Tampines

Tampines (/ˈtæmpəniːs/ TAM-pə-nees or TEM-pə-nees) is the regional centre of the East Region of Singapore. With a population of 265,340 living across its five subzones, it is the second-most populous planning area in Singapore, according to the DOS Population Trends 2022. It is home to approximately 5% of Singapore's population. Tampines is bordered to the west by Bedok and Paya Lebar, to the north by Pasir Ris, to the east by Changi, and to the south by the Straits of Singapore. Situated in the historical region of Tanah Merah, its present-day terrain is particularly flat due to the large-scale sand quarrying in the 1960s.

Tampines is composed of five subzones — Tampines North, Tampines East, Tampines West, Simei and Xilin. These subzones were created in the early 1990s predominantly for urban planning purposes and have no relation to the three political constituencies in Tampines. Four of its subzones are largely residential with the exception of Xilin, which has a fair mix of commercial, industrial and recreational facilities. Xilin is home to Singapore Expo, the largest convention center in Singapore, and features the largest agglomeration of golf courses in Singapore.

As the first regional centre in Singapore, Tampines has progressed from a remote neighbourhood in the 1980s to a vibrant commercial hub. It is one of three regional centres in the city-state, serving to decentralise economic activity from the Central Business District to other parts of the island, an idea first proposed in the 1991 Concept Plan. Several large insurance companies, real estate corporations and financial institutions, such as OCBC and UOB, have shifted their back-end operations to the regional centre. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, it now has 200,000 m² of office space and 112,000 m² of retail space. Tampines is also home to Changi Business Park, Singapore’s largest integrated business park. It is a 71,000 m² project that houses many multinational corporations, including J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, IBM and Standard Chartered. As of 2016, it has 152,400 resident working persons, the second-highest in Singapore, according to the Department of Statistics.

Tampines New Town in the north is a densely-populated residential town, and regarded as the core of the planning area. Its boundaries, as delineated by the Housing Development Board, exclude Xilin and the private housing estates of Simei. It spans 1200 hectares, of which 549 hectares is residential area, the largest of any town in Singapore. It is currently the third-most populous town in Singapore, with 232,700 residents (as of 2018). Amidst rapid ongoing development in Tampines North and with a projected ultimate of 110,000 dwelling units, Tampines is expected to become the most populous town in Singapore in the near future. Regarded as a mature estate by the Government, it is the first estate in Singapore to employ its own municipal services office, given the variety of municipal issues it has to handle. Enforcement of certain minor infractions has also been delegated to Tampines Municipal Services through its enforcement officers.