A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "centre-ville" in French, Stadtzentrum in German, or shìzhōngxīn (市中心) in Chinese. In the United States, the term "downtown" is generally used, though a few cities, like Philadelphia, use the term "Center City", while others such as Portland use the term “City Center".
The city centre is the (often historical) area of a city where commerce, entertainment, shopping, and political power are concentrated. The term is commonly used in many English-speaking countries and has direct equivalents in many other languages. However, noticeably, in the United States, the term "downtown" is commonly used to denote a city centre, and in Canada the terms "city centre" and "downtown" are used interchangeably, most notable in the modern, purpose-built cores of former boroughs or newer suburban cities that had no traditional urban core (i.e. North York City Centre and Mississauga City Centre). In Australia, the term "Central Business District" is widely used to refer to the city centre, but usage of the term "City Centre" is increasing, especially in Melbourne[citation needed]. In South Africa, "CBD" is used in formal contexts, but in informal contexts, the city centre is referred to as "town", and despite the growth of decentralised CBDs such as Sandton and uMhlanga "town" continues to refer to the original CBDs of cities.
In many cities, the Central Business District (CBD) is within the city centre, but the concept "city centre" differs from the CBD. The concept of the "CBD" revolves solely around economic and financial power, but the "city centre" also includes historical, political, and cultural factors. A clear example is Paris: La Défense is the central business district of Paris, but it is not the city centre. In most larger and/or older cities, the CBD and the city centre will only partially overlap, if at all.
A city centre is often the first settled part of a city, which can make it the most historical part of a city.
Usage
Australia
In most Australian cities, the city centre to some extent coincides with the central business district, with the result that "the City", "city centre", and "central business district" or "CBD" are regarded as near-synonyms. However, in some Australian cities, the city centre and the CBD are geographically separately identified. The term "CBD" is not often used in the capital Canberra, where the primary activity is government; its "city centre" is usually identified as the district called "City" or "Civic".
China
In Chinese, the urban centre of a city is called the "city centre" or "urban core" (Chinese: 市中心; pinyin: shì zhōngxīn). In many cities, it is the historical city centre and the cultural and commercial centre. Historically, the CBD often occupied one portion of the city centre. In recent years, larger cities have often developed CBDs or financial districts that occupy a part of the city centre or are outside the historical city centre completely. For example, Beijing's historical city centre is defined by the former city walls and remains the political and cultural centre of the city, but Beijing's CBD sits in Chaoyang District, to the east of the historical city; Shanghai's city centre was defined by the Old Chinese City, the International Settlement and the French Concession and sat on the west bank of the Huangpu River, whereas the modern financial district is concentrated on Lujiazui, a newly developed area across the river from the traditional city centre (although parts of the traditional city centre remain key financial and business centres).
Netherlands
In Dutch, the terms binnenstad, centrum, stadscentrum, or stadskern are used to describe the city centre. Amsterdam is a clear example of the city centre and the central business district not being the same area. The city centre of Amsterdam is Centrum, the historical heart of the city, but the CBD areas of Amsterdam are Omval in the southeast and Zuidas, in the south. Additionally, Westpoort serves as the city's industrial park.
Because of the bombardment of Rotterdam during World War II, with the loss of its historical core, the city centre and the CBD are the same area in Rotterdam.
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City Center redirects here For other uses see City Center disambiguation A city centre is the commercial cultural and often the historical political and geographic heart of a city The term city centre is primarily used in British English and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages such as centre ville in French Stadtzentrum in German or shizhōngxin 市中心 in Chinese In the United States the term downtown is generally used though a few cities like Philadelphia use the term Center City while others such as Portland use the term City Center The historic centre of Bardejov Slovakia a UNESCO World Heritage Site Contents 1 Overview and related concepts 2 Usage 2 1 Australia 2 2 China 2 3 Netherlands 3 See also 4 ReferencesOverview and related concepts Edit Kluuvi a city centre of Helsinki Finland The city centre is the often historical area of a city where commerce entertainment shopping and political power are concentrated The term is commonly used in many English speaking countries and has direct equivalents in many other languages However noticeably in the United States the term downtown is commonly used to denote a city centre and in Canada the terms city centre and downtown are used interchangeably most notable in the modern purpose built cores of former boroughs or newer suburban cities that had no traditional urban core i e North York City Centre and Mississauga City Centre In Australia the term Central Business District is widely used to refer to the city centre but usage of the term City Centre is increasing especially in Melbourne citation needed In South Africa CBD is used in formal contexts but in informal contexts the city centre is referred to as town and despite the growth of decentralised CBDs such as Sandton and uMhlanga town continues to refer to the original CBDs of cities In many cities the Central Business District CBD is within the city centre but the concept city centre differs from the CBD The concept of the CBD revolves solely around economic and financial power but the city centre also includes historical political and cultural factors A clear example is Paris La Defense is the central business district of Paris but it is not the city centre In most larger and or older cities the CBD and the city centre will only partially overlap if at all A city centre is often the first settled part of a city which can make it the most historical part of a city Usage EditAustralia Edit In most Australian cities the city centre to some extent coincides with the central business district with the result that the City city centre and central business district or CBD are regarded as near synonyms However in some Australian cities the city centre and the CBD are geographically separately identified The term CBD is not often used in the capital Canberra where the primary activity is government its city centre is usually identified as the district called City or Civic China Edit In Chinese the urban centre of a city is called the city centre or urban core Chinese 市中心 pinyin shi zhōngxin In many cities it is the historical city centre and the cultural and commercial centre Historically the CBD often occupied one portion of the city centre In recent years larger cities have often developed CBDs or financial districts that occupy a part of the city centre or are outside the historical city centre completely For example Beijing s historical city centre is defined by the former city walls and remains the political and cultural centre of the city but Beijing s CBD sits in Chaoyang District to the east of the historical city Shanghai s city centre was defined by the Old Chinese City the International Settlement and the French Concession and sat on the west bank of the Huangpu River whereas the modern financial district is concentrated on Lujiazui a newly developed area across the river from the traditional city centre although parts of the traditional city centre remain key financial and business centres Netherlands Edit In Dutch the terms binnenstad centrum stadscentrum or stadskern are used to describe the city centre Amsterdam is a clear example of the city centre and the central business district not being the same area The city centre of Amsterdam is Centrum the historical heart of the city but the CBD areas of Amsterdam are Omval in the southeast and Zuidas in the south Additionally Westpoort serves as the city s industrial park Because of the bombardment of Rotterdam during World War II with the loss of its historical core the city centre and the CBD are the same area in Rotterdam See also Edit100 percent corner Administrative centre Central business district Inner city Town centreReferences EditThis article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources City centre news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Retrieved from 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