The Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established in 1960. A 10-year plan to build 10,000 units of flats a year was initiated. Within five years, HDB had built 53,000 new flats and developed Queenstown as a modern, self-contained satellite town. In the second 5-year plan at Toa Payoh, more than 67,000 new flats were added, housing 350,000 people. Slum-ridden areas in strategic and valuable areas in central Singapore were cleared for economic development, with transportation and traffic schemes to complement urban planning.
