Tampines

Tampines (/ˈtæmpəniːs/ TAM-pə-nees) is the regional centre of the East Region of Singapore. With a population of 274,360 living across its five subzones as of 2023, it is the second-most populous planning area in Singapore.^[4] It is home to approximately 5% of Singapore's population. Tampines is bordered to the west by Bedok and Paya Lebar, to the north by Pasir Ris, to the east by Changi, and to the south by the Straits of Singapore. Situated in the historical region of Tanah Merah, its present-day terrain is particularly flat due to the large-scale sand quarrying in the 1960s.^[5]

Tampines is composed of five subzones — Tampines North, Tampines East, Tampines West, Simei and Xilin.^[6] These subzones were created in the early 1990s predominantly for urban planning purposes and have no relation to the three political constituencies in Tampines. Four of its subzones are largely residential with the exception of Xilin, which has a fair mix of commercial, industrial and recreational facilities. Xilin is home to Singapore Expo, the largest convention center in Singapore, and features the largest agglomeration of golf courses in Singapore.

As the first regional centre in Singapore, Tampines has progressed from a remote neighbourhood in the 1980s to a vibrant commercial hub. It is one of three regional centres in the city-state, serving to decentralise economic activity from the Central Business District to other parts of the island, an idea first proposed in the 1991 Concept Plan.^[7] Several large insurance companies, real estate corporations and financial institutions, such as OCBC and UOB, have shifted their back-end operations to the regional centre. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, it now has 200,000 m² of office space and 112,000 m² of retail space. Tampines is also home to Changi Business Park, Singapore’s largest integrated business park. It is a 71,000 m² project that houses many multinational corporations, including J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, IBM and Standard Chartered. As of 2016, it has 152,400 resident working persons, the second-highest in Singapore, according to the Department of Statistics.^[8]

Tampines New Town in the north is a densely-populated residential town, and regarded as the core of the planning area. Its boundaries, as delineated by the Housing Development Board, exclude Xilin and the private housing estates of Simei. It spans 1200 hectares, of which 549 hectares is residential area, the largest of any town in Singapore.^[9] It is currently the third-most populous town in Singapore, with 232,700 residents (as of 2018).^[10] Amidst rapid ongoing development in Tampines North and with a projected ultimate of 110,000 dwelling units, Tampines is expected to become the most populous town in Singapore in the near future.^[9] Regarded as a mature estate by the Government, it is the first estate in Singapore to employ its own municipal services office, given the variety of municipal issues it has to handle.^[11] Enforcement of certain minor infractions has also been delegated to Tampines Municipal Services through its enforcement officers.

Etymology

The name Tampines goes back to the Franklin and Jackson map of 1828. It is named after Sungei Tampines, which in turn got its name from the tempinis trees (Malay for Streblus elongatus) which were said to be growing by it.

History

In the past, Tampines was covered by forests, swamps, and sand quarries. Ironwood trees, or tempinis in Malay, grew abundantly. The area was part of a military training area until about 1987.

The oldest street in the area, Tampines Road, dates to 1864 when it was a cart track. At the turn of the 20th century, Tampines was a rubber plantation. Tampines was also home to the sand quarry for a long time. Among the plantations were Teo Tek Ho and Hun Yeang estates.

Development boom in the 1980s

The new town started in 1978. Construction began for Neighbourhoods 1 and 2 and was completed between 1983 and 1987, although they were given priority. Neighbourhoods 8 and 9 began in 1985–1989, followed by Neighbourhood 5, which was completed in 1989 with the Tampines Town Centre. Neighbourhood 4 was completed with the new Tampines North Division between 1986 and 1988. Tampines Town was at the fast-paced expansion that breaks it into Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines North, and Tampines Changkat divisions.

For the Singapore MRT plans, they showed "Tampines North" and "Tampines South" since the planning stages, which is due to the similar townships from 1979 to 1982, before they were renamed respectively in 1985 to Tampines and Simei.

New construction methods expedited the development of the town's infrastructure. More attractive designs, colours, and finishings were incorporated into Tampines than earlier public housing, which consisted of uniform slabs of concrete laid out row after row with more thought given to function than form. The Town Centre was planned as an hourglass shape to create a unique urban design form.^[12] The Housing and Development Board (HDB) managed the construction of the town until 1991, when it handed the reins over to the Tampines Town Council. The Town Council is run by grassroot leaders and the residents themselves.

The Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) of the United Nations awarded the World Habitat Award to Tampines, which was selected as a representative of Singapore's new towns, on 5 October 1992. The award was given to recognise an outstanding contribution towards human settlement and development.

Neighbourhoods 3 and 7 were only fully completed in 1997, and the constituencies had been reformed to include the new Tampines Central division.

Residential expansion in the 2010s

Construction was paused until the developments of Tampines Central were started in 2010, which consists of The Premiere @ Tampines, Tampines GreenLeaf, Centrale 8, Tampines Trilliant, and Citylife @ Tampines, including some of the other leftover pockets of residential developments such as Tampines GreenTerrace, Arc @ Tampines, Q Bay Residences and The Santorini.

Neighbourhood 6, which is also known as Tampines North New Town, has started construction with the first Build-To-Order (BTO) flats Tampines GreenRidges being announced at the end of November 2014. Tampines GreenRidges is also part of the first phase of the Tampines North New Town's Park West District, which is the first district to be constructed in the Tampines North New Town development.

Tampines Court,^[13] had been en-bloc since July 2017 and all residents vacated their premises by 12 December 2018. It is a former HUDC flat that was privatised in 2002.^[14] The upcoming condominium is Treasure at Tampines.^[14]

Demographics

The 2023 DOS Population Trends showed Tampines' population to be 274,360, an increase of 5.6% from the 2020 census.^[3] Tampines East is the most populous subzone in Singapore, with 126,460 residents.

Age profile

The population distribution of Tampines in 2023^[3] demonstrates a balanced age structure. There is a higher population concentration among younger and middle-aged groups, with males and females both peaking around the 25 to 30 age range. Specifically, the male and female population peaks at age 30, with a percentage of 4.66 and 3.85 respectively.

The population decreasing progressively among older age groups, reflecting typical aging patterns. However, the elderly population in Tampines remains sizeable, and numerous senior care centres have been built to provide senior support services.

Household

The population distribution in Tampines, as detailed in the 2023 census report^[3], reveals that 86.8% reside in HDB flats (238,080). This is reflective of the general trend in Singapore, where the majority live in public housing apartments.

Among these, 105,600 live in 4-room flats, making it the most common type of dwelling. Condominiums and other apartments house 30,310 individuals, while landed properties accommodate 4,470 residents.

The average household size in Tampines is 3.34. The three most common household sizes are two, three, and four persons. There are 17,995 households with two persons, 18,183 households with three persons, and 17,600 households with four persons. Overall, there are 83,681 households in Tampines.^[15]

Ethnicity

Tampines is one of the most ethnically diverse planning areas in Singapore. According to the Census of Population 2020 (Table 89),^[16] Tampines has the fourth lowest proportion of Chinese people residents among all planning areas in Singapore, accounting for 66.82% of its population.

Tampines ranks second, after Woodlands, in terms of the largest Malay population among planning areas, with 56,570 people making up 21.77% of its residents. Indians constitute 8.35% of the population, while the remaining 3.07% are classified under 'Others' in the census data.

Religion

Religion in Tampines reflects a diverse and vibrant community. Buddhism is the largest religion, with 64,965 people, or 28.62% of the population, practicing it. Islam is also prominent in Tampines, with 59,177 Muslims, making it the second-largest Muslim population in Singapore after Woodlands. Christianity is practiced by 38,372 residents, with 13,594 or 10.92% identifying as Catholics. Other religious affiliations in Tampines include Taoism (7.97%), Hinduism (3.68%), and Sikhism (0.31%). A notable portion of the population, 16.23%, identifies as having no religion.^[15]

Language

English is the most spoken language in Tampines, as is the case in the rest of Singapore. Of the resident population aged 5 years and over, 110,367 frequently speak English at home, either solely or with another language. There are 63,129 frequent speakers of Mandarin, 12,843 of which solely speak the language. 19,234 frequently speak Chinese dialects, 38,464 speak Malay, 5,159 speak Tamil, while 998 residents speak other languages at home.^[15]

97.5% of the population is literate.^[15] 157,045 residents are bilingual, with the most common language pair being English and Chinese (i.e. Mandarin and dialects). 12,846 residents in Tampines are literate in three or more languages.

