SINGAPORE — Come December 2018, Nee Soon residents and the public will be able to hold events in an open space the size of 10 basketball courts on the completion of Northpoint City.

The 4,400sqm space, called Town Plaza, is part of efforts to encourage community bonding and transform Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates in Nee Soon into a vibrant community, said Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam at the media launch of the Northpoint City Exhibition yesterday.

Northpoint City will also house North Park Residences, a 12-block residential development with 10-storey-high buildings and a total of 920 units.

The residences will sit atop an integrated air-conditioned transport hub, which promises to provide “seamless connectivity for all”.

The existing Northpoint Shopping Centre will be expanded by nearly two-and-a-half times to become the largest mall in the North and will be the first mall to have a community club located in it.

The shopping centre will also feature more than 500 retail and dining outlets — double the current number — and a rooftop community garden for recreational purposes.

To provide more convenient transport options, 300 sheltered bicycle parking lots and more than 1,000 car parking spaces will be available at Northpoint City and in the vicinity.

There will also be a direct shopping underpass connecting Northpoint City to Yishun MRT station, making the place “barrier free”.

By 2020, Northpoint City will benefit from the Government’s plans to improve transport connectivity with the North-South Expressway and Thomson MRT Line.

“This will be a very iconic, inter-connected hub and one big city. I can already imagine people doing Taichi early in the morning on the rooftop garden and children playing at the playground after school,” said Mr Cheang Kok Kheong, Frasers Centrepoint Limited’s Chief Executive of Development Property.

Earlier efforts to spruce up Yishun included the development of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, a 15.5km road for a cycling network, Yishun Pond, its lookout tower and a heritage garden.

Mr Cheang said they had received positive feedback from residents about the facilities.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC, said: “From the start, we had a clear idea that we wanted to develop Nee Soon into a modern, vibrant community, while maintaining its historical heritage. With seamless connectivity for people and garden features, Northpoint City will be a very friendly place, buzzing with activities as residents, families and friends congregate.”