The planning area shares boundaries with Orchard in the north, Museum in the east, Tanglin in the west, and Singapore River in the south.

One of the first residents to move into the River Valley district was Dr Thomas Oxley, the new colony's surgeon.

In 1827, he bought land here from the East India Company and established Killiney Estate as a nutmeg plantation.

This house was subsequently bought by Manasseh Meyer who renamed it Belle Vue and lived in it with his family.

The one surviving villa is the traditional Chinese house built by a wealthy merchant, Tan Yeok Nee, in 1885.

There is another interesting landmark along River Valley Road known as Nanyang Sacred Union (Chinese: 南洋圣教总会),[8] which was established in 1914, is the first Confucian Association in Singapore.

The residential areas within River Valley consist mainly of private property for high income sections of the population such as The Avenir[9] and Irwell Hill Residences.