Education

58,090 residents in Tampines have attained a university qualification, the third highest of all planning areas in Singapore. However, by proportion, Tampines ranks 27th, with only 28.11%.^[15]

This is because a large proportion of the population is still studying. Tampines ranks 11th in Singapore, by proportion of residents enrolled in a university in 2020, with 6,906 students accounting for 15.96% of the population.^[15]

Employment and income

In Tampines, 144,548 residents aged 15 years and over are employed, out of the 153,785 in its labour force.^[15] This equates to an employment rate of 94.0%, on par with the national employment rate of 94.2%. The remaining 73,197 residents aged above 15 in Tampines are outside the labour force.

Most residents in Tampines aged 15 years and over earn between S$3,000 and S$3,999, with 19,714 being in that gross monthly income category. 46,817 earn less than S$3,000 per month, while 16,078 earn between S$4,000 and S$4,999. At the higher income range, 7,842 residents earn above S$15,000 per month.^[15]

According to the 2020 Census of Population, there are 9,644 resident households with a monthly income of S$20,000 and above. The second highest category for monthly household income is S$7,000-$7,999, encompassing 4,646 households.^[15]

Crime

In 2016, Tampines had the second highest number of snatch thefts (6), the third highest number of robberies (7), and the third highest number of unlicensed moneylending harassment cases (186) in Singapore. Additionally, Tampines averaged the third highest number of car thefts, with an annual increase of 17.8 cases from 2012 to 2016.^[17] However, these figures are largely attributed to the large population in Tampines. The crime rate in Tampines is not noticeably higher than the overall rate in Singapore, which remains among the lowest in the world.

Five Preventable Crimes (5Ps) Recorded By Tampines Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC)

Crime	Rank (2023)	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Housebreaking	7=	5	3	1	3	5	1	2	5	5	13	11	9	27
Outrage Of Modesty	13	42	41	52	36	46	45	35	32	38	45	50	43	49
Robbery	4=	1	3	0	0	0	1	2	7	8	7	6	10	17
Snatch Theft	5=	1	1	0	2	0	0	1	6	4	3	13	11	10
Theft Of Motor Vehicle	1=	5	13	3	1	5	8	18	7	21	17	19	25	31
Total (for 5Ps)	11	54	61	56	42	56	55	58	57	76	85	99	98	134

In 2023, Tampines ranks 7th (tied with five others) among neighbourhoods in Singapore by number of housebreaking crimes, with five cases. This was down from 27 in 2011. Tampines NPC also had 42 cases of outrage of modesty in 2023, the 13th highest in Singapore. This number has remained relatively constant over the past decade.^[18]

Tampines NPC had only one recorded snatch theft case in 2023, a significant drop from 13 a decade ago. The number of robbery cases dropped from 17 in 2011 to only one in 2023. Similarly, the number of motor vehicle thefts dropped from 31 in 2011 to five in 2023. This is reflective of the overall trend in Singapore.^[18]

Changi NPC, which has the southern subzones of Tampines under its jurisdiction, saw one housebreaking, one motor vehicle theft and one snatch theft case in 2023. There were no robbery cases in its records for 2023.^[18]

Economy

Cost of living

Housing

In the first quarter of 2024, Tampines had the highest median rent for executive apartments in Singapore, at S$4,000. It had the seventh highest rent for 5-room HDB flats, at S$3,600.^[19]

Food

Tampines is the 12th most expensive planning area for food, according to the 2016 Makan Index by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP).^[20] Over the years, the cost of living in Tampines has risen significantly.

In 2023, the Makan Index revealed that Tampines had the highest price among 26 residential neighbourhoods for a lunch or dinner at a kopitiam, food court or hawker centre. It cost S$14.90 for a plate of chicken briyani with iced Milo.^[20] It also had the highest average price for a breakfast set in the East Region at S$3.39. As for beverages, Tampines had the highest average price for kopi at S$1.24 and for lime juice at S$1.81. Its kopitiams also sold iced Milo at an average price of S$1.92, the highest in the country.^[20]

These high food prices can be attributed to the high rents in Tampines. In 2024, a kopitiam in Tampines broke the record for the highest tendered rent, since the HDB's Price-Quality Method (PQM) for tenders began in 2016. There were 20 participating tenders in that particular exercise, with the successful tenderer setting the rent at $88,889.00.^[21] Four of the six most expensive coffeeshops under this tender method are in Tampines. In 2022, Tampines also set the record for the most expensive coffee shop by resale price in Singapore, at $41.68 million.

Industries

Together with the adjacent planning areas, Tampines contributes to the economy of the East Region of Singapore, which had a nominal GDP of US$50.246 million in 2023.

The 71-hectare Changi Business Park is home to logistics enterprises and leading technology corporations, like AMD. It is also home to numerous finance institutions, like DBS, Citibank, and JP Morgan.

The manufacturing industries are located in Tampines South and Changi South. Tampines Central is a hub for various financial institutions, ranging from banks to insurance companies, like OCBC, UOB, Income and AIA.

Politics

Electoral boundaries

Originally, Tampines was under the Tampines Single Member Constituency, when it was still under development. Its population grew quickly and, in 1988, its electoral boundaries were redrawn to form the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Eunos GRC.

Eunos GRC was eventually dissolved in 1997. The ward of Tampines North was split and absorbed into Pasir Ris GRC and Tampines GRC. The rest of the former was absorbed back into Tampines GRC. Pasir Ris GRC then dissolved in 2001, after just one election.

Since 2001, Tampines has been divided into three GRCs, namely the namesake Tampines (for Tampines North, Tampines East and Tampines West), Aljunied (for the area around Temasek Polytechnic) and East Coast (for Xilin and Simei). Minor changes have been made to its electoral boundaries in some elections.

Contesting parties

The Workers' Party (WP) had contested parts of the town in Tampines North, under the now-defunct Eunos GRC, in 1988 and 1991. In both general elections, WP lost with 49.11% and 47.62% of the votes respectively.

The National Solidarity Party had contested in the town in all the general elections, except in 1997, when the party was disqualified. It contested under the Singapore Democratic Alliance in the 2001 and 2006 elections.

Most of Tampines has been led by the People's Action Party (PAP) since the independence of Singapore. The only exception (as of 2020) is the southwestern parts of Tampines West, which is under the Aljunied GRC and has been led by WP since 2010.

Members of Parliament

MPs in Tampines also serve as the grassroots leaders in their respective GRCs, as is the case in the rest of Singapore.

Former minister Mah Bow Tan had contested in and led the constituency from 1988 until his retirement from politics in 2015. Between 2011 and 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat headed the PAP team, before he was transferred to East Coast GRC. As of 2020, Tampines GRC has been led by Minister of the Environment and Water Resources and Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, who has been contesting since the 2006 general election.

Sports

BG Tampines Rovers F.C.

The town has a professional football club, BG Tampines Rovers Football Club. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. It is sometimes referred to by its official nickname, The Stags.

Founded in 1945, the club has won five league titles, four Singapore Cups, a record five Community Shield and one ASEAN Club Championship. This makes it one of the most decorated football clubs in Singapore.^[22]

The club used to play at the old Tampines Stadium until its demolition in 2013. After the completion of Our Tampines Hub on the same site, the club now plays its home fixtures at the 5,000-seat football stadium located within the integrated complex.

Education

The eleven primary schools, nine secondary schools, three tertiary institutions, and two international schools to provide education for Tampines residents and those living in the region. There are plans to add new schools in Tampines due to a high demand in the East Region of the city-state of Singapore.

Primary schools

• Angsana Primary School
• 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
• Yumin 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 is a post-secondary academic institution in Tampines West. Established in April 1990, it is the third polytechnic in Singapore. Since its inception, it has grown to become a significant educational institution in the East Region, with 13,000 students enrolled. Temasek Polytechnic's extensive 36-hectare campus houses six different schools.^[23] It offers 37 full-time and more than 40 part-time diploma courses that cater to different industries,^[24] from aerospace engineering to accountancy and cybersecurity.

