The region is largely made up of residential towns and established industrial estates.

Located at the southernmost part of the region, far away from the main residential and commercial areas, Jurong Island and Tuas house a majority of Singapore's heavy industries.

The West Region is home to a majority of Singapore's heavy industries, mainly the petrochemical industry, with international oil and gas and chemicals companies, such as LANXESS, Afton Chemical, BASF, BP, Celanese, Evonik, ExxonMobil, DuPont, Mitsui Chemicals, Chevron Oronite, Shell, Singapore Petroleum Company and Sumitomo Chemical operating facilities on Jurong Island and Pulau Bukom.

[4] A second Central Business District is also planned to be developed in the Jurong Lake District, with the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail terminus supposed to be located there, before the project was cancelled.

[5][6] Residents of the area have access to different educational facilities ranging from preschools to primary and secondary schools, as these are located around the different towns in the West region.