Toa Payoh new town is built in 1970’s, and was among the earliest new town models in Singapore developed based on TOD concept. And thanks to the forward-looking TOD concept, the station continued to undergo urban revitalization long after the completion of the MRT station.
It now serves as one of the CBD fringe centres of Singapore, which provides the “park and ride” facilities. Private vehicles from more remote areas will stop and park in the car park provided around the station and drivers will travel into the city centre by MRT. This helps to address the traffic congestion problem within the CBD area. The development in the study area of Toa Payoh MRT station is relatively “matured” as compared to most of the other new town centres in Singapore. Most of the daily-need services e.g. groceries store, healthcare clinic, childcare and financial services can be found within walking distance from the MRT station. The land use analysis has suggested that residential use is of the major component, which is 40% of the total land area of the study site. Commercial land is about 9% and is distributed within the area of 200m-radius from the station.