Tampines: An In-Depth Look at Singapore’s Eastern Regional Centre

All About Tampines OVERVIEW OF TAMPINES

Tampines is the regional centre in the East Region of Singapore, with a total of five subzones and a residential population of approximately 265,340. According to the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) population trends for 2022, it is the second most populous planning area in Singapore, with about 5% of Singapore’s population residing here. Tampines is bordered by Bedok and Paya Lebar to the west, Pasir Ris to the north, Changi to the east, and the Singapore Strait to the south. Located in the historical Tanah Merah area, its topography is particularly flat today due to extensive sand quarrying in the 1960s.

Tampines is composed of five subzones—Tampines North, Tampines East, Tampines West, Simei, and Xilin. These subzones were created in the early 1990s primarily for urban planning and are not related to the three political constituencies of Tampines. Four of the subzones, excluding Xilin, are mainly residential, while Xilin has a significant number of commercial, industrial, and recreational facilities. Xilin is home to Singapore’s largest convention centre, the Singapore Expo, and boasts the largest cluster of golf courses in Singapore.

As Singapore’s first regional centre, Tampines has evolved from a remote neighbourhood in the 1980s to a vibrant commercial hub. It is one of Singapore’s three regional centres established to promote the idea of decentralizing economic activity from the Central Business District (CBD) to other parts of Singapore, first proposed in the 1991 Concept Plan. Several major insurance companies, real estate firms, and financial institutions, such as OCBC and UOB, have moved their back-end operations to Tampines. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Tampines now has 200,000 square meters of office space and 112,000 square meters of retail space. Singapore’s largest integrated business park, Changi Business Park, is also located in Tampines. It covers an area of 71,000 square meters and houses many multinational corporations, including J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, IBM, and Standard Chartered. As of 2016, there were 152,400 resident workers here, ranking it second in Singapore, according to the Department of Statistics.

The northern Tampines New Town is a densely populated residential area considered the core of the planning area. According to the boundaries set by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), its area does not include the private residential estates of Simei and Xilin. It covers 1,200 hectares, of which 549 hectares are residential, making it the largest in area among all towns in Singapore. It is currently the third most populous town in Singapore, with 232,700 residents (as of 2018). With the rapid and continuous development in Tampines North, which is expected to eventually have 110,000 residential units, Tampines is poised to become Singapore’s most populous town in the near future. It is considered a mature estate by the government and was the first town in Singapore to hire its own municipal services office due to the sheer volume of various municipal issues to be handled. Enforcement of certain minor offenses has also been outsourced through its enforcement officers.

Origin of the Name Tampines

The name Tampines dates back to the Franklin and Jackson map published in 1828 by the second Resident, John Crawfurd. It is named after Sungei Tampines, which in turn was named after the Tampines trees (Streblus elongatus in Malay) that were said to grow here.

History of Tampines

In the past, Tampines was covered by forests, swamps, and sand quarries, with an abundance of ironwood trees, known as tempinis in Malay. Before 1987, the area was part of a military training zone.

Tampines Road, the oldest street in Tampines, dates back to 1864 when it was a small path. In the early 20th century, Tampines was a rubber plantation. For a long time, Tampines was also home to sand quarries. The plantations included the Teo Tek Ho and Hun Yeang estates.

The new town began construction in 1978. Neighbourhoods 1 and 2 were the first to be built and were completed between 1983 and 1987, although they were a priority. Neighbourhoods 8 and 9 were built from 1985 to 1989, followed by Neighbourhood 5, which was completed in 1989 along with the Tampines Town Centre. Neighbourhood 4 was completed between 1986 and 1988 along with the new Tampines North Division. At that time, Tampines Town was undergoing rapid expansion and was divided into areas such as Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines North, and Tampines Changkat.

In the Singapore MRT planning proposals, there were “Tampines North” and “Tampines South” stations, which was due to the existence of such regional names from 1979 to 1982. In 1985, they were renamed Tampines and Simei respectively.

New construction methods accelerated the development of Tampines’ infrastructure. Compared to earlier public housing, which consisted of uniformly laid concrete slabs with more consideration for function than form, Tampines adopted more attractive designs, colors, and decorations. The town centre was planned in an hourglass shape, creating a unique urban design form. Before 1991, the HDB managed the town’s construction, after which management was handed over to the Tampines Town Council. The town council is managed by grassroots leaders and residents themselves.

On October 5, 1992, Tampines received the World Habitat Award from the United Nations Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) as a representative of Singapore’s new towns. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to human settlement and development.

