Central Area
City centre
Other transcription(s)
• Chinese	中央商业区
• Malay	Kawasan Tengah
• Tamil	மத்திய பகுதி
From top left to right: Skyline of Singapore'sDowntown Core,The Helix Bridge withMarina Bay Sands in the background,Gardens by the Bay,Clarke Quay,Raffles Place,ION Orchard, TheNational Museum of Singapore,Masjid Sultan,Rochor
Location of the Central Area in Central Region
Interactive map of Central Area
Central Area   Central Area within  Singapore Show map of Singapore Central Area Central Area (Asia) Show map of Asia Central Area Central Area (Earth) Show map of Earth
Coordinates:1°17′30″N103°51′00″E / 1.29167°N 103.85000°E /1.29167; 103.85000
Country	Singapore
Region	Central Region
Planning Areas	11 Downtown Core Marina East Marina South Museum Newton Orchard Outram River Valley Rochor Singapore River Straits View
CDCs	Central Singapore CDC South East CDC
Town Councils	Jalan Besar Town Council Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Town Council Tanjong Pagar Town Council
Constituencies	Jalan Besar GRC Mountbatten SMC Tanjong Pagar GRC
Central Area created	22 January 1999[1]
Government
• Mayors	Central Singapore CDC Denise Phua South East CDC Dinesh Vasu Dash
• Members of Parliament	Jalan Besar GRC Denise Phua Josephine Teo Mountbatten SMC Gho Sze Kee Tanjong Pagar GRC Foo Cexiang Joan Pereira Alvin Tan
Area [2]
• City centre	17.84 km2 (6.89 sq mi)
• Metro	132.7 km2 (51.2 sq mi)
Population  (2015)[2][3]
• City centre	60,520
• Density	3,392/km2 (8,786/sq mi)
• Metro	939,890
• Metro density	7,083/km2 (18,340/sq mi)
Postal districts	1, 6, 7, 8, 9
Dwelling units	12,571

TheCentral Area, also called theCity Area, and informallyThe City, is the maincommercial andfinancialcity centre ofSingapore. Located in the south-eastern part of theCentral Region, the Central Area consists of eleven constituentplanning areas: theDowntown Core,Marina East,Marina South,Museum,Newton,Orchard,Outram,River Valley,Rochor, theSingapore River andStraits View, as defined by theUrban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The termCentral Business District (CBD) has also been used to describe most of the Central Area as well, although its boundaries technically lie within the Downtown Core.^[4]

Singapore's modern history began in this area, when British colonial officialStamford Raffles and representatives of theBritish East India Company landed along the banks of theSingapore River in 1819 to set up afree port of trade betweenEurope andAsia. As the old harbour grew along the mouth of the river bank, thehistorical city naturally expanded around it, creating what is now the Central Area. As the financial heart of Singapore, the Downtown Core also houses the headquarters and offices of numerous major corporations, both local and international, as well as theSingapore Exchange (SGX). As the country'sde factocapital, it is also home to many governmental institutions, most notably the seat ofParliament and theSupreme Court.^[5]

The Central Area surrounds the banks of the Singapore River andMarina Bay where the first settlements on the island were established shortly after thearrival of Raffles in 1819. Surrounding the Central Area is the rest of the Central Region. The Central Area shares boundaries with the planning areas ofNovena to the north,Kallang to the north and north-east,Tanglin to the north-west and west,Bukit Merah to the south-west andMarine Parade to the east. The south-easternmost limits of the city is enclosed byMarina Barrage, where the mouth of Marina Bay meets theSingapore Strait.

The Central Area is among the most densely developed parts of Singapore. It represents the historical core of the city, tracing its origins to theJackson Plan of the 1820s following the1819 Singapore Treaty that marked the beginning of modern-day Singapore. As part of theStraits Settlements, districts within the Central Area functioned as centres of trade and commerce, particularly theSingapore River area. Other districts such asRochor,Newton,River Valley andOutram also maintain strong commercial activity but generally feature fewerskyscrapers and a larger proportion ofresidential development. These areas includeschools,condominiums and publicHousing Development Board (HDB)flats, typically commanding higher prices and longer minimum occupation periods due to their status as being located in "prime areas".^[6] Much of the land aroundTelok Ayer Street, which today contains a high concentration of commercial skyscrapers, was created through land reclamation carried out over the last century. These include nearby landmarks such asLau Pa Sat, which was founded as a waterfront market that used to face theSingapore Strait.^[7]

