District 2 · Core Central Region
Tanjong Pagar · Anson · Duxton
Heritage shophouses meet the CBD skyline... the city-edge district where Singapore learned to live downtown.
Image: Tanjong Pagar & Pinnacle@Duxton · Bob T · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
The History
From fishing village to dockland to downtown.
Tanjong Pagar began as a fishing village, once known as Salinter, on the southern shore, before the colonial port pulled it into one of Singapore's earliest commercial and dockland quarters. The Tanjong Pagar dock made it a hub of shipping and trade, and rows of shophouses rose along Duxton, Neil and Tanjong Pagar Roads to house the workers and merchants who served it.
As the modern Central Business District grew up around Anson Road, the area gained a second life: Tanjong Pagar Plaza, completed in 1977 and 1980, was one of Singapore's first attempts to bring residential living back into the working downtown. Today its conserved shophouses — many now restaurants, bars and boutique offices — sit in the shadow of the CBD's towers, a layering of old and new that defines the district.
What's Changing
A landmark estate beside a future waterfront.
The district's signature landmark, The Pinnacle@Duxton, redefined what public housing could be — seven 50-storey towers linked by sky bridges, built on the site of some of Singapore's earliest SIT and HDB blocks, a flagship of high-density downtown living. Around it, the Tanjong Pagar conservation area keeps being revitalised, with shophouse rows along Duxton Hill and Keong Saik becoming one of the city's most concentrated dining and nightlife scenes.
The bigger horizon is the Greater Southern Waterfront. The planned relocation of the Tanjong Pagar port frees up a vast stretch of coastline — described as around three times the size of Marina Bay — for new homes, offices and a continuous waterfront promenade in the decades ahead. District 2 sits directly behind that future frontage, placing its established streets beside one of the island's largest long-term transformations.
Why Live Here
Four reasons District 2 stands apart.
Downtown living with character
Conserved shophouses and the Duxton Hill heritage streets give District 2 a texture the rest of the CBD lacks.
A landmark address
The Pinnacle@Duxton and a cluster of city homes put you in the heart of the business district with skyline views.
Dining and nightlife
Duxton, Neil Road and Keong Saik form one of Singapore's densest concentrations of restaurants, bars and cafes.
Next to the future waterfront
The Greater Southern Waterfront will remake the coastline just south, with new parks and promenades on the way.