Planning areas of Singapore

The planning areas of Singapore, also referred to as Development Guide Plan (DGP) areas, serve as the second level of urban planning and census divisions in Singapore as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). These areas provide a framework for urban development, land use planning and statistical analysis across the country. There are currently 55 planning areas, grouped into five regions: Central, East, North, North-East and West. Each planning area helps coordinate local development while contributing to the overall structure of its respective region. Each planning area is further subdivided into hundreds of subzones for more detailed planning purposes on the lowest level. A DGP is prepared for each planning area, providing detailed land use and development guidelines down to the individual plot level.

Planning areas were introduced in the early 1990s following the release of the 1991 Concept Plan, which marked a shift toward a long-term and strategic urban development. Since their implementation, planning area boundaries have been adopted by various government agencies for administrative and statistical purposes. For instance, the Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) first used planning areas in its reporting of the 2000 census, replacing earlier divisions based on electoral boundaries. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) similarly aligned its Neighbourhood Police Centres (NPCs) jurisdictions with planning areas in 1999, moving away from the electoral division-based boundaries of the former Neighbourhood Police Posts (NPPs) system.

There are 6 planning areas in the East Region, 7 in the North-East Region, 8 in the North Region, 12 in the West Region and 22 in the Central Region. Tampines is the most populous planning area at 290,090 residents whilst the Western Islands are the least populous, having 10 residents in total. There are six planning areas with a population of 0 residents, being the Central Water Catchment, Changi Bay, Marina East, Marina South, Simpang, and Straits View. Straits View is the smallest-sized planning area at 0.77 square kilometres (0.30 sq mi) whilst the Western Water Catchment is the largest at 69.46 square kilometres (26.82 sq mi).