Jurong West

Jurong West originated from the area once called Peng Kang, named after the gambier plantations along Sungei Jurong. By the mid-20th century, the area was home to several brickworks, palm oil plantations and nurseries. At that time, the only public housing estates in Jurong West were Boon Lay and Taman Jurong. Jurong West was largely left alone until 1984, when the HDB began conceptualisation for a new town in Jurong West. Jurong West was carved into nine subzones that would house a total of 94,000 public and private housing units in the long term. By November 2004, about 71,522 dwelling units were completed. As of 31 March 2018, there are 74,301 HDB dwelling units in Jurong West. ==Geography==

Jurong West is a primarily residential town situated west of Tengah New Town in the western part of Singapore, under the West Region as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The town is bordered to the north by the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), to the east by Sungei Jurong (Jurong River) and Jurong Lake, to the south by the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), and to the west by Benoi Road and Upper Jurong Road. Jurong West Town Centre is located in Jurong West Central. An industrial area, part of the Jurong Industrial Estate, is located south of Boon Lay Way and Upper Jurong Road. Another industrial area is currently under development in Wenya as part of the Jurong Innovation District. Subzones Jurong West New Town is divided into the following nine subzones. • Boon Lay • Chin Bee • Hong Kah • Jurong West Central • Kian Teck • Safti • Taman Jurong • Wenya • Yunnan , with Wenya in the foreground. ==Demographics==

As of 2025, the most populous subzone in Jurong West is Yunnan with 65,400 residents, closely followed by Jurong West Central with 60,840 residents, while Chin Bee, Kian Teck and Safti are completely unpopulated. Jurong West has a home ownership rate of 91.0% as of 2020. This is higher than the national home ownership rate of 87.9%, reflecting a greater prevalence of homeowners in Jurong West. Ethnicity Jurong West has a greater ethnic diversity in comparison to the national average. Despite having a majority Chinese population, the proportion of residents of Chinese ethnicity, 69.88%, is substantially lower than the national proportion of 74.35%. Religion Consistent with the rest of Singapore, the largest religion in Jurong West is Buddhism, with 78,615 practising residents (34.82% of the population). The second most common group consists of residents practising Islam (46,353 residents, 20.53%), followed by those with no religion (41,074 residents, 18.19%). Additionally, there are 24,184 residents practising Taoism and other Chinese religions (10.71%), as well as 22,114 Christians (9.79%), including 7,769 Catholics (3.44%). Other religious affiliations include Hinduism (12,143 residents, 5.38%), and Sikhism (666 residents, 0.29%). Jurong West is the planning area with the lowest proportion of practising Christians in Singapore, significantly below the national average of 18.92%. Additionally, Jurong West is the only planning area where more residents practise Taoism and other Chinese religions than Christianity. Education As of 2020, 97.0% of the population above 15 is literate, similar to the national literacy rate of 97.1%. 64.6% of residents are literate in two languages, with the most common language pair being English and Chinese (41.5%). 5.5% of Jurong West residents are literate in three or more languages. 48,675 residents (24.0% of the population) in Jurong West have attained a university qualification, lower than the national average of 32.1%, ranking the third lowest in Singapore. In contrast, 24,024 residents, or 11.8% of the population, have no educational qualifications, higher than the national average of 10.6%. Language The proportion of residents in Jurong West using English as the most frequently spoken language (36.5%) is the lowest among all planning areas in Singapore, significantly below the national average of 48.3%. Notably, Jurong West is the only planning area in Singapore where there are more Mandarin Chinese speakers than English speakers. Additionally, there are 9,056 Tamil speakers, representing 84.8% of the 2,695 Indian language speakers in Jurong West. Employment and income According to the 2020 Census of Population, 148,785 residents aged 15 years and over in Jurong West are employed, out of the 156,732 in the labour force. This equates to an employment rate of 94.9%, higher than the national employment rate of 94.2%. The remaining 69,039 residents aged above 15 (30.6%) in Jurong West are outside the labour force. Among the employed residents in Jurong West aged 15 years and over, most earn a gross monthly income of between S$3,000 and S$3,999, with 14.6% being in that category. 6.9% earn less than S$1,000 per month, while 3.6% earn above S$15,000 per month. Notably, the proportion of residents earning less than S$1,000 per month in Jurong West is the second highest in Singapore, behind Yishun. According to the 2020 Census of Population, most resident households in Jurong West have no employed person, encompassing 9.6% of all households. The second highest category for monthly household income is S$20,000 and over, encompassing 8.2% of all households. ==Notable places==

