Singapore’s 700 square kilometers are easily navigable, with the centers of business, government, entertainment, and shopping focused in the south, clustered around the historic Singapore River, along Orchard Road, around Marina Bay, and in the Central Business District (CBD). Major residential neighborhoods popular with expatriates radiate outwards from the city center and include the River Valley / Orchard Road area populated mostly with modern high-rise condos, as well as mixed condo and landed property neighborhoods along the East Cost, in Holland Village just west of downtown, and along Bukit Timah Road.
The island is naturally divided by large freeways and the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT). The excellent transportation infrastructure and island’s limited land mass mean that no neighborhood is more than a 35-minute commute by car or hour-long commute by public transport.
Several major expressways connect the major neighborhoods in the island and provide access to the more remote suburbs. The Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) bisects the island horizontally from Changi in the east to Tuas in the west, giving easy access to the central breadth of the island. The Central Expressway (CTE) runs north and south connecting the northern neighborhoods of Tampines, Yoa Chu Kang, and Yishun through the central neighborhoods of Ang Mo Kio and Upper Thompson to the main shopping district at Orchard Road and the Central Business District in the south. In the south, the East Coast Parkway (ECP) runs along the southeast coast connecting Changi to the CBD, and the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) runs east to west along the southwest coast connecting the CBD to Jurong.
In the west, the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) runs north and south along the west, connecting the west end of a major east-west thoroughfare, Bukit Timah Road, to the northern neighborhood of The Woodlands and the Causeway to Malaysia. The Tampines Expressway (TPE) connects Changi in the east along the north shore of the island, through Tampines and Pasir Ris, to meet the CTE and the Seletar Expressway (SLE), which runs westward across the north coast to meet the BKE, providing access to the famous Singapore Zoo and the northern neighborhoods of Sembawang and The Woodlands.
