Hougang or Aukang is a planning area and mature residential town located in the North-East Region of Singapore. The town is the most populous in the region, being home to 247,528 residents as of 2018. Hougang planning area is bordered by Sengkang to the north, Geylang and Serangoon to the south, Bedok to the southeast, Toa Payoh to the southwest, Paya Lebar to the east, Ang Mo Kio to the west and Bishan to the southwest.
Subzones
Hougang is separated into 10 subzones, Hougang East, Defu Industrial Park, Tai Seng, Lorong Halus, Kangkar, Hougang West, Trafalgar, Lorong Ah soo, Kovan and Hougang Central.
Etymology and history
Hougang is the pinyin spelling of Aū-káng, a Hokkien and Teochew name meaning "river's end", as Hougang is located upstream or at the back of Sungei Serangoon. In the past, the name connoted the area stretching from the fifth milestone junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road/Boundary Road to the seventh and a half milestone junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Punggol Road. The area just beyond the seventh milestone along Punggol Road was formerly considered part of Punggol but is now within Hougang Town and that section of Punggol Road is now Hougang Avenue 8, with Punggol Road starting further north.
Pig farming was carried out in Punggol, including the area of Punggol that is now part of Hougang Town. The last of these pig farmers were relocated by the late-1990s to flats built in Hougang. Today, Hougang is an HDB new town with over 40,000 housing units interspersed with pockets of private residential areas.
There was also a fishing port at the end of Upper Serangoon Road beyond the seventh milestone.
At Hougang Street 21, there was a well that is still identified as the tua jia kha (大井跤) well structure. This well identified the Teochew village of tua jia kha which means the "foot of a big well". In the past, the village was a popular place for food, street wayangs, itinerant Chinese medicine men and story tellers spinning yarns.
Hougang has been developed since 1977 with the construction of Tampines Way. Further development has been made for the development of new neighbourhoods in Neighbourhood 1 – 3 by 1983, Neighbourhood 4 – 7 by 1992. Neighbourhood 8 is the town centre of the Hougang, completed in 1994. Neighbourhood 9 has been in the recent and has been completed by 2000.
In 2015, project named Hougang Capeview, a Build-To-Order project at Upper Serangoon Road, is the first public housing project to receive the CONQUAS Star, an accolade administered by the Building and Construction Authority. Hougang Capeview, which comprises 781 residential units in six blocks at Upper Serangoon Road, received a Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS) score of more than 95, above the national average of 88.2. The CONQUAS score is BCA’s measure of construction quality across Singapore.
Shopping
Hougang has 8 shopping malls which are
Hougang Mall, a seven-storey shopping mall with an NTUC FairPrice outlet, Singtel outlet, Starhub outlet, and Popular bookstore. The mall serves the residents of Hougang Central. Hougang Green Shopping Mall, a four-storey shopping mall with a 24/7 Giant outlet. The mall serves Hougang West. The Midtown, a mixed development with a condominium and a cluster of shops in Hougang Central. Hougang 1, a suburban mall with an NTUC FairPrice Xtra outlet in Hougang West. Heartland Mall, a suburban mall in Kovan. It has a Cold Storage outlet and Popular bookstore. Kang Kar Mall, a two-storey shopping centre which has a Kang Kar Food Court and a two-storey NTUC FairPrice outlet. Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, a suburban mall that has a cluster of shops, it serves residents of Kovan. Buangkok Square Shopping Mall, a mixed development shopping mall in Buangkok with condominiums and a three-storey shopping mall with McDonald's, and a Prime Supermarket.
Transport
Bus Interchange
Hougang Central Bus Interchange
Hougang Central Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving the town of Hougang. It is located directly above Hougang MRT station. By 2030, Hougang Central Bus Interchange would be majorly renovated to accommodate the Cross Island Line section, and would become an Integrated Transport Hub in 2030.
Bus Depots
Hougang Bus Depot
Hougang Bus Depot is an SBS Transit West District bus depot located in Hougang, Singapore. As of November 2014, the total fleet is 600 buses. Hougang Bus Depot started operations in 1983 when the north-east which is Hougang and Serangoon was developed and previously, all operations had been on Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot and Bedok Bus Depot respectively.