In 1998, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) established a small campus in Tampines Changkat, as part of a five-million dollar ITE 2000 plan to improve itself. ITE provides vocational and technical education to students, preparing them for careers in various industries. In 2005, ITE College East opened its doors in Simei. The 10.7-hectare campus offers a diverse range of courses that cater to the evolving needs of the workforce.^[25] In an effort to consolidate the older satellite campuses into this new campus, ITE College Tampines closed in 2010. ITE College East now comprises four schools, of which the School of Health Sciences is exclusive to the East campus.^[26] Its student population has grown steadily to 9,000 in 2023.^[27]

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), established in 2012, moved to its permanent campus in Xilin in 2015.^[28] As the fourth public university in Singapore, SUTD specialises in design and technology education, and offers full-time undergraduate courses in five majors. It also offers seven Master programmes and three PhD programmes, and houses several research centres, including the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovation Cities.^[29] The university ranks 128th in the 2023 QS Asian University Rankings.^[30]

The former Tampines Junior College was located in Tampines East, and provided pre-university education for GCE A-Level graduates. It merged with Meridian Junior College in 2020 to form Tampines Meridian Junior College, and moved into its sister campus in Pasir Ris.^[31]

Specialised institutions

Pathlight School will be opening a permanent campus in Tampines West in 2025.^[32] Together with the other existing campus in Ang Mo Kio, Pathlight School provides specialised educational programmes to the needs of students with autism and other developmental challenges. Built on the site former occupied by East View Primary School, the Tampines campus will take in 500 pupils with special educational needs (SEN).^[32]

Metta School, located in Simei, is a specialised institution catering to students aged 7 to 21 with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and autism (ASD).^[33] Formed as an offshoot of Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), the school provides both certification and non-certification vocational training programmes tailored to meet the diverse learning needs of its students.

International schools

United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) established its East Campus in Tampines in 2008. UWCSEA East provides a learning environment for 2,500 local and international students of ages 4 to 18.^[34]

Middleton International School is the second international school in Tampines, located on the site of the previous ITE College Tampines.

Amenities

Tampines, which includes Tampines North and Simei is home to over 237,800 residents living in 152,000 HDB flats spread out over 20.89 square kilometres:

• Tampines North
• Tampines East
• Tampines Changkat
• Tampines Central
• Tampines West
• Simei
• Others (mainly commercial and industrial 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

Tampines Regional Centre

The urban planning policy of Singapore is to create partially self-sufficient towns, in terms of commercial needs, to relieve strain on traffic drawn to the city centre. Thus, an array of facilities are provided primarily for residents in the new towns. Tampines is one of Singapore's four regional centres (along with Woodlands, Jurong East and future Seletar), under the plan of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. As a result, the Tampines Regional Centre serves the Tampines residents and the entire East Region.

Commercial services

There are three hotels in Tampines — Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore, Park Avenue Changi and capri by Fraser. Catered to business travellers, they are all located in and around Changi Business Park.

Retail shopping in the Tampines Regional Centre is done at four main shopping malls — Tampines Mall, Century Square, Tampines 1 and Our Tampines Hub. Commercial tenants of the shopping centres include restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, cinemas, bookstores, international money remittance^[35] and gift shops.

There are other malls outside the New Town as well, namely Eastpoint Mall, Singapore Expo, and Changi City Point.

On 30 November 2006, IKEA opened its second outlet and first megastore in Singapore at Tampines Retail Park, adjacent to Courts and Giant, together, these three are the first to have retail warehouse stores in Singapore. On 9 April 2009, UNIQLO opened its first outlet in Southeast Asia at Tampines 1.^[36][37]

Community services

Tampines Regional Library, the first regional public library in Singapore, was initially located along Tampines Avenue 7 and officially opened on 3 December 1994. It served as a "prototype library" to test new services and features before their implementation at other branch libraries. ^[38] In 2017, the library relocated to Our Tampines Hub, an integrated community and lifestyle hub. This new location continues to serve the eastern part of Singapore, offering expanded facilities and services. The library's initial concept was to be a "library of the future," aligning with the Library 2000 Review Committee's vision.^[39]

Tampines has six community clubs, which are managed by the People's Association and provide a wide range of services. Among them, Tampines Central Community Club is housed within Our Tampines Hub. These community clubs are common spaces for residents to come together, and they occasionally provide information from the government on national policies through events and booths.^[40]

Healthcare

Changi General Hospital (CGH) is a major restructured hospital operated by SingHealth in Simei, one of the subzones in the Tampines. It is the fourth largest healthcare facility in Singapore, with a capacity of 1,000 beds. As Singapore's first purpose-built general hospital, it caters to communities in the East Region of Singapore. The hospital houses six specialist centres and encompass a wide range of disciplines, such as cardiology, orthopaedic surgery, and sports medicine. In Newsweek's World's Best Specialized Hospitals 2024 ranking, CGH ranks 48th in pulmonology, 69th in neurosurgery, 113rd in orthopedics, and 164th in oncology.

