Overview
Novena covers 8.97 square kilometres of the Central Region between Toa Payoh, Bukit Timah and the city. On URA's map it includes the medical quarter around Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the Whampoa HDB estate, streets of landed homes and condominiums, and a belt of long-established schools. SingStat counted 53,930 residents in June 2026.
Who lives here
The age profile is close to the national average. In June 2026, 14.8% of residents were under 15 and 19.0% were 65 or over, against 13.3% and 19.5% for Singapore. That works out to roughly 7,960 children and 10,260 older residents.
Homes and dwelling types
Novena's housing is unusually mixed. Condominiums and other apartments housed 46% of residents in June 2026, HDB flats 38% and landed homes 15%. The HDB share comes mostly from Whampoa, where the flats range from 1- and 2-room units to 5-room and executive flats.
Residents by type of dwelling, June 2026 (SingStat). Shares are our arithmetic; “–” means nil or negligible.
| Type of dwelling | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| HDB 1- and 2-room flats | 1,600 | 3.0% |
| HDB 3-room flats | 7,080 | 13.1% |
| HDB 4-room flats | 7,410 | 13.7% |
| HDB 5-room and executive flats | 4,270 | 7.9% |
| Condominiums and other apartments | 24,740 | 45.9% |
| Landed properties | 7,980 | 14.8% |
| Others | 850 | 1.6% |
| All residents | 53,930 | 100% |
HDB does not publish a separate median for Novena. Its flats are counted in HDB's Kallang/Whampoa town, covered on our Kallang profile and in our HDB medians article.
Getting around
Two stations have exits inside the boundary.
| Station | Code | Line |
|---|---|---|
| Novena | NS20 | North-South Line |
| Stevens | DT10TE11 | Downtown Line, Thomson-East Coast Line |
Novena station is on the North-South Line, one stop from Newton and two from Orchard. Stevens, on the western edge, joins the Downtown Line and the Thomson-East Coast Line. A third station, Mount Pleasant (TE10), was built on the Thomson-East Coast Line between Caldecott and Stevens; LTA has said it will open when the developments around it are completed.
Schools
Seven MOE schools fall inside Novena on the 2025 boundary, and several are long-established mission schools. The primary schools are Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), Singapore Chinese Girls' Primary and St. Joseph's Institution Junior. At secondary level there are Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), Singapore Chinese Girls' School, which offers the Integrated Programme, and St. Joseph's Institution, which runs from Secondary 1 to JC2. Catholic Junior College is also inside the boundary.
Hawker centres
NEA's register lists three. Adam Road Food Centre, at 2 Adam Road, has 32 cooked-food stalls. The Whampoa Drive centres at Block 90 and Blocks 91/92 have 80 and 52 stalls respectively, and are the everyday food centres for the HDB estate.
Parks
NParks lists nine parks and playgrounds here, including Novena Park, Novena Rise Park, University Road Park, Kheam Hock Park and Malcolm Park. The MacRitchie side of the Central Catchment is just across the boundary.
Healthcare
Novena has no polyclinic, but it has two hospitals. Tan Tock Seng Hospital, one of the island's largest public general hospitals, is at Jalan Tan Tock Seng, and Ren Ci Community Hospital is at 71 Irrawaddy Road. The polyclinics used by residents are outside the area, for example Toa Payoh Polyclinic. MOH's June 2024 CHAS list counts 34 clinics in Novena.
Community facilities
The People's Association's June 2024 list includes Tanglin CC and Whampoa CC inside the planning area. ECDA's June 2024 list has 47 pre-schools, and its 2026 kindergarten list adds 14. NLB lists no public library inside the boundary.
How Novena compares
Novena's density is about 6,000 residents per square kilometre (our arithmetic), lower than the HDB towns around it. Its share of residents in landed homes, 15%, puts it among the six highest of the 32 planning areas with more than 10,000 people, alongside Bukit Timah, Serangoon, Marine Parade, Tanglin and Bedok. Few areas combine that with a hospital quarter and a working HDB estate.
New launches in Novena
Our new launches index lists nothing inside Novena.
Nearby planning areas
Next to Novena on URA's map: Bukit Timah (full guide), Tanglin, Kallang, Toa Payoh, Central Water Catchment, Newton.
Every planning area has a page on our neighbourhoods index.
Sources
- URA, Master Plan 2025 Planning Area Boundary (No Sea), data.gov.sg (updated 27 February 2026)
- LTA, MRT Station Exit (GEOJSON), data.gov.sg (updated 18 October 2026)
- LTA, Train Station Chinese Names (station codes and lines), data.gov.sg; LTA rail system map
- MOE, General information of schools (2026), data.gov.sg (updated 17 April 2026)
- NEA, Hawker Centres (GEOJSON), data.gov.sg (updated 14 November 2026), checked against NEA's list of hawker centres (17 August 2026)
- People's Association, Community Clubs, data.gov.sg (list dated June 2024)
- NParks, Parks, data.gov.sg (updated 14 November 2026)
- MOH, CHAS Clinics, data.gov.sg (list dated June 2024)
- SingStat, Resident Population by Planning Area/Subzone, Age Group and Type of Dwelling, June 2026 (released 25 September 2026), singstat.gov.sg
- HDB, 3rd Quarter 2026 Public Housing Data, Annex C: Median Resale Prices by Town and Flat Type (23 October 2026), hdb.gov.sg
- SLA, OneMap search (venue addresses and locations)
- ECDA, Pre-Schools Location (list dated June 2024) and Kindergartens (updated April 2026), data.gov.sg
- LTA, Thomson-East Coast Line project page: Mount Pleasant (TE10) and Marina South (TE21) open with the developments around them; Founders' Memorial (TE22A) opens with the Founders' Memorial
Facts checked on 15 November 2026. See our editorial policy.
Last updated