Neighbourhoods 3 and 7 were not fully completed until 1997, and the constituencies were reformed to include the new Tampines Central Division. Construction was then paused until the development of Tampines Central began in 2010. Development projects included The Premiere @ Tampines, Tampines GreenLeaf, Centrale 8, Tampines Trilliant, and Citylife @ Tampines, along with other remaining residential developments such as Tampines GreenTerrace, Arc @ Tampines, Q Bay Residences, and The Santorini.

Neighbourhood 6, also known as Tampines North New Town, began construction in late November 2014 with the announcement of the first Build-To-Order (BTO) project, Tampines GreenRidges. Tampines GreenRidges is also part of the first phase of the West Park district in Tampines North New Town, with West Park being the first area to start development in the Tampines North New Town project.

Tampines Court has been sold en-bloc since July 2017, with all residents moving out by December 12, 2018. It was previously a Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estate that was privatized in 2002. Subsequently, Treasure at Tampines was launched.

Tampines Infrastructure

Tampines, including Tampines North and Simei, has over 237,800 residents living in 152,000 HDB flats spread across an area of more than 20.89 square kilometers:

• Tampines North
• Tampines East
• Tampines Changkat
• Tampines Central
• Tampines West
• Simei
• Others (mainly industrial and commercial parks with no nearby residential areas)
  • Tampines Retail Park
  • Tampines Industrial Park A
  • Tampines LogisPark
  • Tampines Wafer Fab Park
  • Tampines Hi-Tech Park
  • Tampines Advance Display Park
  • Changi Business Park
  • Changi South Business Park
  • Singapore Expo

Tampines Regional Centre

Singapore’s urban planning policy aims to create partially self-sufficient towns in terms of commercial needs to alleviate traffic pressure on the city centre. As a result, residents of new towns enjoy a range of facilities. According to the URA’s plan, Tampines is one of Singapore’s four regional centres, the other three being Woodlands, Jurong East, and the future Seletar. Therefore, the Tampines Regional Centre serves the residents of Tampines and the entire East Region of Singapore.

Commercial Services

Retail shopping activities in the Tampines Regional Centre are mainly conducted in four major shopping malls: Tampines Mall, Century Square, Tampines 1, and Our Tampines Hub. The shops in these malls include restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, cinemas, bookstores, international remittance services, and gift shops.

Outside the new town, there are other shopping malls such as Eastpoint Mall, Singapore Expo, and Changi City Point.

On November 30, 2006, Ikea opened its second outlet in Singapore and its first mega-store at the Tampines Retail Park, adjacent to Courts and Giant. These three were the first retailers in Singapore to have retail warehouse stores. On April 9, 2009, Uniqlo opened its first Southeast Asian store at Tampines 1.

There are three hotels in Tampines: Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore, Park Avenue Changi, and Capri by Fraser. To cater to business travelers, they are all located in and around Changi Business Park.

Community Services

The Tampines Regional Library, formerly located in Tampines Central, has now been relocated to Our Tampines Hub.

Parks

Tampines Town has three main parks:

1. Sunplaza Park – located at Tampines Avenue 7 and 9
2. Tampines Bike Park – officially closed on September 17, 2014, to make way for the development of Tampines North New Town, located at the junction of Tampines Avenue 9 and 7
3. Tampines Eco Park – the latest nature park by the National Parks Board (NParks) as of April 24, 2011, located at the junction of Tampines Avenue 12 and 9

These three parks are located close to each other and are interconnected by footpaths and bicycle trails.

Other parks in Tampines Town are mainly community parks, including Tampines North Park, Tampines Leisure Park, Tampines Central Park, Tampines Park, Festival Park, Tampines Green, Tampines Tree Garden, and several neighborhood parks. Festival Park occasionally hosts community-related events.

Tampines Quarry Park is another unofficial park in Tampines Town, originally a sand quarry. Over time, the quarry filled with rainwater. It is the only park in Tampines not equipped with any facilities, but it remains popular with nearby residents. The park has no signs or entrance, as it is hidden by greenery. It can be accessed through hidden paths.

In the future, a new central park called Tampines Boulevard Park will be built in Tampines Town, located in the future Tampines North New Town. More new neighborhood parks will also be added during the development of Tampines Town and Tampines North New Town.

Our Tampines Hub

Our Tampines Hub is a new development in Tampines. Construction started in June 2013, and it opened on November 9, 2019. It is located on the former site of the Tampines Stadium along Tampines Avenue 4 and 5, where there was also a swimming pool.