Other healthcare facilities include two polyclinics, with one in Tampines East and the other in Tampines North. These polyclinics offer a wide array of health services for residents, from management of chronic diseases to treatment of acute medical conditions. Besides the polyclinics, Tampines has several nursing homes and elderly day care centres to support its ageing population.

Neighbourhood centres

As of 2024, there are six designated neighbourhood centres in Tampines, as gazetted in the URA Master Plan. They are ShopTWest, Tampines Central Shopping Street, Tampines Mart, as well as the N1, N2 and N4 neighbourhood centres.

N1 neighbourhood centre is the first in the planning area. Developments in the neighbourhood centre include the Tampines Town Council and Tampines Round Market & Food Centre, which opened in 1983 as the first hawker centre in Tampines.

The N2 Neighborhood Centre has Singapore's most expensive coffee shop, which was sold for a record $41.68 million.^[41] The 604-square-metre establishment, known as 21 Street Eating House, features 18 stalls. This purchase price translates to approximately $6,411 per square foot, nearly matching the average rate for ground-level retail units in Far East Plaza and Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road.^[41]

Two additional neighbourhood centres are planned. One of them will be located on a mixed-use site in Tampines North, sharing the land plot with the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub. In 2022, a consortium comprising UOL Group, Singapore Land, and CapitaLand Development submitted the highest bid of S$1.206 billion to develop the site.^[42] The other neighbourhood centre will be built in the Tampines South estate.

Our Tampines Hub

Our Tampines Hub^[43][44] is a new development in Tampines. Construction began in June 2013 and it opened on 9 November 2016. It is located at the site of the former Tampines Stadium along Avenue 4 and 5, together with the swimming pool.

It is built for the residents of Tampines and provides a community space where residents can gather, interact, and bond with others from the community. Facilities available include a community centre, sports and recreation centres, swimming pools, bowling alleys, karaoke facilities, information centres, and several offices. The Tampines Regional Library was also relocated here.

Parks and recreation

Large parks

There are three main parks in Tampines New Town. Sun Plaza Park, located at Tampines Avenue 7 and 9, is one of the first parks in Tampines and previously featured a crocodile-shaped playground in the 1990s. Tampines Eco Green, one of NPark's few nature parks, is 36.5 hectares and located northeast of Sun Plaza Park^[45]. Home to over 75 species of birds, Tampines Eco Green remains largely preserved in its existing ecological state, with marshlands, secondary forests and freshwater ponds.^[46] Tampines Boulevard Park stretches from Tampines Avenue 9 to the future Tampines North MRT station, and forms the spine of Tampines North. These three parks are adjacent to each other and interconnected by footpaths and cycling paths.

The former Tampines Bike Park, was located west of Tampines Avenue 12, at the current site of Tampines Boulevard Park. Managed by Sport Singapore, it had the only BMX track in Singapore and a 13km-long mountain bike trail ^{[47] [48]}. An estimated 2,600 riders visited the park each month. In 2010, Tampines Bike Park hosted BMW events during the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. It officially closed on 17 September 2014, to make way for housing and future developments in Tampines North.

There are other parks in Tampines outside the New Town. Changi Business Park Garden is one of them, serving employees in the area. It runs through the centre of the business park, with The Signature building to its south. There are two large ponds and an amphitheatre in the garden.

Zone H of East Coast Park features the only beach in Tampines. Located just south of the National Service Resort & Country Club (NSRCC), the beach in this zone can extend up to 100 metres out to sea during extreme low tides. East Coast Park offers residents an uninterrupted cycling path to the Central Business District (CBD). It also connects to Changi Airport to its northeast.

