• The Mandarin term “新镇” is a paraphrase of the English term “new town”.
• The concept of a new town was first seen in Singapore’s 1958 Master Plan.
• While the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was initially responsible for the planning of new towns, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) took over the role after Singapore gained independence.
• In addition to providing people with homes, the Government also hoped that new towns would promote social interaction. Therefore, the planning of new towns included the construction of schools, parks, shops and sports facilities.
• In the 1950s, the SIT built Queenstown, the first new town in Singapore.
• After Singapore’s independence, the first new town built by the HDB was Toa Payoh.
• During the mid-1970s, HDB adopted the New Town Structural Model developed in the late 1960s to build new towns. As a result, living conditions improved. Ang Mo Kio New Town, which started construction in 1973, was designed based on this model.

Tengah New Town will have the first car-free town centre, with dedicated bicycle lanes to encourage people to reduce car usage and create an environmentally friendly living environment. (Lianhe Zaobao, 9/9/2016)