Described by HDB to be a new generation town designed for gracious living, Ang Mo Kio was built when the neighbourhood model, first applied in Queenstown and Toa Payoh, had been refined and improved.
The town, bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Upper Thomson Road and Yio Chu Kang Road, was based on a gridiron pattern, where streets run at right angles to each other. Signature landmarks and land use were planned at the town's fringe and key entrances, such as a mosque along Avenue 6 and a clover-shaped block at Avenue 1. This allows for better navigation while creating a visual identity. Two town parks, developed on hillocks, separate the neighbourhoods, creating a sense of space and providing relief in an urban landscape. The layout of facilities in each neighbourhood was planned to ensure that they were within comfortable walking distance.
Ang Mo Kio also lays claim to several "firsts" in design. It was the first HDB town to be designed in metric dimensions and the first to have five-room flats in slab block forms, where units are lined up, instead of point blocks, where units are clustered. It was where HDB's New Flat design was implemented, an improvement over previous designs. Corridors were wider and flats were also bigger by about 10% than flats in other estates. In 1983, Ang Mo Kio New Town received the Outstanding Building Award from the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) for its design.