Serangoon: Introduction

11 January 2008

Abstract
Serangoon District is located in the East Region; and the district comprises Serangoon New Town, Serangoon Garden Estate, Braddell Heights Estate and Bartley Estate.

Serangoon is developed in 1982 as the 13th New Town of Singapore. It is one of the three miniature towns conceived in the early 1980s.

Upper Serangoon was populated predominantly by Teochew Chinese with few Malays and Hindus.

Toponymics
Serangoon was named after "Rangong", a species of stork that used to flourish in the swamps around Sungei Serangoon in the past.

Statistics
English Name: Serangoon
Chinese Name: 实龙岗
Year of urban development: 1982
Total Area: 697 hectares
Neighbourhoods: 8
Population: 111,600
Region: East Region
Heritage Road Corridor: Serangoon
Postal District:
1335 (Braddell Heights Estate)
1953 (Bartley Estate)
1955 (Serangoon New Town & Serangoon Garden Estate)

Transport
MRT:
NE12 / CC13 Serangoon
CC12 Bartley
CC14 Lorong Chuan

Expressway:
Central Expressway (CTE)

Bus Interchange:
Serangoon Bus Interchange

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Serangoon: Introduction   © 文彬 2004~2018. All rights reserved.

Serangoon: Geography

Geography
Located approximately 8km northeast of the City in the East Region, Serangoon District is bounded by Central Expressway (CTE) and Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 to the west, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 to the north, Yio Chu Kang Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road to the east, and Bartley Road and Braddell Road to the south. It covers an area of approximately 697 hectares with an estimated population of 111,600 as of June 2011.

Division
Serangoon District comprises 1 New Town (Serangoon) and 3 Estates (Serangoon Garden, Braddell Heights and Bartley). In total, Serangoon District is sub-divided into 8 neighbourhoods.

Serangoon New Town encompass 697 hectares and is divided into 5 neighbourhoods, namely Neighbourhood 1 (Serangoon North), Neighbourhood 2 (Serangoon Central), Neighbourhood 3 (Serangoon West), Neighbourhood 4 (Serangoon South) and Neighbourhood 5 (Hwi Yoh).

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Serangoon: Geography   © 文彬 2004~2018. All rights reserved.

Serangoon: History

Serangoon Road
Serangoon Road extends from Selegie Road northwards to Sungei Serangoon. Serangoon Road is divided into 2 sections, with the latter part from Macpherson Road northwards called Upper Serangoon Road. For decades, Upper Serangoon Road is the main transportation spine serving Upper Serangoon, even up till today.

Besides Serangoon Road, other primary roads connecting Upper Serangoon to other locations were Yio Chu Kang Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road. These three roads were widened in the 1970s.

Upper Serangoon
From post World War II to the 1960s, Upper Serangoon was characterised by a spread of small kampong settlements, rubber plantations, fruit trees plantations, poultry farms and other agricultural activities. The kampongs have their own supply of well water whereas electricity supply was introduced to Serangoon North in the early 1960s.

The plantations were developed into Serangoon Garden Estate and Braddell Heights Estate in the 1950s. A large portion of Upper Serangoon was zoned for the development of Hougang New Town in 1979. The remaining kampongs and undeveloped land were developed into Serangoon New Town.

Serangoon New Town
Development of Serangoon New Town started in 1982 on resettled land scattered in the vicinity of Serangoon Garden, Braddell Heights and Bartley estates. Serangoon is the first of the miniature new town build by Housing & Development Board (HDB). Due to its small size, streets and avenues are not differentiated.

Serangoon New Town is planned into 4 distinct neighbourhoods, namely Serangoon North (Neighbourhood 1), Serangoon Central (Neighbourhood 2), Serangoon West (Neighbourhood 3) and Serangoon South (Neighbourhood 4). Because the town is physically straddles by Serangoon Garden Estate into 2 parts, the name Serangoon North is generally used to differentiate Neighbourhood 1 from the remaining neighbourhoods, which are collectively known as Serangoon Central.

Serangoon is easily identified by the extensive use of red-facing bricks and palm tree graphics on the walls of selected apartment blocks. Furthermore, specially designed apartment blocks with varied weights and forms are located at strategic points for easier orientation.

Serangoon New Town is relatively popular. Hence the town is extended with the addition of Neighbourhood 5 to the north of Neighbourhood 1.

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Serangoon: History   © 文彬 2004~2018. All rights reserved.