Singapore is divided into five regions on the highest level, which serve as urban planning subdivisions demarcated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to support its planning work. Over time, other government agencies have also adopted these five regions for administrative purposes, such as the Department of Statistics in conducting censuses. The regions are further subdivided into 55 planning areas on the second level, which include two water catchment areas, and planning areas are further divided into subzones on the lowest level. The largest region in terms of area is the West Region with 218.4km2 (84.3sqmi), while the Central Region is the most populous with an estimated population of 922,980 inhabitants in the area in 2019.[3]
The country is governed as a unitary state without provinces or states. While referenced by some government organisations, these regions are not formal administrative subdivisions but are mainly geographical in nature or used for urban planning. For local governance, Singapore is divided into five Community Development Council (CDC) districts on the second level, each headed by a mayor. These districts are made up of electoral constituencies, which are administered at the lowest level by town councils. A town council may oversee one or more constituencies, and its boundaries do not necessarily align with those of CDC districts. CDC mayors are not directly elected but are Members of Parliament (MPs) representing constituencies within their respective districts.[a] Electoral boundaries can change with each general election, while regional and planning area boundaries have remained largely fixed.
Regional centres
Prior to 1991, urban planners in Singapore preferred to have a strong commercial zone in the centre of the metropolitan area. Coupled with a disjointed residential developments in the northern and eastern areas, and industrial developments in the western areas of Singapore, this resulted in citizens having to travel across the island to their work or retail destinations. To address such issues and further improve city planning, the concept of regional centres was introduced in 1991 with the 1991 Master Plan.[4][5]
Internationally, regional centres are typically new urban places or self-contained independent cities with their own mix of urban functions.[4][5] However, as the land mass of Singapore is small, the term, regional centre, takes on a localised meaning: a functional node that is designed to serve as a smaller-scale downtown area between town centres in new residential towns and the main central business district in the Central Area. These centres are planned to offer a variety of commercial, retail, entertainment, and other amenities to residents in the surrounding areas. They are strategically located in areas that are well-served by the Mass Rapid Transit system, an efficient bus system, and an extensive road network.[5] These regional centres are aimed to decentralised the amenities that's previously concentrated in the city's core.
There are four regional centres in Singapore, which were identified in the 1991 Master Plan. There is no regional centre for the Central Region as the city-centre itself de facto serves as one.[4] The first regional centre to be developed was Tampines Regional Centre, located in the East Region, Singapore, along with the introduction of the 1991 Master Plan. Subsequently, Jurong East Regional Centre (West Region, Singapore), also known as the Jurong Lake District, was being developed next in 2008,[6] with renewed plans unveiled in 2023.[7] Woodlands Regional Centre (North Region, Singapore) was mooted in 2014.[6][8] Lastly, plans for Seletar Regional Centre (North-East Region, Singapore) has yet to be unveiled; as such Punggolde facto currently serves as the regional centre of the North-East, which includes the Punggol Digital District.[9][10]
1 2 3 4 5 6 Population figures are for residents as of 30 June 2020. In Singapore, "residents" include citizens and permanent residents but do not include the approximately 1.6 million non-permanent residents of Singapore.
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