Parts of the Central Area also reflected historical social and community functions. For example, the shophouses onAnn Siang Hill were historically used as clan houses byvarious Chinese associations in the Chinatown area. FollowingWorld War II, acute housing shortages led to the expansion of public housing developments by theSingapore Improvement Trust (SIT) and later the HDB after 1960 in surrounding areas.^[8] The Central Area was also been the site of significant historical events, including theMacDonald House bombing during theKonfrontasi in 1965. The attack on the building atOrchard Road resulted in three deaths and injured at least 33 people.^[9]

From the 1970s, theGovernment of Singapore and theUrban Redevelopment Authority (URA) undertook extensive land reclamation projects at Marina Bay to accommodate the continued growth of the Central Area. These reclaimed areas were planned asMarina East,Marina South andStraits View, with major commercial and residential developments progressively completed from the 1990s. Today, the Central Area houses the headquarters of numerousmultinational companies (MNCs). Singapore's tallest buildings are concentrated aroundRaffles Place andShenton Way and are generally subject to a height limit of 280 m (920 ft) pending the decommissioning ofPaya Lebar Airbase in the 2030s. Exceptions includeGuoco Tower, which reaches 290 m (950 ft), andSkywaters Residences, which is expected to become the country's firstsupertall skyscraper at 305 m (1,001 ft) upon its completion in 2028.^[10]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2025)

• Thian Hock Keng Temple, aMazu temple which was first established from 1821 to 1822. Designated as anational monument in 1973.
• Yueh Hai Ching Temple, one of the oldestTaoist temples, constructed in 1826. Designated as a national monument in 1996.^[11][12]

• Armenian Church, which was completed in 1835 and is the oldest surviving Christian church inSingapore. Designated as a national monument in 1973.^[13]

• Sultan Mosque, which was first constructed in 1826. It was rebuilt into its current and larger structure in 1932 and designated as a national monument in 1975. It is the country'sde facto national mosque, holding great significance to thelocal Muslim community.^[14]

• Maghain Aboth Synagogue, which was first constructed in 1878. It is the main place of worship for theJewish community in Singapore and serves as the unofficial centre of Jewish activity in Singapore. Designated as a national monument in 1998.^[15]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2025)

• 38 Oxley Road, located at the road of its namesake. It was the residence of the firstprime minister of Singapore,Lee Kuan Yew, from the 1940s until his death in 2015. Became a centre of dispute between his children over its fate after his death. Designated as a national monument in 2025.^[16]
• CHIJMES, located at Victoria Street, was originally a Catholicconvent when it was founded in 1854. In the 1990s, it was converted into a modern dining area withrestaurants. The original structure was well preserved and thechapel is still present. The restaurants reside in the old structures of the convent. The chapel as well as theCaldwell House within the convent was designated as national monuments in 1990.^[17]
• Whampoa's Ice House, a former factory located close to theColeman Bridge with a replica standing in place.^[18][19]

The Central Area is under the jurisdiction of three constituencies, namelyJalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (GRC),Tanjong Pagar GRC andMountbatten Single Member Constituency (SMC), all of which are represented inParliament by the governingPeople's Action Party (PAP) per the results of the2025 general election.

For more than a century, there has been a high volume oftraffic entering the modern-day Central Area because of its role as the financial core ofSingapore, which has resulted in a dense concentration of commercial developments. To managecongestion in the Central Area, the government has introduced a range of measures. These include the installation ofElectronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries, whose operating hours and charges are regularly adjusted to reflect prevailing traffic conditions.^[20] TheNorth–South Corridor (NSE) is also expected to ease traffic flows from the northern parts of Singapore into the Central Area upon its completion in 2029.^[21]

Public transport plays a central role in supporting access to the Central Area. There areextensive public bus services linking the Central Area with other parts of Singapore, including express and city-direct services.^[22] The country'srapid rail transit system, theMass Rapid Transit (MRT), is particularly dense in the Central Area, which contains more than two dozen stations. Six MRT lines pass through the Central Area, with multiple interchange stations linking theEast–West Line, theNorth–South Line, theNorth East Line, theCircle Line, theDowntown Line and theThomson–East Coast Line.

• Architecture of Singapore
• Tourism in Singapore
• City of Singapore (historical entity)
• Central Singapore District

• Planning Areas Boundaries Map A, showing extent of the Central AreaArchived 7 February 2021 at theWayback Machine

• Central Area, Singapore
• Places in Singapore

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