Woodlands is a planning area and residential town located in the North Region of Singapore. The town is connected to Malaysia's southernmost city, Johor Bahru, via the Johor-Singapore Causeway. It is the regional centre for the North Region. Woodlands planning area borders Sembawang to the east, Mandai to the south, Sungei Kadut to the west and Johor Bahru to the north. Woodlands New Town is situated within the Woodlands planning area. Early Woodlands consisted of villages and squatters where residents made their living mostly as small-time shopkeepers and vegetable farmers in the Marsiling area, while rubber plantations and poultry farms dot the landscape in Jalan Ulu Sembawang where modern-day Admiralty is located. Development of Woodlands began in 1981. This compromises of the building of HDB flats in the Neighbourhood 1, which was completed in 1985; well after the Marsiling Estate. The Neighbourhood 8 were completed in 1987, together with the Neighbourhood 3 in 1989. Because of the saturation of HDB flats, the numbering system added 'A', 'B' and 'C'. Blocks 6xx in Admiralty begun to be completed in 1996, together with the 7xx in 1997. Expansion into Innova began in 1998 and was completed in 2002, which consists of block 5xx. Expansion into the Woodlands East began in 1999 and completed in 2004. The Jalan Ulu Sembawang is a kampong road that cut across parts of the Woodlands New Town and the Sembawang Airbase. Starting from June 1992, the Jalan Ulu Sembawang is being cleared because of the extension of Woodlands New Town, Gambas Avenue, Sembawang Airbase and the Seletar Expressway. The kampong was being cleared by 1996 and it was being converted into a military training ground.