Kembangan along with the wider Geylang district was badly hit by the September 1964 race riots and schools in the area had to be closed for an extended period despite other schools in Singapore reopening after the curfew was lifted. Later in the 1980s, the Malay villages of Kampong Kembangan and Kampong Pachitan, which used to stand at present day Kembangan estate, were demolished to make way for redevelopments in the area. Kampong Kembangan lies approximately to the east of the present day HDB flats in the estate, while Kampong Pachitan lie west of the flats. Several roads in the area were removed or realigned with the redevelopments that were in tandem with the construction of the MRT Line and station there.
