Novena, Singapore

Etymology

Novena and its associated roads, buildings and Mass Rapid Transit station are named after Novena Church (canonically the Church of Saint Alphonsus Liguori) located in the area.

Balestier Road was named after Joseph Balestier, an American diplomat who served in Singapore in the 1800s.

Infrastructure

Housing

Land in Novena is very expensive because of its close proximity to the Central Area. There are few HDB flats in Novena; most houses in the area are condominiums or private housing.

Healthcare

Novena is home to the largest concentration of hospitals and medical centres in Singapore.

An integrated academic medical complex termed HealthCity Novena, is centred around Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and supported by step-down facilities such as the Integrated Care Hub, Ren Ci Hospital and Dover Park Hospice as well tertiary national medical centres including the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, National Neuroscience Institute and National Skin Centre. The Clinical Sciences Building of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and various leisure and public spaces complete the complex.

A number of private healthcare providers are situated next to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The private cluster is anchored by Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, with standalone outpatient clinics leveraging on network effects setting up in Novena Medical Centre, Novena Specialist Centre and Royal Square Novena.

Commercial

Novena Square

Velocity@Novena Square, formerly known as Novena Square, is a sports and lifestyle mall with a new building extension. It lies directly above Novena MRT station. It was opened in December 2000, and owned by Novena Square Investments. There are 160 stores and spans 3 floors.

Square 2

Square 2 is located at the Novena MRT station. It was opened on 10 December 2007, and it is developed and owned by Far East Organization. It has over 180 specialty stores, selling food and beverage, fashion and accessories, education and enrichment, as well as beauty & wellness services, spanning five floors.

Education

Novena has a total of three primary schools, three secondary schools, three private schools and two schools offering tertiary education as of 2024. The list is as follows:

Primary schools

• Anglo-Chinese School (Primary)
• St. Joseph's Institution Junior
• Singapore Chinese Girls' School (Primary school section)

Secondary schools

• Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)
• St. Joseph's Institution
• Singapore Chinese Girls' School (Secondary school section)

Tertiary institutions

• Catholic Junior College
• St. Joseph's Institution (Junior College section)

Other schools

• Beacon International College

• East Asia Institute of Management

• San Yu Adventist School

Transportation

Novena is accessible by MRT, with buses serving the city, nearest neighbouring estates and is close proximity to the expressway. The area has no bus interchange, the nearest being in Toa Payoh. However, Saint Michael's Bus Terminal can be found along Balestier.

References

References

1. "Singapore Infopedia – Development guide plan". [[National Library Board]].
2. Novena]
3. (June 2025). "Geographic Distribution Dashboard". Department of Statistics Singapore.
4. "2020 Census of Population: Geographical Distribution of Residents (Tables 88 to 91)". Department of Statistics Singapore.
5. Savage, Victor R.. (2013). "Singapore street names : a study of toponymics".
6. Singapore, National Library Board. "Joseph Balestier {{!}} Infopedia".
7. "Novena District Guide". [[Streetdirectory.com]].
8. (24 Feb 2017). "Eye on Novena: Bridging the past and future". Yahoo News.
9. (22 March 2017). "500-bed rehab hub next to TTSH to open in five years | the Straits Times". The Straits Times.
10. "HealthCity Novena".
11. "Speech by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong at the official launch of Health City Novena". Ministry of Health.