Tampines

Tampines (/tæmpəˈniːs/) is a planning area and residential town in the geographical region of Tanah Merah located along the north-eastern coast of the East Region of Singapore. The planning area is bordered by Bedok and Paya Lebar to the west, Pasir Ris to the north, Changi to the east, and the Singapore Straits to the south. Tampines New Town is located in the northern portion of Tampines planning area. Tampines is the third-largest new town in Singapore by area, covering over 2089 hectares of land, and also is the third most populated new town, following Bedok and Jurong West. It is the regional centre for the East Region.

Tampines
Planning Area and Regional Centre
Other transcription(s)
 • Chinese淡滨尼
 • MalayTampines
 • Tamilதெம்பினிஸ்
Tampines
Location of Tampines within Singapore
Coordinates: 1°20′58.53″N 103°57′24.44″E
Country Singapore
RegionEast Region
CDCs
Town councils
  • Aljunied-Hougang Town Council
  • Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council
  • East Coast-Fengshan Town Council
  • Tampines Town Council
Constituencies
Government
 • MayorsNorth East CDC

South East CDC

 • Members of ParliamentAljunied GRC

East Coast GRC

Tampines GRC

Area
 • Total20.89 km2 (8.07 sq mi)
 • Residential5.49 km2 (2.12 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)[1][2][3]
 • Total256,730
 • Density12,000/km2 (32,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Official
  • Tampines resident

Colloquial

  • Tampinesian
Postal district
16, 18
Dwelling units66,599
Projected ultimate110,000

History
Tampines Avenue 10
Apartment blocks in Tampines Town

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

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.

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.

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.[4] 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. 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,[5] 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.[6] The upcoming condominium is Treasure at Tampines.[6]

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 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
Tampines Mall
IKEA Tampines

Retail shopping in the Tampines Regional Centre is done at three main shopping malls: Tampines Mall, Century Square and Tampines 1. Commercial tenants of the shopping centres include restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, cinemas, bookstores, jewellery, and gift shops.

While outside of Tampines Town, there is also Eastpoint Mall, Singapore Expo, and Changi City Point nearby.

On 30 November 2006, IKEA opened its second outlet 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 Singapore at Tampines 1.[7]

Community services
Tampines Regional Library

The Tampines Regional Library was located at Tampines Central and has now moved its facilities to the Our Tampines Hub.

Parks

The three main parks in the Tampines Town are Sunplaza Park, at Tampines Avenue 7 and 9; Tampines Bike Park (which officially closed on 17 September 2014, as to make way for the future developments of the future Tampines North New Town.[8]), at the junction of Tampines 9 and 7; and NParks latest nature park as of 24 April 2011, Tampines Eco Green,[9] at the junction of Tampines 12 and 9. All of the parks are close to each other and interconnected by a walking and bicycle path.

The other parks in Tampines 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. Occasionally, community-related events are held at Festival Park.

There's also another unofficial park in Tampines Town. It is Tampines Quarry Park, which initially was a sand quarry. As time passed, rainwater filled the quarry. It is the only park in Tampines that is not equipped with any facilities, but this park is still popular among residents living nearby. There are no signs to the park, and there is no entrance as it is hidden among the greenery. There are hidden pathways to enter.

In the future, there will be a new central park added in Tampines Town, which is called Tampines Boulevard Park, which will be located at the future Tampines North New Town. There will also be more new neighbourhood parks added in the future in both Tampines Town and Tampines North New Town and the developments in the area.

Our Tampines Hub

Our Tampines Hub[10][11] 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.

Politics

Originally, Tampines was under the Tampines Single Member Constituency when it was still under development up until 1988, where its population was grown and made into Tampines Group Representation Constituency. The National Solidarity Party (and later Singapore Democratic Alliance in the 2001 and 2006 elections) had always contested in the town in all the general elections except in 1997, when the party was disqualified. Still, the ruling People's Action Party won in every election they contested.

Since 2020, Tampines was divided into three Group Representation Constituencies, namely the namesake Tampines (central and regional centre), Aljunied (Bedok Reservoir and Temasek Polytechnic) and East Coast (the subregion of Simei). Tampines was led by the PAP, among which the MPs include Minister of the Environment and Water Resources and Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, except for Aljunied being led by the Workers' Party of Singapore.

From 2011 to 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat was leading the area before transferring to East Coast GRC. Similarly, from 2001 to 2020, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC also surrounds the area of IKEA and Giant hypermarket, before the remaining parts of Tampines were transferred to Tampines GRC.

Transportation
Tampines MRT station

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:

Xilin MRT station will be a future station as part of the DTL3 extension, which will be completed in 2024 in tandem with Stage 4 of the Thomson-East Coast Line.

Tampines North will be the newest future station added to Tampines. It will be located in Tampines North New Town, and it is part of the stations in Stage 1 of the Cross Island Line, which will be completed in 2029.

