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.[4]
Balestier Road was named after Joseph Balestier, an American diplomat who served in Singapore in the 1800s.[5]
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.[6]
Healthcare
Novena is home to the largest concentration of hospitals and medical centres in Singapore.[7]
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
VeloCity@Novena Square and Square 2/Novena Medical Centre
Central to this area is Novena Square, a mixed used development situated directly above the Novena MRT station. Novena Medical Centre is located at levels 8 to 11 of the Square 2 shopping centre. Adjacent to Novena Square's Office Tower is a sports-themed mall called Novena Velocity. Opposite Novena Square, and across the Junction of Newton Road, Moulmein Road and Thomson Road, is United Square Shopping Mall, a children-oriented mall, with shops catering to infants, kids and parents. Shops located in the Novena area include Starbucks (one in United Square and another in Novena Square), Cold Storage, Decathlon and the newly opened Don Don Donki at Square 2, a Japanese Discount Store. Banks located in the Novena area include POSB and UOB. Novena has seen major improvements in terms of new shops opening in the area since Square 2 and Velocity commenced business in recent years.
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:
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.
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