It is a community space built for Tampines residents, where they can gather, interact, and connect with others in the community. It has facilities such as a community centre, sports and recreation centre, swimming pool, bowling alley, karaoke, information centre, and several offices. The Tampines Regional Library has also been relocated here.

Politics in Tampines

Initially, Tampines was under the Tampines Single Member Constituency. As development progressed and its population grew, the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Eunos GRC were formed by 1988.

The Workers’ Party contested parts of Tampines North, which was part of Eunos GRC, in 1988 and 1991. In both elections, the Workers’ Party lost with 49.11% and 47.62% of the votes, respectively.

The National Solidarity Party, and later the Singapore Democratic Alliance in the 2001 and 2006 elections, contested in all general elections except in 1997 when the National Solidarity Party was disqualified.

The GRC was eventually dissolved, and the Tampines North constituency was split and absorbed into Pasir Ris GRC and Tampines GRC, with the remaining part being absorbed back into Tampines in 2001.

Since 2020, Tampines has been divided into three GRCs: the eponymous Tampines (Central and Regional Centre), Aljunied (Bedok Reservoir and Temasek Polytechnic), and East Coast (Simei subzone). Tampines is led by the People’s Action Party, whose Members of Parliament include Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, while Aljunied is led by the Workers’ Party of Singapore.

From 2011 to 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat led the People’s Action Party team, after which he was moved to East Coast GRC. From 2001 to 2020, parts of Tampines under Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC were transferred back to Tampines GRC.

Transportation in Tampines

Road Network

The expressway network, namely the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), East Coast Parkway (ECP), and Tampines Expressway (TPE), along with arterial roads, makes it convenient to travel within Tampines and to other parts of Singapore. Tampines Avenue 10, an arterial road, is a semi-expressway that serves as the start and end point of the Outer Ring Road System (ORRS).

MRT

Currently, there are 6 MRT stations across two lines, the East West Line (EWL) and the Downtown Line (DTL), serving the planning area. The two lines have two interchange stations at Tampines MRT and Expo MRT on the Changi Airport Branch Line. The DTL stations opened on October 21, 2017, as part of the Downtown Line Stage 3 (DTL3). These 6 stations are:

• EW2, DT32 Tampines
• EW3 Simei
• DT31 Tampines West
• DT33 Tampines East
• DT34 Upper Changi
• DT35, CG1 Expo
• DT36 Xilin (future)
• CR6 Tampines North (future)

Xilin MRT station, which has not yet opened, is part of the DTL Stage 3 extension and will be completed in 2024, concurrently with the Thomson-East Coast Line Stage 4.

Tampines North MRT station is another station under construction in Tampines, which will be located at the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub. It is part of the 29-kilometer first phase of the Cross Island Line, which will begin operations in 2030.

Bus

There are three bus interchanges—Tampines Bus Interchange, Tampines North Bus Interchange, and Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange. They are all located in Tampines New Town.

The Tampines Bus Interchange has been operating as a bus terminal since 1983 and was later relocated to Tampines Central 1 in 1987. It is the busiest bus interchange in Tampines. The Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange opened on December 18, 2016, to increase the capacity of the existing Tampines Bus Interchange.

The Tampines North Bus Interchange opened on November 27, 2022, to serve the new residents of Tampines North. It will be redeveloped to become part of the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub (ITH).

The Changi Business Park Bus Terminal, located in the northern part of Changi Business Park, opened on December 20, 2015.

Education in Tampines

Tampines has a total of 11 primary schools, 9 secondary schools, 3 tertiary institutions, and 2 international schools. Due to the high demand for education in the East Region of Singapore, there are plans to add new schools in Tampines.

Primary Schools

• Changkat Primary School
• Chongzheng Primary School
• East Spring Primary School
• Gongshang Primary School
• Junyuan Primary School
• Saint Hilda’s Primary School
• Tampines North Primary School
• Tampines Primary School
• Poi Ching School

Secondary Schools

• Changkat Changi Secondary School
• Dunman Secondary School
• East Spring Secondary School
• Junyuan Secondary School
• Ngee Ann Secondary School
• Pasir Ris Secondary School
• Springfield Secondary School
• Saint Hilda’s Secondary School
• Tampines Secondary School

Tertiary Institutions

• Temasek Polytechnic
• ITE College East
• Singapore University of Technology and Design

International Schools

• United World College of South East Asia (East Campus)

Additional Information on Tampines

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