Jurong () is a major geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, and Pioneer, along with Jurong Island in the Western Islands cluster and the southernmost portions of the Western Water Catchment.

Townships of Jurong

thumb|Boon Lay, located in Jurong West, is one of the oldest housing estates that still currently exist in the area

The first few low-rise flats in Jurong Town emerged in the precinct of Taman Jurong between 1963 and 1964, developed by the Housing and Development Board. Around this time, other notable housing estates, such as Boon Lay, began breaking ground. Despite the new residential developments, Jurong lacked a growing population, largely due to its location and the lack of infrastructure around the region at the time.

The development of Jurong East and West started in 1979 when estates such as Taman Jurong, Boon Lay Place, Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak, Hong Kah, Teban Gardens and Yuhua were built, mostly due to the resettlement of Hong Kah and surrounding villages. Boon Lay Place, Taman Jurong and Hong Kah formed Jurong West New Town. Yuhua, Teban Gardens, Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak formed Jurong East New Town.

right|thumb|240px|Jurong Regional Centre

In 1982, Jurong West New Town started expanding as Jurong West Extension, which saw the realignment of the PIE, rerouting it to pass the southern boundary of present-day NTU. The former section of the PIE was converted into Jurong West Avenue 2, and Upper Jurong Road was renamed to Jurong West Avenue 4. Pioneer Road was extended northward from present-day Upper Jurong Road, becoming Pioneer Road North, to connect to the new PIE exit. This signalled the start of the development of Jurong West Extension (Yunnan, Pioneer and Gek Poh). and 2032 respectively, the Jurong Region MRT line and Cross Island MRT line will help to further connect commuters to places in Jurong and the rest of Singapore.

Bus

Jurong is served by public bus services originating from 5 interchanges and 1 bus depot, namely the Jurong East, Jurong Town Hall, Boon Lay, Joo Koon & Tuas bus interchanges and Soon Lee Bus Depot.

Economy

Commercial

thumb|The main entrance to [[Jurong Point Shopping Mall]]

The more notable shopping malls in Jurong are Jurong Point Shopping Mall in Pioneer and the cluster of malls in Jurong East, as part of the Jurong Gateway commercial hub. These include IMM, Jem and Westgate.

The largest suburban mall in Singapore, Jurong Point Shopping Mall is well-accessible by bus services from all the residential precincts of Jurong except Yuhua and Teban Gardens. This mall targets young adults and families with stalls selling fashion, food and beverages, sports, entertainment and lifestyle products. It also serves the elderly population with body-wellness stores and healthcare centres located at levels 4 and 5 of the mall. It is well linked to the Boon Lay MRT station and Boon Lay Bus Interchange.

thumb|[[IMM (Singapore)|IMM]]

The largest outlet mall in Singapore, IMM is located within walking distance from Jurong East MRT station. The mall contains a Kopitiam food court on Level 3, as well as many furniture stores and other retail stores. These include a Daiso department store and a Giant Hypermarket.

J-Walk, a pedestrian network made up of elevated walkways and at-grade sheltered walkways, connects the shopping malls and hospitals in Jurong East to Jurong East MRT station.

There are other shopping malls in Jurong, but are only well known within the precinct they are located in. Such malls include Hong Kah Point in Hong Kah and Taman Jurong Shopping Centre in Taman Jurong.

Tourism

right|thumb|[[Singapore Science Centre]]

  • Singapore Science Centre
  • Snow City
  • Singapore Discovery Centre
  • Singapore Army Museum
  • Jurong Bird Park (ceased and relocated to Mandai in 2023)
  • Jurong Lake Gardens
  • ABC Waters @ Jurong Lake (largest man-made floating wetlands with a total area of 3,850 sqm)

Education

There are multiple primary and secondary schools in each precinct of Jurong. Examples include the Shuqun Primary School established in 1925 in Jurong West, as well as River Valley High School established in 1956 in Boon Lay.

Prior to 2019, Jurong had one junior college, Jurong Junior College, located between Hong Kah and Boon Lay. The school has since merged with Pioneer Junior College to form Jurong Pioneer Junior College.

Politics

Jurong used to be an independent political constituency in the 1959 general elections. Chia Thye Poh represented the constituency in parliament between 1963 and 1966. Then, Boon Lay Constituency was carved out in 1976 and Hong Kah Constituency in 1984, forming four separate constituencies. Hong Kah Constituency eventually became a GRC that consisted of Nanyang, Hong Kah, Gek Poh and Bukit Batok in 1988. Teban Gardens, Pioneer, Yuhua and Taman Jurong were under Bukit Timah Constituency and the N9 region of Nanyang was under Jurong Constituency all that while.

In 2001, there were major changes in the political constituencies of Jurong. Boon Lay Constituency, together with Teban Gardens and Pioneer, were absorbed into the expanded West Coast GRC. Hong Kah Constituency was re-designed to include towns of Chua Chu Kang (Limbang and Yew Tee) and Bukit Gombak and only Nanyang and Gek Poh remained in the constituency, this time including the N9 region of Nanyang. Jurong Constituency was abolished. Hong Kah and Bukit Batok were regrouped into the newly created Jurong GRC, along with Yuhua and Taman Jurong. As such, the entire political system of Jurong was changed with 3 GRCs as a result.

10 years later, in 2011, Gek Poh, Yuhua and Pioneer were crafted out from each of the three GRCs to become SMCs. In total, there are now six constituencies in Jurong. In 2025, there were major changes in the political constituencies of Jurong. Yuhua Constituency was absorbed into Jurong GRC, and renamed to Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, and to compensate; Jurong Central SMC was split from Jurong GRC as a result. Gek Poh Ville is no longer under the SMC. Those within the Jurong West all moved to West Coast-Jurong West GRC. There are only four constituencies in Jurong -

  • Jurong Central SMC
  • Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC
  • Pioneer SMC
  • West Coast-Jurong West GRC

Nonetheless, though divided into six separate constituencies, all the precincts are collectively managed by the PAP and known as Jurong.

References

Notes

Sources

  • Southwest CDC Website