8.
- Tuan Seik, Foo (1 February 2001). "Planning and design of Tampines, an award-winning high-rise, high-density township in Singapore". Cities. 18 (1): 33–42. doi:10.1016/S0264-2751(00)00052-4.
- HDB Key Statistics FY 2014/2015 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine