Lavender is a subzone within the planning area of
Kallang,
Singapore, as defined by the
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Lavender is composed of an area bounded by Tessensohn Road in the north; Balestier Road, Lavender Street and Crawford Street in the east; the
Rochor River and
Rochor Canal
The Rochor River ( zh, s=梧槽河; ms, Sungei Rochor) is a canalised river in Kallang of the Central Region in Singapore. The river is about 0.8 km in length.
The Rochor River is a continuation of the Rochor Canal, and begins beneath ...
in the south; as well as Syed Alwi Road,
Serangoon Road and Rangoon Road in the west.
Lavender is largely commercial, even though several blocks of public housing provided by the
Housing and Development Board (HDB) exist at Jellicoe Road and French Road. Notable places in this subzone include
Jalan Besar Stadium
Jalan Besar Stadium, officially the Jalan Besar ActiveSG Stadium, is a association football, football stadium located in Kallang, Singapore. The stadium is part of the Jalan Besar Sports and Recreation Centre, a community sports facility that i ...
, Jalan Besar Swimming Complex, Jalan Besar Community Club, the series of historic shophouses along
Jalan Besar, the headquarters of
People's Association,
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building,
Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple
Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple or Sri Perumal Temple ( ta, சிங்கப்பூர் ஸ்ரீநிவாசப் பெருமாள் கோயில்) is one of the oldest temples in Singapore. It is located in Little India wit ...
,
Mustafa Centre,
Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre
Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre, formerly known as St George’s Road Tamil Language Centre, is an academic institution for teaching Tamil language in Singapore.
After the closure of Umar Pulavar Tamil High School in 1982, St George’s Road ...
and
City Square Mall. In addition, the
New World Amusement Park once stood in this area.
The district has not changed a lot in a city known for its frenetic urban planning, and as a source puts it, "entering Lavender is like entering Singapore in the late 1980s",
where old public housing is occupied by an elderly community, with small automotive shops, hardware resellers and temples.
A trend of
gentrification began in around 2014, mainly along Jalan Besar. Parts of the
Little India ethnic neighbourhood extends into this area. There are now many small coffee shops and music studios in this rather vintage-looking district.
Lavender MRT station and
Farrer Park MRT station serve Lavender subzone.
Etymology
The subzone of Lavender derived its name from Lavender Street. The road was officially named on 8 March 1858, as a result of suggestions by the nearby residents. Contrary to what the name may suggest, the area around Lavender Street was foul-smelling, probably due to the
Kallang Gasworks Kallang Gasworks ( Pinyin: Jiā lěng méi qì chǎng) was the first site dedicated to gas manufacturing from coal in Singapore. It operated from 1862 to 23 March 1998.
In 1862, it was constructed by the Singapore Gas Company and occupied an area ...
in the vicinity. The name was a tongue-in-cheek humour used by residents of the area.
References
{{use dmy dates, date=February 2015
Places in Singapore
Central Region, Singapore
Kallang