Hougang
Hougang is a planning area and mature residential town located in the North-East Region of Singapore. It is the largest housing estate in Singapore based on land area, and is home to 247,528 residents as of 2018. Hougang planning area is bordered by Sengkang to the north, Geylang to the south, Bedok to the southeast, Toa Payoh to the southwest, Serangoon to the west and Paya Lebar to the east.
Geography
SubzonesHougang is separated into 10 subzones, Hougang East, Defu Industrial Park, Tai Seng, Lorong Halus, Kangkar, Hougang West, Trafalgar, Lorong Ah Soo, Kovan and Hougang Central.
Etymology and history
Hougang is located upstream or at the back of Sungei Serangoon. The area just beyond the seventh milestone along Punggol Road was formerly considered part of Punggol but is now within Hougang Town and that section of Punggol Road is now Hougang Avenue 8, with Punggol Road starting further north.Pig farming was carried out in Punggol, including the area of Punggol that is now part of Hougang Town. The last of these pig farmers were relocated by the late-1990s to flats built in Hougang.
There was also a fishing port at the end of Upper Serangoon Road beyond the seventh milestone.
The development of Hougang commenced in 1977 with the construction of Tampines Way. Further construction work was subsequently completed in Neighbourhoods 1 – 3 by 1983, and later Neighbourhoods 4 – 7 by 1992. Neighbourhood 8 is the town centre of Hougang and construction was completed in 1994. Neighbourhood 9 is the most recent with a completion date in 2000.
In 2015, a project named Hougang Capeview, a Build-To-Order project at Upper Serangoon Road, became the first public housing project to receive the CONQUAS Star, an accolade administered by the Building and Construction Authority. Hougang Capeview, which comprises 781 residential units in six blocks at Upper Serangoon Road, received a Construction Quality Assessment System score of more than 95, above the national average of 88.2. The CONQUAS score is BCA's measure of construction quality across Singapore.
Shopping
Hougang has 8 shopping malls which are- Hougang Mall, a seven-storey shopping mall with an NTUC FairPrice outlet, Singtel outlet, Starhub outlet, and Popular bookstore. The mall serves the residents of Hougang Central. It was opened in 1997.
- Hougang Green Shopping Mall, a four-storey shopping mall with a 24/7 Giant outlet. The mall serves Hougang West. Built and opened in 1998.
- Hougang Rivercourt - It is a shopping mall integrated as the HDB neighbourhood centre that was opened in May 2022 that are tenants with Sheng Siong, Burger King, and more.
- The Midtown, a mixed development with a condominium and a cluster of shops in Hougang Central.
- Hougang 1, a suburban mall with an NTUC FairPrice Xtra outlet in Hougang West. It was opened in 1999.
- Heartland Mall, a suburban mall in Kovan. It has a Cold Storage outlet and Popular bookstore. It was opened in 1984 as the Oriental Emporium Mall whereas in 2001 is rebranded with this current name of the mall.
- Kang Kar Mall, a two-storey shopping centre which has a Kang Kar Food Court and a two-storey NTUC FairPrice outlet.
- Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, a suburban mall that has a cluster of shops, it serves residents of Kovan.
- Buangkok Square Shopping Mall, a mixed development shopping mall in Buangkok with condominiums and a three-storey shopping mall with McDonald's, and a Prime Supermarket. It was opened in February 2019.
Transport
Bus interchange
Hougang Central Bus Interchange
Hougang Central Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving the town of Hougang. It is located directly above Hougang MRT station. By 2030, Hougang Central Bus Interchange will be modernised to accommodate the Cross Island Line section, in addition to becoming an Integrated Transport Hub.Bus depots
Hougang Bus Depot
Hougang Bus Depot is an SBS Transit West District bus depot located in Hougang, Singapore. As of November 2014, the total fleet is 600 buses. Hougang Bus Depot started operations in 1983 when the north-east which is Hougang and Serangoon was developed and previously, all operations had been on Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot and Bedok Bus Depot respectively.Mass Rapid Transit stations
There are four main stations serving Hougang, as part of the Circle Line and North East Line. Hougang will be served by the Cross Island Line slated to be completed by 2030.- Kovan
- Hougang
- Tai Seng
- Defu
Mass Rapid Transit depots
Kim Chuan Depot
Kim Chuan Depot is a train depot for the Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore. The depot is constructed fully underground and provides maintenance, stabling and operational facilities for the Circle Line. It is located in Hougang, along Upper Paya Lebar Road, and is accessible via Kim Chuan Road. It used to be the first depot in Singapore to serve two independently operated MRT lines, until the adjacent Tai Seng Facility Building became operational with the revenue operation of the Downtown Line Stage 3 on 21 October 2017.Tai Seng Facility Building
Tai Seng Facility Building, abbreviated as TSFB, is an underground train depot for the Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore. The depot is constructed towards the east of Kim Chuan Depot and will provide maintenance, stabling and operational facilities for the Downtown Line. It is located in Hougang along Bartley Road East. It is accessible via a surface building located along Bartley Road East. The depot is approximately 52 metres wide, 295 metres long and 20 metres deep. It is connected to Kim Chuan Depot and has underground access for trains to run between both facilities, allowing Downtown Line trains to be stabled in the Tai Seng Facility Building, and able to access its remote tracks. It is used in tandem with Kim Chuan Depot for the operations of the Downtown Line.Road networks
Two of the oldest main roads: Upper Serangoon Road and Punggol Road run through Hougang since the town's beginning. The town is also linked to other towns by Yio Chu Kang Road in the West, Tampines Road in the East, Upper Paya Lebar Road to the south-East, Buangkok Drive & Buangkok Green in the North.Other roads in Hougang New Town links the town to bigger roads, most importantly Avenue 2, 3 which links the town from East and West.
Amenities
Most of Hougang's commercial activity is centred on a few shopping malls such as Hougang Mall, Kang Kar Mall, Heartland Mall, Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, Hougang Rivercourt Shopping Centre, and Hougang 1.Similar to most other residential towns in Singapore, Hougang was designed to be a partially self-sufficient with enough amenities to minimize the number of residents commuting to the Central Area. Facilities include Hougang Sports Hall, an indoor sports complex operated by Sport Singapore which runs ClubFITT membership and sports programmes, Hougang stadium home to S.League club Hougang United, an aquatics centre, a number of parks such as Punggol Park, along with many wet markets and hawker centres.
One of the more prominent landmarks in Hougang is the Buangkok Green Medical Park, which houses several medical facilities including the Institute of Mental Health and Singapore Leprosy Relief Association.
The Hougang Central Bus Interchange serves Hougang Town with a range of bus services going to other parts of the island. It is located in Hougang Central, near Hougang Mall and it has an underground link to Hougang MRT station. This bus interchange was officially opened on 17 December 1994 by former cabinet minister Goh Chee Wee, who was then Senior Minister of State for Communications, Trade and Industry to serve all buses around the Hougang Area. Its sister bus interchange, Hougang South Bus Interchange ceased operations in 2004 and was converted to Kovan Hub.
Two even older bus terminals operated in Hougang before the construction of the Hougang Central and Hougang South Bus Interchanges. One was at the end of Upper Serangoon Road in Kangkar Village, which was replaced by Hougang Central, while the other was at the sixth and a half milestone of Upper Serangoon Road, which was replaced by Hougang South.