provides a recreation space for people working in the industrial developments along Jalan Boon Lay. Jurong West's two main rivers, Sungei Jurong and Sungei Lanchar, run through the town with a network of green connectors along their banks. They link housing precincts to neighbourhood parks such as Jurong Central Park, as well as the Jurong West Sports Centre, Jurong West Stadium and Frontier Community Centre. These park connectors are linked to the Chinese Garden in Jurong East New Town and the Bukit Batok Town Park in the north, to better serve the recreational needs of the residents of Jurong West. Jurong Central Park, located in Kian Teck, is a rectangular green space created behind Boon Lay MRT station. Jurong West's major public transport amenities were built in tandem with the main public housing development. The elevated track infrastructure of the East West MRT line was developed as the existing public housing blocks were being built in the 1980s. The amenities were built in a contiguous building complex, which gives commuters direct access between Boon Lay MRT station, Boon Lay Bus Interchange, The Centris condominium and Jurong Point shopping centre. ==Transportation==

City planners plan for public transport to eventually become the preferred mode of transport. The government of Singapore uses public transport to reduce pollution caused by heavy road traffic. Jurong West is part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's focus for realising this urban planning model. As Jurong West is relatively distant from the city centre at the Central Area, an efficient, high-volume and high-speed public transport system is also preferred to using road networks, as the government is aiming to reduce the number of cars on the road. Public transport East West Line Jurong West Town is linked to the rest of Singapore via the East West Line (EWL) on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network. There are three MRT stations that serve Jurong West – Lakeside, Boon Lay and Pioneer stations. Boon Lay station is located next to Boon Lay Bus Interchange for commuters' ease of switching across different modes of public transport. The station began operations on 6 July 1990, as the western terminus of the EWL, before additional stations were added further west of the line at Pioneer and Joo Koon on 28 February 2009. Lakeside station, which began operations on 5 November 1988, serves the housing developments in Taman Jurong, Hong Kah and Boon Lay. Pioneer station began operations on 28 February 2009, and serves the residential areas of Nanyang and Pioneer, as well as the industrial areas located south of the station. Jurong Region Line The Jurong Region Line (JRL) is an upcoming 24 km fully elevated MRT line, opening from 2027 onwards. Stations on the line in Jurong West will include an interchange with the existing Boon Lay station on the EWL, as well as Corporation, Jurong West, Bahar Junction, Gek Poh, and Enterprise stations. Boon Lay Bus Interchange Boon Lay Bus Interchange originally opened in July 1990 along with Boon Lay MRT station. At that time, developments around the area in Jurong West New Town were still actively in progress. It was later rebuilt and reopened in 2009 at the ground level of Jurong Point Shopping Centre, next to Centris condominium, and is the fourth air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore, after Toa Payoh Bus Interchange, Sengkang Bus Interchange and Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange.These bus services from this interchange would be mostly operated by SMRT Buses from September 2024 onwards after being operated by SBS Transit for many years with the incumbent operations under the Jurong West Bus Package. Road network Jurong West is connected to many parts of Singapore through its road network. The Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) link Jurong West Town with Singapore's expressway network. Major roads that run within the boundaries of Jurong West Planning Area include Corporation Road, Boon Lay Way, Jalan Boon Lay, Jalan Bahar, Upper Jurong Road, Pioneer Road North, Jurong West Avenue 4 and Jurong West Avenue 2. ==Jurong West Town Centre==

There are four major building complexes within the Jurong West Town Centre. Jurong Point Shopping Centre Jurong Point Shopping Centre is Singapore's largest suburban shopping centre. The shopping centre started operations in December 1995 and expanded twice in 1999 and 2008. The Centris The Centris is a private condominium that is located above Jurong Point Shopping Centre. Jurong West Community Building The Jurong West Community Building is an integrated development comprising the Jurong West Public Library, The Frontier Community Club and Jurong Medical Centre. It is located behind Jurong Point Shopping Centre. Boon Lay Interchange Boon Lay Interchange, located in the centre of the town, consists of the Boon Lay Bus Interchange and Boon Lay MRT station. ==Amenities==

Education There are 12 primary schools, 11 secondary schools and 2 international schools in Jurong West New Town. Fire stations Jurong Fire Station, which opened on 17 November 2017, is the first fire station in Singapore to have a slide. The fire station covers 4,000 square metres, and is used by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Medical facilities Pioneer Polyclinic is a government healthcare institution serving the local community in Jurong West. The polyclinic was opened in January 2018. Also located in Jurong West is the Jurong Medical Centre, which complements the acute and step-down care services of Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital. Sports facilities Jurong West Sports Centre, formerly known as Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre, is the largest sports centre in Singapore, and offers one of the two sheltered pools managed by Sport Singapore. ==Politics==

Currently, Jurong West is represented in the Parliament of Singapore by seven members of parliament (MPs): one MP from Jurong Central SMC, one MP from Pioneer SMC, and five MPs from West Coast-Jurong West GRC, with effect from the 2025 General Election. ==References==