Saturday 24 November 2012

Commonwealth Estate

The iconic block 38 at Commonwealth Avenue.

Commonwealth Estate is an estate in the Queenstown Planning Area (which includes the Queenstown Housing Estate). It is bounded by the Ulu Pandan Canal, Ghim Moh Housing Estate and the former Tanglin Camp area to the north, Alexandra Road to the east, Clementi Road to the west and the sea to the south. It covers an area of approximately 2,188 ha.

The total population (1990 census) is 126,071 with 31,131 housing units.[4] It consists of 16 subzones, namely: Ghim Moh, Holland Drive, Commonwealth, Tanglin Halt, Margaret Drive, Mei Chin, Queensway, Portsdown, Buona Vista, Singapore Polytechnic, Dover, National University, Kent Ridge, Pasir Panjang, Pasir Panjang II, and the Port.

The main housing areas within Queenstown include:
  • Princess Estate is the first sub district of the Queenstown District consists of several precincts like Strathmore, Dawson
  • Duchess Estate is the second subdistrict of Queenstown district which consists of Queenstown Centre and Margaret Drive. Several blocks of 2-storey and 3-storey flats are located in this area.
  • Tanglin Halt consists of rows of ten storey flats, fondly remembered as Cap Lau Cu十楼厝). Many of the flats in this area are currently undergoing upgrading. Several 40 storey flats are built.
  • Commonwealth Estate is located near the Commonwealth MRT station and consists of precincts like Commonwealth Close and Commonwealth Crescent. It is best known for having a fantastic view of Singapore's Downtown.
  • Queen's Close is a cluster of flats bounded by Mei Ling district, Portsdown Road and Alexandra Road. Queen's Crescent is now demolished.
  • Mei Ling/Mei Chin is built from the excavation of two hills, Hong Lim and Hong Yin Hill which are used for cemetery purposes. It is also where Queenstown district got its name Boh Beh Kang, or a river with no source.
  • Buona Vista is the last district built in Queenstown. However, it has developed a distinct and unique identity today that is commonly not linked with Queenstown.



1 comment:

  1. Lines, lines... There are so many lines in your sketch (which is good). ;) It's strange how lines play such an important role in our lives don't they? If you look closely, you'll see lines everywhere around you... ...

    By the way I am NOT a philosopher (maybe, maybe not... You never know.)

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