Bus

There are two bus interchanges, the Tampines Bus Interchange and Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange. Tampines Bus Interchange has been operating since 1983 as a bus terminus, and later on, it moved to Tampines Central 1 in 1987. Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange was opened on 18 December 2016 to increase the capacity of the existing Tampines Bus Interchange.[12][13]

A third bus interchange, Tampines North Bus Interchange, is currently under planning and will be part of the Tampines North Integrated Transport Hub (ITH).[14]

Changi Business Park Bus Terminal is a bus terminal in the northern part of Changi Business Park. It opened on 20 December 2015 and housed 2 BSEP bus services.

This is a list of bus interchanges, bus hubs, and coach bays in Tampines. Bus-stops are excluded from the list.

Name Code Road/Location Services Type Owner
Tampines Bus Interchange 75009 Tampines Central 1 3, 3A, 4, 8, 10, 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 29, 29A, 31, 31A, 37, 38, 46, 65, 67, 67W, 68, 68A, 68B, 69, 72, 81, 127, 127A, 291(E), 291(W), 292, 293(E), 293(W), 969 Bus interchange Land Transport Authority
Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange 75019 Tampines Concourse 18, 39, 129, 298 Bus interchange Land Transport Authority
Blk 302 76109 Tampines Avenue 2 2N, 8, 9, 12, 12e, 17, 18, 28, 34, 34B, 38, 39, 59, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Blk 370 76249 Tampines Avenue 7 3, 4, 9, 12, 12e, 17, 19, 21, 29, 34, 34B, 37, 39, 59, 81, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Blk 401 76199 Tampines Avenue 7 4, 8, 15, 15A, 18, 19, 27, 27A, 28, 29, 29, 37, 38, 81, 129, 168, 291, 293, 298 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Blk 497D 76241 Tampines Avenue 7 3, 3A, 4, 9, 9A, 12, 12e, 17, 19, 21, 29, 34, 34B, 37, 39, 59, 81, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Blk 503 76199 Tampines Avenue 7 4, 8, 15, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 37, 38, 81, 129, 168, 291, 293, 298 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Opp Temasek Poly 75231 Tampines Avenue 1 8, 15, 23, 69, 118, 118A, 129, 513, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Our Tampines Hub 76051 Tampines Avenue 5 3, 10, 20, 22, 23, 31, 34, 34B, 39, 65, 67, 292, 293 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Tampines East CC 76101 Tampines Avenue 2 3, 3A, 8, 9, 9A, 12, 12e, 17, 18, 28, 34, 34B, 38, 39, 59, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Tampines West Stn Exit B 75051 Tampines Avenue 1 5, 8, 15, 18, 21, 23, 28, 59, 65 67, 118, 118A, 168, 513, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Temasek Poly 75239 Tampines Avenue 1 2N, 8, 15, 15A, 23, 69, 118, 118B, 129, 513, 518 Bus hub Land Transport Authority
Our Tampines Hub Coach Bay - South Plaza @ Our Tampines Hub WTS Coach (Genting), WTS Coach (Kuala Lumpur), WTS Coach (Malacca), WTS City Express (Kuala Lumpur), WTS City Express (Malacca), WTS City Express (Klang/Shah Alam), WTS City Express (Ipoh), WTS City Express (Penang), Science Centre Shuttle, Sentosa Shuttle, Mandai Express Coach bay Our Tampines Hub
Tampines MRT Station Bus Shelter - Tampines MRT Station Exit B Tampines Retail Park Shuttle, NTU Shuttle, AEON JB Shuttle, KKKL Travel & Tours (Malacca), KKKL Travel & Tours (KL Sentral), Republic Poly Shuttle, CSC Changi Resort Shuttle, Ngee Ann Poly Shuttle, NYP Shuttle, The Santorini Shuttle, Park Olympia Shuttle, Waterview Shuttle, SPACE @ TAMPINES Shuttle Bus shelter -

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

Tertiary institutions

Secondary schools

International schools

References

  • National Heritage Board (2002), Singapore's 100 Historic Places, Archipelago Press, ISBN 981-4068-23-3
  1. "Tampines (Planning Area, Singapore) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de.
  2. "Land Area and Dwelling Units by Town". Data Singapore. 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  3. "Statistics Singapore - Geographic Distribution - 2018 Latest Data". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  4. "Tampines". Housing and Development Board. Housing and Development Board. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  5. "Tampines Court sold en bloc for $970m (Aug 24, 2017) - Treasure At Tampines 66802508 Singapore".
  6. "Treasure At Tampines Developer Sales Team - 61001880 Singapore". 28 May 2019.
  7. "First Uniqlo Singapore outlet to open on Thursday". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  8. "BMX fans to get new track after Tampines park closes". AsiaOne/The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  9. "New Tampines Eco Green to nurture love for nature". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  10. "Tampines to have Town Hub by 2015". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  11. Chan, Luo Er (30 August 2015). "Tampines New Town Hub to open progressively from end-2016". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  12. "Sengkang and Tampines bus interchanges to be expanded". Today Online. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  13. "Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange". Land Transport Guru. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  14. "Tampines North Bus Interchange | Land Transport Guru". Land Transport Guru. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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