Three more community-built playgrounds to be completed this year

About 2,000 Toa Payoh residents, students, and community stakeholders have created a distinctive River Crab playground, which will be a new landmark in Toa Payoh. Located at 9 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, the new playground replaces an existing one at Toa Payoh N1 Neighbourhood Park. It is the centrepiece of the park’s transformation under HDB’s Remaking Our Heartland¹(ROH) programme to renew existing HDB towns and estates.

A Community Effort to Shape Toa Payoh’s Future

2 Minister for National Development Mr Desmond Lee joined about 100 residents and students today to put the finishing touches to the playground and celebrate its opening. He said, “The park’s enhancements, including the distinctive River Crab playground, and showcase how the community can come together to shape their neighbourhood. Such projects strengthen community ties and deepen the sense of belonging among residents.”

The River Crab Playground: Toa Payoh's newest community-built playground

From Vision to Reality: A Signature Play Space for Toa Payoh

3 The River Crab Playground, like the Adventure Playground @ Canberra, was conceptualised, designed and built in partnership with the community. It joins the iconic Dragon Playground as a unique recreational landmark in Toa Payoh.

Co-creating with the community

4 Since 2021, HDB has engaged close to 2,000 residents and stakeholders to co-create improvements for the park, including the playground. This collaborative process involved:

Virtual design workshops, surveys and house visits

Residents contributed design ideas for the park and selected their preferred playground themes and equipment.
School engagement sessions

HDB worked with 1,100 primary school students from First Toa Payoh Primary and Pei Chun Public School, as well as 120 preschoolers from PCF Sparkletots and two My First Skool centres in the vicinity. Through interactive activities, the students helped shape the playground’s design, including selecting freestanding play equipment for other children.

From virtual workshops with residents to engagement sessions with school students and pre-schoolers, the community came together to shape their new playground

Key Features Inspired by the Community

5 The community’s inputs helped shape several key features of the playground:

River Crab design

The River Crab design, inspired by the nearby Kallang River, was the most popular of three designs developed by the park’s design consultant and playground supplier. Residents favoured this design for its unique shape and engaging play features. The main playground structure, modelled after Johora singaporensis, a freshwater crab found only in Singapore, offers a mini obstacle course with varied play elements.
Community-designed flooring

To encourage participation, a design competition was held from April to May 2024, inviting residents to conceptualise the playground's rubber flooring design. The winning entry, an otter-themed design by First Toa Payoh Primary School student Tee Jia Le, reflects the community’s aspirations while celebrating local talent.

The winning otter-themed design by student Tee Jia Le was adapted for the playground’s rubber flooring
Diverse play elements

The main playground structure offers adventurous play through a variety of climbers and slides at different heights. Other features, such as a hammock swing, were added based on feedback from residents, providing more play options for children of all ages.

A More Inclusive Park for All

6 Beyond the playground, the park was upgraded from December 2023, with enhancements shaped by residents' feedback. These include:

Dedicated pet runs and community gardening plots transformed from existing open spaces.

Enhanced lighting, upgraded footpaths, and improved landscaping for a safer, more inviting environment.


(Left) A new pet park was created in response to residents' feedback	(Right) Community gardening plots were added to enhance greenery in the neighbourhood

Upgraded pavilion where the steps were levelled to create barrier-free access and expand the event space.

The steps to the pavilion (left) were levelled to create a barrier-free space (right) for events

7 During the engagement process, HDB observed that the interlocking brick retaining walls held special significance for residents, as this is where they traditionally place candles during Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. These walls were preserved during the upgrading works to retain this cherished tradition.

The interlocking brick retaining walls were preserved so residents could continue their cherished tradition of placing candles there during Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations

More Community-Built Playgrounds on the Way

8 Residents can look forward to three more upcoming community-built playgrounds in Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Pasir Ris, slated for completion this year under the ROH programme. Like the River Crab Playground and Adventure Playground @ Canberra, these new play spaces will be co-designed with residents to reflect the unique needs of each neighbourhood.

¹HDB’s Remaking Our Heartland (ROH) programme is a comprehensive blueprint which brings together multiple agencies to renew existing HDB towns and estates, ensure the sustainability and vibrancy of the HDB heartlands, and make Singapore a distinctive and endearing home for Singaporeans. To date, 13 towns and estates have been identified for rejuvenation across four ROH batches – namely Punggol, Dawson and Yishun in 2007; East Coast, Hougang and Jurong Lake in 2011, Woodlands, Toa Payoh and Pasir Ris in 2015; and Bukit Merah, Ang Mo Kio, Queenstown and Choa Chu Kang in 2020.

New River Crab Playground, Designed and Built by 2,000 Residents, Makes a Splash in Toa Payoh