Community parks and nature ways

The other parks in Tampines New Town are mainly community parks — Tampines North Park, Tampines Leisure Park, Tampines Central Park, Tampines Park, Festival Park, Tampines Green, Tampines Tree Garden, and some neighbourhood parks. These small parks serve as outdoor spaces for residents to engage in exercise activities near their homes. Occasionally, community-related events are held at Festival Park. They also serve as nodes of the Tampines Nature Way.

Tampines Nature Way, characterised by its lush vegetation of trees and shrubs, is designed to mimic natural forest ecosystems. One of many nature ways in Singapore, it serves as a vital corridor for wildlife, like including birds and butterflies, to move between green spaces.^[49] Tampines Nature Way connects Tampines Eco Green, Bedok Reservoir and Pasir Ris Park, which have rich biodiversity, to the urban areas in Tampines. This also fosters a deeper appreciation of Singapore's City in Nature initiative.^[50]

Simei Nature Way serves a similar purpose, connecting green spaces in adjacent neighbourhoods. It also connects the extensive Tampines Nature Way to the Upper Changi Nature Way.^[51]

In the future, more green spaces will be added in Tampines. According to the URA Masterplan 2019, a plot of land beside the future Tampines GreenQuartz neighbourhood in Tampines West has been earmarked for a future community park.

Park connector

Tampines Park Connector is one of many under the Park Connector Network (PCN) in Singapore that aims to promote cycling and connect parks together with shared-use paths. With a combined length of 7 kilometres, the Tampines Park Connector provides residents with an alternative means of traversing the town and visiting other parks in Singapore.^[52]

The northeastern section of Tampines Park Connector runs along Sungei Tampines. Between 2018 and 2022, the concrete canal was rebuilt into a naturalised waterway under a contract by PUB, marking the third project of its kind in Singapore. The project, which cost S$48.827 million, features lookout decks on both sides, allowing visitors to experience the waterway up close.^[53]

Undesignated park

On the outskirts of Tampines lies an undesignated park, Tampines Quarry Park. It used to be a sand quarry in the early to mid-1900s, to support the development boom in the 20th century. Rainwater has since filled the quarry. It is not equipped with any facilities, but this park still remains popular among nearby residents and off-road cycling enthusiasts. As it is hidden behind lush greenery, there are no signs or entrances to the park, though there are hidden pathways to enter.

Transport

Road network

A network of expressways, namely the Pan-Island Expressway, East Coast Parkway and Tampines Expressway, and arterial roads allow easy movement within the town and link it to other parts of the island. Tampines Avenue 10, an arterial street, forms the start/end of the Outer Ring Road System, a semi-expressway.

Mass rapid transit

There are currently 6 MRT stations that serve the planning area across 2 lines, the East West line and Downtown line. Both lines have two interchange stations at Tampines MRT station and Expo MRT station on the Changi Airport Branch line. The stations of the Downtown line were opened on 21 October 2017 as part of DTL3. The 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 is a future underground station as part of the DTL3 extension, which will be completed in 2026, in tandem with Stage 5 of the Thomson–East Coast line.

Tampines North MRT station is another station under construction in Tampines, and will be located in the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub. It is part of the 29-kilometre Phase 1 of the Cross Island line, which will be operational from 2030.

Bus

There are three bus interchanges — Tampines Bus Interchange, Tampines North Bus Interchange and Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange. All of them are located in Tampines New Town.

Tampines Bus Interchange is the primary bus interchange serving Tampines New Town in Singapore, operated by SBS Transit Ltd and owned by the Land Transport Authority. It complements the high-capacity rail network^[54] and supports the hub-and-spoke transport model.^[55][56] Tampines Bus Interchange hosts 23 bus services that cater to approximately 325,000 passengers daily, making it the fourth busiest bus interchange in Singapore.^[57] The interchange has evolved from the original Tampines Bus Terminal established in 1983, which was later replaced by a larger temporary terminal to accommodate the increasing population and transport demand.^[58][59]

The current Tampines Bus Interchange, located in Tampines Central, began operations in phases starting in November 1987.^[60] Built at a cost of S$5 million, it features 85 bus bays and a comprehensive set of trunk and feeder services linking Tampines to the rest of Singapore.^[60] The interchange underwent refurbishments in 2008 to become barrier-free,^[61] and again in 2017 to add new alighting berths to prevent bus bunching.

Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange opened on 18 December 2016, to manage peak-hour demand and passenger load at the adjacent Tampines Bus Interchange.^[62] It was designated for new services with lower demand.^[63]

Tampines North Bus Interchange opened on 27 November 2022 to serve new residents in Tampines North. It will be redeveloped to be part of the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub (ITH).^[64][65]

Changi Business Park Bus Terminal is a bus terminal in the northern part of Changi Business Park. The terminal, which opened on December 20, 2015, introduced two new Bus Services Enhancement Programme (BSEP) bus services to enhance transportation options around the Changi Business Park.

Infrastructure

Transportation depot

The East Coast Integrated Depot (ECID) in Xilin, currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2026, will serve three MRT lines: the East–West Line, the Downtown Line, and the Thomson–East Coast Line. Located beside the soon-to-be-demolished Changi Depot, it will be Singapore's first MRT depot to support three MRT lines and the third to integrate a bus depot. This integrated model is expected to save 44 hectares of land. It will accommodate over 200 trains of various sizes and lengths, along with more than 550 buses.^[66]

District cooling system

Tampines is set to become the first town centre in Singapore to implement a district cooling system, a significant milestone announced on April 18.^[67] This innovative Distributed District Cooling (DDC) network will connect seven commercial buildings in Tampines Central. Scheduled to be operational by the first half of 2025, the DDC will utilise the existing cooling systems of these buildings to produce and distribute chilled water through interconnected pipes, thereby providing efficient cooling across the network.

The implementation of the DDC network in Tampines is expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions and achieve substantial energy savings. SP Group and Temasek project that the network will lower carbon emissions by 1,359 tonnes annually, equivalent to removing 1,236 cars from Singapore's roads, and save over 2.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy each year, enough to power more than 905 three-room HDB households.^[67] By optimising the existing chiller plants and using injection nodes at Century Square, Our Tampines Hub, and Tampines One, the system will enhance cooling efficiency and reduce equipment costs for building owners. This project not only demonstrates the potential for integrating sustainable solutions into existing urban infrastructures but also aligns with Singapore’s broader climate ambitions, contributing to a low-carbon future.

Emergency services

The 2nd SCDF Division Headquarters, located on the western border of Tampines, has been operational since January 26, 2006. It features an underground command post, which enhances its command and control capabilities during emergencies.^[68] A public education centre was also set up to promoting community preparedness. The Tampines Fire Station, co-located with the Division Headquarters, occupies the first two levels of the seven-story building. Staffed by 140 personnel, the fire station's location along the Tampines Avenue 10 thoroughfare allows for rapid response to emergencies in the residential areas of Tampines and Pasir Ris, as well as high-risk premises in the nearby industrial parks.^[68]

Tampines Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) is a mid-sized police station in Tampines West. It is under the regional command of the Bedok Police Division. Tampines NPC was one of the first NPCs to adopt the new Community Policing System (COPS), which aims to improve the way NPCs work with the community. Tampines East Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) and Tampines North NPP were also established for residents to access police services with ease, such as submitting police reports and applying for various permits.

Cycling town

Tampines is Singapore's pioneering cycling town. It established its first dedicated cycling paths as early as 2010. These paths link residential areas in Tampines, with key amenities such as MRT stations and community centres. In 2017, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently announced plans to triple the existing 6.9km cycling path network to about 21km, exceeding the cycling infrastructure in other new towns.^[69] Enhancements include widening existing paths, improving bicycle crossings with additional signage, and establishing trunk routes connecting Tampines to neighbouring towns and key employment hubs such as Changi Business Park.

This cycling town project aims to promote cycling as a sustainable mode of transport, and enhance the overall liveability and accessibility of Tampines.

In Tampines, there is a wide availability of shared bicycles provided by two operators, HelloRide and Anywheel. These services offer convenient access to bicycles for both residents and visitors, facilitating short trips around the town at low cost.

References

Bibliography

• National Heritage Board (2002), Singapore's 100 Historic Places, Archipelago Press, ISBN 981-4068-23-3

External links

• Tampines Town Council