Based on construction stages:
- Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) built 20 New Towns (10,000-70,000 units) and about 80-100 small estates (under 10,000 units).
- Economic Development Board (EDB) built in 1964-1968 and Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) built between 1968 and late 1970s 5 estates in Jurong and Sembawang industrial areas.
- Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) built between 1974 and 1987 22 estates totaling about 9,800 units, sandwich housing for middle-income people who did not qualify for HDB flats but could not afford a private property. List of HUDC estates.
HDB took over JTC and HUDC in 1982, becoming sole provider of public housing in Singapore. The last 12 HUDC estates were actually built by HDB.
The HDB Annual Reports up to 1989 display a list of about 100 estates.
Based on current town boundaries:
URA defined 55 Planning Areas in 1991, HDB New Towns and Estates were reorganized into 20 “Towns” and 11 “Other Estates” in AR 1990, few years later the other estates were regrouped into 6, of which Sembawang and Sengkang were turned into “towns” in AR 1996, Punggol was added in AR 1999, Lim Chu Kang was demolished, leaving 23 towns and 3 estates, figure unchanged for almost 20 years. Tengah was announced in 2016 as 24th HDB Town. There is no relation between Planning Areas / Towns and historical development HDB New Towns / Estates.
The current 24 HDB Towns and 3 Estates match URA planning areas with 2 exceptions:
- Kallang-Whampoa is one HDB town stretching on 3 planning areas (Kallang, Whampoa, Novena).
- Pasir Ris town also include Changi Village (from Changi planning area).
More notes:
- Geylang, Kallang-Whampoa and Bukit Merah towns contains several HDB estates built inside original Singapore city so are not “new towns” but Annual Report classify them as “town”.
- Central Area, Bukit Timah and Marine Parade appear in Annual Report under “other estates” and in HDB Resale Flat Prices e-service as “town”.
- Lim Chu Kang estate is no longer in use since 2001, but it appeared in HDB Resale Flat Prices e-service until 2009.
- Tengah was added in HDB Resale Flat Prices e-service in 2016, despite that first BTO was launched in November 2018 and only around 2026 the flats are expected to reach resale market.
