Development of Toa Payoh begins

Toa Payoh is  the second satellite  town after Queenstown that  was  built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).^[1] The plan to develop Toa Payoh was part of a $230 million building programme announced by then Deputy Prime Minister and Acting National Development Minister Toh Chin Chye in August 1960.^[2] However, due to difficulties in relocating the kampong (Malay for “village”) dwellers in the area, actual construction work only began in December 1964.^[3]

Tenders for the first building contract of 840 one-room housing units in Toa Payoh were called in November 1964.^[4] In total, Toa Payoh was envisaged to have 35,000 units to house some 250,000 people.^[5] Forty percent of the flats would be built as one-room rental flats, with the rest as three- or four-room flats.^[6] There were also plans to have about 480 shops, over 20 schools, and other amenities such as markets, clinics, cinemas, community centres, hawker centres and places of worship in Toa Payoh.^[7] These amenities, together with the housing units, were laid out based on the “neighbourhood concept”. This concept divided Toa Payoh into several neighbourhoods before grouping them around a town centre that acted as a focal point for the entertainment and shopping needs of residents. Toa Payoh, therefore, became a self-contained satellite town in which residents would have easy access to the things they needed.^[8] Toa Payoh was intended as a model for subsequent satellite towns built such as Ang Mo Kio and Telok Blangah.^[9]

After serving as the games village of the 7th South East Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games in September 1973, Toa Payoh gained not only a sports complex and a swimming complex but also a public library when the four-story building used to house the SEAP Games Secretariat was converted into a library.^[10] Over the years, more facilities were added within the vicinity of Toa Payoh town centre such as a bus interchange, a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, a park as well as community centres.^[11]

In 1995, Toa Payoh underwent an extensive renewal programme that saw many of its original flats being replaced by newer ones. The town centre was also rejuvenated with better facilities so that it was comparable with the town centres of newer housing estates.^[12]

References
1. Padawangi, R. (2010). The planned suburbanization of a city-state: Singapore's new towns (p. 296). In M. Clapson & R. Hutchison, R. (Eds.), Suburbanization in global society. United Kingdom: Emerald. Retrieved from eBrary Books.
2. Govt. to spend $230 mil. on homes in next five years. (1960, August 10). The Straits Times, p. 10; Pillai, R. G. (1961, January 17). 300,000 will get houses. The Singapore Free Press, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Work to start now on $150 m. satellite town. (1964, November 27). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG..
4. The Straits Times, 27 Nov 1964, p. 4.
5. The Straits Times, 27 Nov 1964, p. 4.
6. Housing and Development Board. (1970). Annual report (p. 70). Singapore: Housing and Development Board. Call no.: RCLOS 711.4095957 SIN; Padawangi, 2010, p. 296; Another 384 four-room flats for Toa Payoh. (1971, April 26). The Straits Times, p. 19. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. The Straits Times, 27 Nov 1964, p. 4; New town's target is 35,000 homes. (1965, May 3). The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
8. Fernandez, W. (2011). Our homes: 50 years of housing a nation (pp. 67–71). Singapore: Straits Times Press. Call no.: RSING 363.585095957 FER.
9. Fernandez, 2011, pp. 67–71.
10. Koh, B. S. (2000). Toa Payoh: Our kind of neighbourhood (pp. 68, 85, 90, 163). Singapore: Times Media for Housing & Development Board. Call no.: RSING 307.76095957 KOH.
11. Koh, 2000, pp. 94–99.
12. Koh, 2000, pp. 59–60.