Tampines Town Council launches 5-year masterplan to enhance regional centre

SINGAPORE – Residents living in Tampines will see new infrastructure introduced to cement its position as Singapore’s most well-connected town. By 2027, residents will have a cycling bridge, an underpass and another 7.7km of cycling paths, which will bring the total to 40km. The additions, announced on Feb 22, are part of Tampines Town Council’s five-year masterplan for 2025 to 2030.

Tampines was described as Singapore’s most well-connected regional centre in a book on urbanisation launched in 2024. The town council said everything residents need in the town is already just a short walk, cycle or public transport ride away. The new infrastructure, which includes a pedestrian route between Tampines MRT station and the malls in the town, will add to the regional centre’s status as Singapore’s most well-connected 20-minute town.

A 20-minute town is where all journeys to the nearest neighbourhood centre using public, active and shared modes of transport can be completed in under 20 minutes.

It is one of the targets of the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Land Transport Master Plan 2040. Speaking at the launch, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said the masterplan sets the stage for Tampines to become a people-first town centre.

In an accompanying statement, the Tampines Town Council said residents will be roped in to help Tampines become a pedestrian-friendly town centre with “world-class streets”. The creation of a pedestrian-friendly town centre is already taking shape. Among other things, LTA has been exploring the transformation of part of Tampines Central 5 into a pedestrianised street between the malls in Tampines Town Centre and Tampines MRT station.

The town council’s plan will add to this.

Mr Masagos, an MP for Tampines GRC, who is also Second Minister for Health and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said agencies are also studying plans for a new integrated transport hub that will anchor a seamless pedestrian and active-mobility network.

“Within this new integrated transport hub, your family could stroll through lively streets of shops, hip cafes and lush greenery,” he added, painting a picture of pedestrian-friendly streets similar to those in major cities like Osaka.

With the fully pedestrian-friendly town centre, Mr Masagos said there “will be no need to fight for parking – because when you live, when you work, when you play in Tampines, you can do so without a car”. He said this is already a reality today, adding: “We can already walk across the proposed and renewed town centre in five minutes and cycle from anywhere in Tampines to the town centre in 10 minutes. “Our town centre will be a model of living green... This isn’t just a dream.” More broadly, the town council said it would continue to consult residents on how they want community spaces to be designed.

At the launch, it laid out what more than 1,200 Tampines residents said they wish to see incorporated in future public spaces from its latest round of engagements. They include “play spaces”, with features that nurture children’s problem-solving and creative skills, and amenities that promote wellness and relieve stress beyond building fitness and health. The wish list also includes senior-friendly features that promote active ageing, as well as designs that reflect the neighbourhood’s identity.

The town council said the reimagined Tampines Central Park will feature a play zone for families to bond, multi-generational fitness amenities and multi-sports play courts. The park links Our Tampines Hub and Tampines Street 83. The town council said that while co-creating liveable community spaces is a priority, taking care of seniors is still at the heart of its vision for a more inclusive and caring Tampines.

The plans include new infrastructure and amenities with elderly-friendly features, such as upcycled MRT seats under linkways to provide more resting spots as residents go about their errands. The town council is also looking to have more overhead bridges with lifts and barrier-free access, and to incorporate more safety features on roads to make the streets in Tampines safer.

The town council added that the five-year masterplan for 2025 to 2030 is a “bold vision for Tampines, with transformative urban developments that will take the town to greater heights”. Mr Masagos said the journey ahead “calls for bold vision, unwavering effort, and the collective effort of us all”. “But if history has shown us anything at all, Tampines always leads the way. Together, we will not just build a town.

We will build a legacy,” he added. Tampines’ five-year plan was announced next to the new Tampines Boulevard Park, which was designed with residents’ inputs in 2020. The park, in the Tampines North area, is a “testament to promises delivered by the Tampines team” in the last five years as its elected representatives, said the town council. The launch on Feb 22 was attended by three other Tampines MPs. They are: Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Sustainability and the Environment; Mr Desmond Choo, who serves as Mayor of North East District; and Mr Baey Yam Keng, who is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment and Transport. Dr Charlene Chen – a People’s Action Party (PAP) new face who has been featured on banners with the elected Tampines MPs – was at the launch as well. Dr Chen, an academic, is currently second adviser for Tampines GRC grassroots organisations.

Another new face, Mr Gabriel Lam, the chief operating officer of Shalom Movers, a Singapore-based moving company founded by his father, was also spotted at the event. He posed for photos with Dr Koh, as the Tampines MPs spent the morning planting 60 trees at the Tampines Boulevard Park to celebrate SG60. Mr Lam also walked with the MPs as they toured an exhibit laying out the plans for Tampines, and sat in the front row with the MPs when Mr Masagos spoke.

Mr Lam declined to comment when asked if he will be fielded in the upcoming general election, which must be held by November. He told The Straits Times that he has been involved in Tampines for almost a year. He said he attended the event on Feb 22, as he chairs the management committee of the Tampines Boulevard Community Club, which is expected to be ready in 2029. Located along Tampines Avenue 11, the CC – set to be Tampines’ sixth – is built to serve those living in the new public housing flats and upcoming executive condominiums in Tampines North. It will be part of a mixed-use development housing a shopping mall, bus interchange, MRT station, hawker centre and residential units. The tender for the mixed-use development was recently awarded to CapitaLand and UOL.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Choo said the slate of candidates for Tampines GRC will be decided by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. “Our focus has always been to do our very best and work very hard up to the point where the Prime Minister will decide,” he said. He added that the role of the MPs is to lay out an implementable plan that has the weight and trust of residents behind it. “We have delivered over the years.

“This has given our residents assurance that as long as the Tampines team is united, together with our residents, we can indeed deliver these promises,” he said. Asked when the Osaka-like pedestrianised shopping street in Tampines will be ready, Mr Choo said the effort will kick off with a feedback-gathering exercise among residents. The town council will then work with government agencies to pull off the plan. “In Tampines, we always believe that the agencies here do not have a monopoly on good ideas,” Mr Choo added. “It is best that we work collectively, consult widely, and involve as many residents as we can.

“It’s something that will take time, but ultimately, I think, will be worth the time and effort.” In 2020, the PAP team helmed by Mr Masagos retained Tampines GRC with 66.4 per cent of the vote in the last election against the National Solidarity Party. This was lower than its score in 2015, when it won 72.1 per cent with then Education Minister Heng Swee Keat as the constituency’s anchor minister. Mr Heng, who was in the running to be the next prime minister back in 2020, left to strengthen the slate at the adjacent East Coast GRC, facing the Workers’ Party. The fifth elected MP for Tampines GRC was Ms Cheng Li Hui who vacated her seat at Tampines East in July 2023 following her affair with then Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin.