Jurong West

This article is about the town called Jurong West. For the geographical region which the town is a part of, see Jurong.
Jurong West
Planning Area and HDB Town
Other transcription(s)
  Chinese 裕廊西
  Pinyin Yù Láng Xī
  Malay Jurong Barat
  Tamil ஜூரோங் மேற்கு
From top left to right: Jurong Point with Boon Lay MRT Station in the foreground, Flats along Jurong West Street 81, Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre, Terraced housing along Westwood Avenue, Flats along Jurong West Street 91
Jurong West

Location of Jurong West within Singapore

Coordinates: SG 1°20′40.20″N 103°42′24.54″E / 1.3445000°N 103.7068167°E / 1.3445000; 103.7068167
Country  Singapore
Region

West Region


CDC
Town councils
  • Chua Chu Kang Town Council
  • Jurong-Clementi Town Council
  • West Coast Town Council
Constituencies
Government
  Mayor

South West CDC


  Members of Parliament

Chua Chu Kang GRC

  • Yee Chia Hsing

Jurong GRC

West Coast GRC

Hong Kah North SMC

Pioneer SMC

Area[1][2]
  Total 14.69 km2 (5.67 sq mi)
  Residential 4.8 km2 (1.9 sq mi)
Population (2015)[1][2]
  Total 272,660
  Density 19,000/km2 (48,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)

Official

  • Jurong West resident

Colloquial

  • Jurong Wester
  • West Jurongian
  • West Juronger
  • West Jurongster
Postal district 22
Dwelling units 70,323
Projected ultimate 94,000

Jurong West /rɒŋ wɛst/ (Chinese: 裕廊西, Tamil: ஜூரோங் மேற்கு), also known as Jurong West New Town, and often referred to as Jurong, is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. It borders the Western Water Catchment and Tengah to the north, Boon Lay and Pioneer to the south and its sister town of Jurong East to the east.

Created by the Housing and Development Board after the dissolution of Jurong Town in 1979,[3] the new town has been the center of housing development in the Jurong region since the 1980s. Today, Jurong West is home to a large demographic of residents, being the second most populated new town in Singapore.

Subzones

A housing estate in Yunnan

There are 9 subzones in Jurong West,[4] namely:

History

Main article: Jurong § History

The development of Jurong started in the 1970s when estates such as Boon Lay Place, Taman Jurong, Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak, Hong Kah, Teban Gardens and Yuhua were built, mostly due to the resettlement of Hong Kah and surrounding villages. Boon Lay Place, Taman Jurong and Hong Kah formed Jurong West.

In the 1950s, Jurong West was mainly dominated by swamps with low hills covered by shrubs and a thick jungle. It was developed into an industrial estate in the 1960s, supported by low-cost housing. Amenities such as government dispensaries, a private hospital, creches, hawker centres and banks were built in the 1970s during efforts to develop Singapore economically.

Up to the late 1980s, only part of the Jurong West housing estate had been developed, specifically the area between Boon Lay Place estate and Jurong East. In the early 1990s, a new section of Pioneer Road North was built to connect the present Jurong West Extension to Upper Jurong Road. This signalled the start of the development of Jurong West Extension. Today, the area is also served by the PIE which was extended to Tuas from Corporation Road, also in the early 1990s.

In 1982, Jurong West New Town started expanding as Jurong West Extension, which saw the realignment of the PIE to make it go through the southern boundary of present-day NTU, while converting the former section into Jurong West Avenue 2 and renaming the original Upper Jurong Road into Jurong West Avenue 4. Pioneer Road was extended North wards from present-day Upper Jurong Road as Pioneer Road North to the new PIE exit, which signalled the start of the development of Jurong West Extension (Nanyang, Jurong West Central and Gek Poh).[5] The N9 estate was the first to be built and the N6 estate was the last, in the early 2000s. The MRT Line was extended from Lakeside to Boon Lay in 1990 and again to Pioneer in 2009.

Located next to the Jurong Industrial Estate, managed by JTC, it is common to find foreign workers hanging out in the neighborhood and influx of foreign workers and foreign expatriates in the region has been a concern among the residents in the area.

Politics

Though a single neighborhood, Jurong West is divided into two GRCs (Jurong and West Coast) and two SMCs (Hong Kah North and Pioneer) and with 3 Town Councils managing different parts of the neighborhood, namely the Jurong-Clementi Town Council, West Coast Town Council and Chua Chu Kang Town Council.

Nonetheless, though divided into smaller constituencies, the neighborhood is collectively managed by the PAP.

Transport

Jurong West is connected through the two MRT stations Boon Lay and Pioneer respectively, with one bus interchange integrated into Boon Lay MRT Station.

Tourism

Retail

The largest suburban mall in Singapore, Jurong Point Shopping Mall is well-accessible by bus services from all the residential precincts of Jurong except Yuhua and Teban Gardens. This mall targets the young adults and family populations with stalls selling fashion, food and beverage, sports, entertainment and lifestyle products, and the elderly population with body-wellness stores and healthcare centres. It is well linked to the Boon Lay MRT Station and Boon Lay Bus Interchange.

There are other shopping malls in Jurong but are well-known only within the precinct they are in, such as 'Hong Kah Point' in Hong Kah and 'Taman Jurong Shopping Centre' in Taman Jurong. Therefore, it is recommended that one should read the pages of the various precincts to understand more about the shopping centres in Jurong.

Education

There are 24 primary and secondary schools in Jurong West and 1 JC, The Nanyang Technological University, a major university in Singapore is located at Yunnan

Primary Schools

Secondary Schools

Junior Colleges

Universities

Other Schools

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jurong West.
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