The North Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the city-state. The region is the second largest region in terms of land area, and has a population of 531,860. Woodlands is the regional centre and also the most populous town with 250,290 residents living in the area. Comprising 13,500 hectares of land area, it includes eight planning areas. The relative isolation of the area from the Downtown Core meant relatively belated urban development and the greater abundance of natural greenery. Still, the region includes one of Singapore's largest new towns, Woodlands. Largely grouped into three new towns, it houses 129,000 residential housing units of various types, although public housing tends to dominate. Excluding naturally occurring green spaces, the region has 3 square kilometres of recreational spaces.